Be afraid Rangers, be very afraid

Do you remember the Green and Whitewash season?  In 2003-04 Celtic dominated the league.  After drawing their opening game away to Dunfermline they won their next 25 consecutive league games, beating every team in the league home and away.  Across all competitions, they beat Rangers five times in four league and a Scottish Cup meeting.

This was as dominant as a team could get but there were vulnerabilities.  Not only was Henrik Larsson out of contract, much of that team were in the twilight of their careers.  Paul Lambert, Neil Lennon, Alan Thompson and Chris Sutton would never command the same on-field fear again.

The team that completed nine league wins in a row on Wednesday night could not be more different from the 03-04 vintage in one important aspect; only four are older than 23-years-old and none of them are veterans: Brown, 26, Samaras, 26, Mulgrew, 25 and Ledley, 24.

With an average age of just over 22 years this team will continue to improve for years; we can see evidence of progress.  James Forrest has made a huge step up in form from last season.  Victor Wanyama is almost unrecognisable from the player who arrived in the summer.  Big Fraser, 23, still young for a keeper, inspires a lot more confidence than he did last season, and the baby of the team, Adam Matthews, is a scarcely believable 19-years-old. He’s so new to this environment you have to wonder if even the lad’s father knew he had a performance like Wednesday night’s in him.

Ki, 22, Stokes, 23, Izaguirre, 25, Kelvin Wilson, 26 and Mikael Lustig, 25 all fit the same profile.  They are a squad full of improving players with the appetite you only get when your career is in front of you.

Rangers, and the rest, should be very afraid. Wednesday night might be as close as they get to the coattails of the young Celts.

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