CELTIC hero Peter Grant insists the title race if over – with TWENTY-THREE games still to go!
The former Hoops midfield dynamo reckons the Premiership trophy will be remain anchored at Parkhead with his old club already nine points ahead at the top of the table.
Grant is convinced there is no way back for Govanni van Bronckhorst’s side with pressure mounting on the Dutchman, who took over exactly a year ago today from Steven Gerrard as he embarked upon his ill-fated switch to Aston Villa.
IT TAKES TWO…an emotional Peter Grant and boss Tommy Burns after Celtic’s 1-0 Scottish Cup Final over Airdrie at Hampden in 1995.
The Govan club are copping a lot of flak following below-par performances at home and abroad while also picking up the unwanted record as the WORST-EVER performers in Champions League group history.
They collapsed out of Europe’s elite following a disastrous sequence of six straight defeats while conceding 22 goals and scoring only two in the section that contained Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax.
Van Bronckhorst has come under fire with his wobbling team dropping seven points from a possible 12 with a 2-1 loss to St Johnstone in Perth sandwiched in between 1-1 draws with Livingston and St Mirren and a 1-0 win over Hearts.
In the meantime, Ange Postecoglou’s champions have won 14 of their 15 league games with the only banana skin coming in the mindboggling 2-0 nosedive in Paisley in September.
Asked if the title race is over, he told Go Radio: “Yes. I just think that Celtic have got the players in the squad.
FOUR-MIDABLE…Pat Bonner, Peter Grant, Mark McGhee and Tommy Burns celebrate Celtic’s 1-0 Scottish Cup Final triumph over Rangers in May 1989.
“I said it at the start of the season and that’s what I go on.
“If Celtic get injuries, they can deal with it. Rangers have proven that when they have injuries, they can’t deal with it and that’s the difference.”
Both clubs have had setbacks this season with the Hoops, of course, without the services of influential captain Callum McGregor for the past 11 games after he sustained a knee injury in the 3-1 Champions League loss to RB Leipzig in Germany on October 5.
Carl Starfelt also had a lengthy spell on the sidelines after hobbling off in the first-half of the 4-0 derby triumph at Parkhead at the start of September.
Cameron Carter-Vickers has been among a handful who have also suffered knocks, but Postecoglou’s men have weathered the storm to continue their march towards their eleventh crown in 12 years.
