It's astonishing Celtic still need 5 transfer arrivals but at least Rangers are WORSE than last season - Chris Sutton

Brendan Rodgers had to accept reality when he admitted this week his Celtic squad is weaker than last season. But there are some things he can be positive about. Like the fact Rangers are worse as well.

Rodgers has a week to fix it and money in the bank – while at Ibrox they’ll need to offload players if they are to strengthen further. I haven’t been too impressed with the new-look Rangers as yet and although they got a result against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League play-off first leg, I’m not entirely sure how. The Dutch side played them off the park and must have been wondering how the heck that happened.

But I – along with most Celtic fans – are thinking the same about Celtic right now. When you think back to the final whistle at Hampden a few months ago when the Treble was wrapped up, Celtic looked in prime position to kick on and hammer home their dominance. It looked ominous for Michael Beale at Rangers and his rebuild.

But now? Celtic are not just weaker – they are miles weaker. Rodgers might need to sign five players this week, and all of them will have to be first team ready. That’s an extraordinary situation to be in at this stage, when the season is already up and running. I get the injury problems are seriously damaging the team. Losing Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate would hamper any side.

But that doesn’t hide the overall problem right now. Celtic just have not kicked on. Losing Jota was a blow, but he left in the first week in July. It’s now nearly September. You can’t do much about Aaron Mooy retiring but he announced his decision a long time ago. Rodgers brought in Maik Nawrocki and then Gustaf Lagerbielke, but those two are both prospects.

Carl Starfelt was an experienced campaigner. I still