Opinion: Celtic progress is clear to see but victory in derby is overdue

There is no doubt that Celtic have made progress this season under manager Ange Postecoglou. The Hoops are competition for the Premiership title, which wasn’t the case last season, and a win over Rangers tonight would see the Hoops go top of the league.

The fact that Celtic are competing hard for the title with practically a new team shouldn’t be overlooked too, and it is a credit for Postecoglou and the Hoops staff that they have managed to knit the team together in such a short period.

What a Celtic manager will really be judged on though, is results against Rangers. That might not be fair, but it is the way that it is almost always been for Celtic bosses.

So far, Postecoglou has managed one game against Rangers, when the Hoops lost 1-0 at Ibrox in August. Celtic were unfortunate not to earn at least a draw on the day, as the team did miss some good chances.

That Celtic side was a work in progress compared to the squad that has now been assembled. Back in August, there was no Jota, or Cameron Carter-Vickers, or Reo Hatate, to name but three, that are now in the Celtic squad and are set to have their first derby experience.

Of course, there are some important Celtic players that will miss the derby, Kyogo and David Turnbull to name but two, and when the Hoops have a full squad injury free, it will look very strong.

Celtic have managed to cope fairly well with the injury issues that the team has had, and if a full squad was available for the derby you would think that the Hoops would have a real chance of comfortable win in the derby.

That isn’t to be the case, and the derby could well be a close game, with little between the sides. 

It would be a pity if Celtic were to lose the game, but even if that does happen the