Irish Daily Mirror

A Lust for strife at Rangers..

- BY MICHAEL GANNON BY PAUL O’HEHIR

MIKEL LUSTIG reckons Steven Gerrard’s Rangers will go down as the worst Ibrox side in history if they fail to stop Celtic’s march towards 10 in a row.

The former Hoops hero took a swipe at his old rivals after celebratin­g a ninth successive title.

Lustig – on board for the first eight before his move to Gent – said: “If they’re not going to win next year they’re probably going to go down as the worst team ever in their history, so it’s massive pressure for them.”

Lustig is convinced Celtic are in safe hands with Neil Lennon in charge.

He told BT Sport: “Neil has been brilliant. He came in at a tough period.

“Brendan Rodgers left us and we had a lot of injuries and really tough games.

“But he has been brilliant. He has learned a lot over the last couple of years.

“He seems more relaxed than he was in his first couple of years.

“The guys have been amazing this season. Celtic know how to win.

“To win a league title is a marathon, you’re not going to lift the trophy in December or January.”

Lustig admitted it was a wrench leaving Parkhead last summer and said: “My heart is still with Celtic.

“It has been a massive part of my life. To play in front of those supporters and win trophies every year, that’s just amazing.”

Meanwhile, Odsonne Edouard was Celtic’s star man as they made it nine in a row but old strike pal Moussa Dembele is tipping him to hit new heights.

The Frenchman has kept close tabs on his old club since a £20million move to Lyon in 2018.

And Dembele said: “The only bad thing is I didn’t play with Odsonne earlier.

“We knew that if we played together we’d do something good.

“Odsonne is a very good player, he will go straight to the top.

“We saw what he was capable of this season. He’s a fantastic player and hopefully he’ll go to the very top with Celtic.”

MARK TRAVERS has revealed how a horrific display turned him into an internatio­nal goalkeeper.

The Maynooth lad was always convinced he would play for Ireland and in the Premier League.

But the 21-year-old thought he had blown his chance after his first appearance for Bournemout­h. He explained: “We played Stoke away for the Under-21s and drew 5-5!

“I didn’t have the best of games and wasn’t too happy on the bus back home.

“I had been quite successful, playing internatio­nally at home.

“But that’s when I realised it wasn’t the same and that I was in at the deep end. I had to learn and grow up quickly.”

Travers did just that and was man-of-the-match on his senior Cherries debut against Spurs last year. He then broke through with Ireland after Mick Mccarthy capped him in friendlies against Bulgaria and New Zealand.

“Signing for Bournemout­h was great but moving over there made me realise that it’s about more than just football,” he added.

“I had to be profession­al off the pitch, and I was dealing with missing home as well.

“I’ve always had in the back of my head that I’d play in the Premier League and I’d be a senior internatio­nal, even after that 5-5 game I still believed in myself.”

 ??  ?? WALL THE BEST Harry Arter is in awe of the way Messi & Ronaldo (inset) can block
out noise
WALL THE BEST Harry Arter is in awe of the way Messi & Ronaldo (inset) can block out noise
 ??  ?? TWISTING THE KNIFE Ex-celtic star Mikel Lustig
TWISTING THE KNIFE Ex-celtic star Mikel Lustig

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Ireland