McCall hands Celtic a tenth title warning

CELTIC may be huge favourites to enter the history books by achieving Ten In A Row next year but former Rangers midfielder Stuart McCall is painfully aware how such certainty can evaporate over the course of a season.

McCall played a key role for Walter Smith as Rangers romped to Nine In A Row in the 1990s and was part of the next season’s expensivelyassembled Ibrox squad that appeared nailed on to break the record set by Jock Stein’s great Celtic side.

‘We all thought we could break the record,’ claimed the Bradford City manager. ‘We had the momentum but we didn’t get there and, although there were other factors involved, we only had ourselves to blame.

‘It was announced at the club’s AGM in November that Walter would be standing down as manager at the end of the season. People point to that as a turning point and I know for a fact that Walter didn’t want that news to come out.

‘Marco Negri had scored 23 goals in his first 10 league games and was going like a train until he got hit in the eye with the ball while playing squash just after Christmas. How many goals would he have gone on to get if it hadn’t been for that?

‘However, injuries to key men are part of the game and they could just as easily happen to Celtic next season — you can’t legislate for these things.’

Rangers have won the final match of the year against Celtic in the last two seasons, raising hopes of title deeds which were to be dashed by post-Hogmanay hangovers which lasted well into the New Year.

McCall believes the club’s big names need to do more if Celtic are to be halted but they are sure to be saved their usual slump following the winter break.

‘Alfredo Morelos was scoring for fun until December and then he didn’t look like the same player afterwards,’ he said. ‘In fact, the whole team collapsed going into the New Year. At least that won’t happen after the winter break next season because there won’t be one!’