CHRIS SUTTON

The Celtic squad have already had their end-of-season weekend away and it showed, right from the start.

People will talk about Lennon’s tactics but the personnel forced the way the had to play.

Odsonne Edouard doesn’t play with his back to goal so it’s no use just going long.

Mikey Johnston hadn’t started since the last time at Ibrox and Oliver Burke just hasn’t cut it. They started poorly and never got going.

Celtic played as though this game was meaningless, because that’s exactly what it was.

Fair play to Rangers. They were at it all afternoon, it was an impressive performance and I’m sure they enjoyed it.

No doubt there will be a DVD of the game out by the end of the week.

But let’s face it, the pressure was off and that is when this Rangers team turns up. It’s too little, too late.

If I was Steven Gerrard I’d be pulling my hair out and wondering where this team was when he needed them back in January and February.

If they had got going earlier we might even have had a title race rather than an average Celtic team being allowed a procession.

They have missed a trick this term. It’s all very well lapping up an Old Firm win but they could have done with this form when it mattered.

There’s been a lot of talk about this win being a marker for next season. Nonsense. Yesterday won’t matter a jot come August.

What it might be is another wake-up call for Celtic. They had one before, when Rangers put them out of the Scottish Cup on penalties under Ronny Deila.

The Parkhead board took the warning and reacted positively.

They’ll need to do so again, so this heavy defeat might not actually be the worst thing. Unlike 2016, this is a wake-up call without any ramifications on the pitch.

This one has come on the verge of a Treble.

Losing to Rangers shouldn’t have the alarm bells ringing all of a sudden though everyone’s been hearing them loud and clear for months.

This is a Celtic squad in regression. They’ve managed to get the job done to get over the line in the league and set up a chance of another Treble.

But no-one should be deluded into thinking everything is rosy at Celtic.

They have shown character to get over the line but they have been flat this season and the rot had long set in under Brendan Rodgers.

The recruitment has been woeful for a couple of seasons, which is why Lee Congerton heading off to Leicester City really is a case of good riddance.

The head of recruitment going was the result of the weekend for Celtic.

Congerton’s dreadful transfer record has created a heck of a mess to mop up in the summer after two years of woeful signings.

Lennon will be the one in the firing line this week, no doubt, and the