HAGI DEAL WILL HOLD NO FEARS FOR CELTIC
Commons reckons Lennon won’t worry about £4m Ibrox gamble
RANGERS were last night warned that the imminent signing of Ianis Hagi on a £4million permanent deal is not the kind of transfer business likely to set alarm bells ringing across the city.
The 21-year-old attacker, son of the legendary former Real Madrid and Barcelona star Gheorghe Hagi, joined the Ibrox club in January on loan from Belgian side Genk but a permanent move could be completed in the next 24 hours.
He scored three times in 12 outings for Steven Gerrard’s side, notching two in the club’s 3-2 Europa League last-32 triumph over Braga and netting a late winner in the league against Hibs.
But Sportsmail columnist Kris Commons believes the jury is still out on Hagi and does not believe Celtic boss Neil Lennon will be losing any sleep ahead of trying to steer his club to a historic ten-in-a-row next season.
‘Hagi came with the reputation of “your dad is good. You are all right, and you have made an impact already in the Europa League”,’ said Commons. ‘But look at Ryan Kent. He was signed for £7m from Liverpool at the start of last season and you think he is the guy who is going to stop Celtic.
‘Kent made an initial impact and then, for the remainder of the season, he fell asleep. He didn’t really do anything.
‘If Hagi is the man to sort Rangers then good for them but I’d say it’s a risk. It’s a gamble. He’s not proven. It’s not like he’s come in and played ten or 11 straight games for Rangers, scoring non-stop or making the kind of impact that makes you say: “Wow!”.
‘He’s good but if he signed tomorrow, I don’t think Neil Lennon will be too bothered. If he signs, I don’t think Lennon would be urgently looking to the transfer market. I think he’s already on record saying he doesn’t need to make any more signings to get the ten.’ Commons, meanwhile, believes former Celtic team-mate Mikael Lustig has provided Gerrard with fresh motivation ahead of the new season. In an interview with BT Sport, eight-time Scottish title winner Lustig said Rangers would be viewed as the worst team in Ibrox history if Celtic reach ten-in-a-row. But Commons believes Gerrard will use the comments to fire up his side just as Celtic assistant Garry Parker did before beating Shakhter Karagandy on a dramatic night at Parkhead to reach the Champions League groups in 2013. ‘Mikael Lustig is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He is one of those players who came from abroad and just gets the banter in the UK,’ said Commons. ‘But when I saw his comments, I thought: “I see what you are saying but Steven Gerrard will be pinning that up in the dressing room on the first day of pre-season training for motivation”. ‘One of the best things Garry Parker did was before a second leg against Shakhter Karagandy in the Champions League. ‘We were 2-0 down from the first leg and heading into the Europa League qualifiers unless we beat them 3-0 at Celtic Park. ‘Neil Lennon didn’t say a great deal that day but Garry put a paper up with their manager saying he had booked his flight to the Champions League draw. ‘Two-nil in the first leg? In their mind, it was finished, done! ‘We looked at that paper and we didn’t need tactics or a team talk. ‘We just went out there and gave it everything. There was anger there. Don’t you ever write us off.
‘So my initial thought (on seeing Lustig’s comments) was: “Don’t rev them up”.
‘But I’m sure Celtic will approach next season in the right frame of mind.’
Rather than be crushed by the fear of being the worst Rangers side ever, Commons believes the Ibrox players will be energised by the chance of becoming legends by stopping Celtic making history.
‘From a Rangers perspective, stopping nine would have been good,’ he said.
‘But stopping ten? As a Rangers player, I would lose league one to nine — just to stop ten.
‘If you are part of the team that stops the ten — which has never been done, ever — then be in that squad.
‘Stopping the ten is the Crown Jewels for the Rangers players and management.’
One of the proposals currently being examined by the SPFL during the coronavirus crisis is playing all four Old Firm games next season after the New Year to avoid them being staged behind closed doors.
Commons insists that would be a welcome development.
‘Football without fans is nothing,’ he said. ‘Having no fans at a Celtic v Rangers game would take away 95 per cent of the spectacle.
‘You want the supporters there. That’s why you have extravagant celebrations and the emotion.
‘That’s why Steven Gerrard shouted into the camera when Rangers beat Celtic last December at Celtic Park. It’s why Neil Lennon has cupped his ears before at Ibrox.
‘I would welcome all four Old Firm games being played in 2021 in front of fans.
‘Imagine both teams winning their first 15 matches and being level going into the first match of the season? What a game that would be.’