It's three years to the day since Celtic mauled Rangers and handed their bitter rivals a five-star humiliation.
Fresh from a four-goal Scottish Cup destruction just two weeks earlier, five goals without reply proved to be the nadir for the Ibrox club as Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side cruised through the gears and racked up a seventh straight title.
But Murdo MacLeod believes the balance of power has shifted and it’s gone full circle.
The Hoops legend was a spectator on April 29, 2018 as his old club dismantled a hapless Gers led by caretaker Graeme Murty who’d been thrust into the hotseat for four months after the dismissal of Pedro Caixinha.
Just how far the swing has been can be gauged by the 20-point gap which has secured the Premiership trophy for Steven Gerrard’s side and underlined a team transformed after some tough love and serious surgery.
Odsonne Edouard rattled in a first-half double with James Forrest, Tom Rogic and Callum McGregor all scoring after the break as Celtic’s dominance was total and lapped up by a support which mockingly cheered every touch by Rangers full-back Andy Halliday.
MacLeod has talked Record Sport through how that high has now descended into such a disaster this season.
He said: “What shone through from Celtic that afternoon wasn’t just the five goals and superiority, it was confidence and trust within a side which was the hallmark of that team under Rodgers. It was as good as it could get, the high point.
“That’s the difference from then to now, the whole team was together. There was no doubt, just total confidence that they were going to win .
“That’s a very hard thing to generate and, as this season shows, it can be lost quickly.
“Look at Rangers and the line-up from that day, it’s completely unrecognisable with only James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos survivors.
“Steven Gerrard should take a lot of pats on the back for leading that transformation just as Celtic should be criticised for the poor recruitment and such a deterioration.
“I remember how much of a struggle it was Rangers, not just losing five goals to their biggest rivals but the manner of it was a humiliation.
“To lose so many goals on the back of being hammered in the Cup a fortnight earlier would have been so hard to stomach.
“What’s happened since is Rangers have recruited well and Celtic recruited badly.”
MacLeod is adamant it’s been the new Celtic recruits which have been the catalyst for this calamitous campaign which had promised to be historic in the quest for a 10th title success before a ball was kicked last summer.
He said: “The ones who have still done a job for Celtic this season are the usual suspects and the better players who’ve been at the club for a while. It’s been the players who are new to the club who have found it all such a struggle.
“David Turnbull is the exception and then you have Scott Brown, Ryan Christie, Callum McGregor and Kris Ajer. After that it’s a struggle to name any others who are at the level of these boys.
“It’s not a secret Celtic have a side who aren’t anywhere near the quality of three years ago or anywhere near the level that Rangers are currently at.
“Once glimpse of the table tells you that. Even when Celtic were a fantastic side, the title race was always relatively close.
“For Celtic to have won nine-in-a-row and then ending up 20 points behind Rangers just isn’t right. That should never happen in football unless there are big problems somewhere.
“Rangers have won what is a special title, the balance of power has shifted and the whole thing has changed so quickly.”
MacLeod was assistant to Wim Jansen during the 1997-98 season when Celtic stopped Rangers from claiming 10 titles on the bounce and he believes that nip and tuck race should be the norm rather Rangers being a country mile ahead by March.
He said: “When we stopped Rangers from claiming 10 in a row, Rangers took the title race down to the last game of the season so it was a bit of a toss of the coin – but when you are 20 points behind then it is an embarrassment.
“We had to win at St Johnstone, we did that and the rest is history. Rangers pushed us the whole way. This season there’s been no push or challenge at all.
“Celtic have regressed big time, both in ability and in attitude for the entire season. You could see after the first six or seven games that it all started to dwindle away.
“Rangers look like a team, they have all fought for one another. Celtic have made mistake after mistake at the back, struggled in midfield and missed chances in attack.
“How much work needs to be done this summer? A lot. They need to bring in players to make them better.
“Nobody goes out to sign a bad player, you believe a signing will make you better but discover it doesn’t work and that has been the biggest problem.
"The lack of quality from 2018 to now is telling. When you are winning 5-0 it shows you have a proper team – but when you’re 20 points behind it tells you that you don’t.”
