Celtic icon John Hartson reckons his old team "need to do a miracle" to take the title back this season.
The Parkhead club won nine on the spin but were comprehensively dethroned by Rangers last season, with their bitter rivals going unbeaten and winning the league by 25 points.
Manager Neil Lennon left in February and, after a caretaker spell for John Kennedy, Ange Postecoglou is the man tasked with rebuilding.
The Welshman has called for calm after an inconsistent start to the season, giving his backing to the new man.
But Hartson appeared to dramatically backtrack on that as he admitted he doesn't expect the Premiership title to return to his old stomping ground this season.
He said on Go Radio: "I think Rangers started the season as favourites for me anyway.
"Celtic are in a transition, they lost 10 players. Ange has had to come and completely build a new team. So there are going to be some hiccups from a Celtic point of view, particularly away from home.
"Nobody likes to see or hear it, certainly Celtic fans, but it was going to happen and I don't think there'll be any pressure or any panic on Ange.
"With his professionalism and his managerial record he'll obviously think 'I need to start winning games away from home'.
"Maybe set up differently, I think they've got to be a little bit more pragmatic when they're going forward in terms of being hit on the counter-attack, they've got to defend properly in that sense and put players back in position.
"But, as I said, I think Celtic are in a bit of a transition and I expect Rangers to go on and win the league.
"I think Celtic need to do a miracle if they're going to get the title back this season."
