Ange Postecoglou doesn’t have to start from the back of the grid this summer.
But he still has to keep his foot firmly to the floor.
Because it doesn’t take much to lose pole position when it comes to winning the big race in Glasgow.
This notion Rangers are a busload of signings away from catching them just doesn’t add up to me.
I saw it being stated Giovanni van Bronckhorst might need as many as six signings to get back ahead of Celtic in the title sprint next season.
Not sure I’m buying that, to be honest.
Postecoglou sits on top of the podium right now, but his team couldn’t drop the revs until the final straight to get over the line.
He might have inherited a banger this time last year, but he soon signed up the boys who made Celtic into a sleek and smooth running machine which, from being barely in vision in the Ibrox wing mirrors, quickly got back onto the tails of Rangers and then overtook them at full pelt to speed away to victory.
Postecoglou has to keep improving the car. He can’t sit stalled in this transfer window and he knows it. Nailing down Cameron Carter-Vickers is a great start.
Glasgow is a funny old city when it comes to football.
If one team is up, it seems the other has to be down.
There’s no in between. It’s black and white. Or green and blue, if you prefer.
City rules state that if one is good, the other has to be bad.
But I said it several times last season that wasn’t the case. Both teams were good. Rangers got to a Europa League Final and only lost on penalties.
The five meetings between the sides last season brought two wins each and a draw. There was very little between them.
If anything, it’s the perfect warning for Celtic. This time 12 months ago, Rangers were lording it.
Almost everyone you listened to was saying it would take two or three years for Celtic to catch up with them as their wheels fell off and they dropped 25 points behind in losing the title.
But history told you it’s not that simple. I’ve been there. I’ve lived it. I’ve been part of a big turnaround.
Rangers were guilty of complacency last summer when they thought they had their foot on Celtic’s throats.
They paid the price for not strengthening properly when they were ahead and that is not a mistake Postecoglou can, or will, make.
The gap between the teams at the moment is nothing like what it was 12 months ago and my old team has to drive smart and sharp to stay ahead.
Postecoglou has given the club a fantastic platform to go on and make the additions that he wants.
There is no need for juggling finances trying to draw up plans for different scenarios about whether they’ll be in the group stages of the Champions League or not.
There’s no need to have to wait until the end of August and after the qualifiers to tell them if they’ll be at Europe’s top table next season.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst is not in a position when he can promise a signing target a place in the group stages of the Champions League, whereas Postecoglou doesn’t have that problem. He went last season and earned that conversation starter by winning the title.
His record in recruitment spoke for itself during his first two windows. The signings have been outstanding. I don’t need to go through them all again, we know who they are and what they brought to the club.
One thing I will add at this stage is that it is not just about buying. It’s about coaching and getting the best out of boys and the Aussie has been brilliant.
One look at Anthony Ralston playing for Scotland this week tells you that.
Brendan Rodgers was given garlands for the way he managed to get a hold of Scott Brown, or James Forrest, or Tom Rogic and improve them markedly. Making them far-better players with his work purely on the training ground.
Look at what Postecoglou has done with Ralston. If you’d have told a Celtic supporter 12 months ago that the right back would be doing what he is doing now, you’d have been carted off.
Now let’s be clear. The boy deserves credit. A manager can only do so much. The player has to deliver and he has done so superbly. But what a piece of management and coaching from Postecoglou to bring about this transformation.
It all added to the mix for the Celtic manager, but he’s put a mantra in place which says we never stop and it’s the perfect statement for the current situation.
Van Bronckhorst may have blown the title lead last season, but he proved he can get Rangers going with the European work and the Scottish Cup win.
There’s not six signings between them. No chance.
It’s nowhere near that and Postecoglou seems too smart to think any differently.
In any case, he won’t be bothered by what’s going on next to him in the pit lane.
He’ll want to add and create again anyway to continue to shape and tweak a squad to make a mark in the Champions League.
The Aussie has done the hard work by getting to the front.
But Rangers will be firmly on Celtic’s tails.
And it needs a window of sharp manoeuvering and no cutting corners for them to stay in the lead.
