Stan Petrov believes Celtic must seize their moment as the managerial turmoil at Rangers creates a seismic shift in the Premiership title race.
The former Hoops hero is convinced the departure of Steven Gerrard to his old club Aston Villa has provided an unexpected helping hand for Ange Postecoglou and his players in their attempt to dethrone the champions.
There are echoes of the criticism faced by Brendan Rodgers jumping ship from Parkhead to Leicester in February 2019 with Gerrard opting to end three-and-a-half years at Rangers to move to the Midlands.
But Petrov is adamant the Ibrox side may not be able to complete the same seamless transition which saw Neil Lennon return to the Hoops and lead them to a treble in the wake of the drama and bad feeling when Rodgers left.
He said: “ Celtic haven’t been given a gift by what’s happened with Gerrard moving to Villa, but they have been handed a major opportunity to win the league.
“It’s an unexpected boost but they will have to make the most of this opportunity by winning games.
“Of course it could be a decisive moment in the title race, Steven Gerrard leaving has in itself given Celtic fans a boost.
“They will now believe even more that this upheaval across the city is the perfect scenario for Celtic to become champions this season.
“There’s no doubt Rangers now have a big problem with Gerrard leaving midway through the season.
“If you look back to when Brendan Rodgers left Celtic, he’d been working with that team for several years.
“He’d taken time to build that side, to get them playing in the way he wanted, that doesn’t happen overnight.
“There was a specific philosophy with the way Celtic played under Rodgers and the biggest factor within that was the trust the players had in their manager. Those were the ingredients which led to success.
“This is now the problem which Rangers find themselves in – and it’s a big one.
“It’s inevitable that disruption is created by the manager leaving.
“It happens at every club, but at the Old Firm it can send a massive shockwave through the dressing room.
“Gerrard has been at Rangers for over three years, he’s had to build the side and create that trust between himself and the players both in the way he manages and the way he wanted the team to play.
“Regardless of who the new manager is, it’s going to take time for him to build that trust. Can Celtic use that time? We will see.”
Rangers have a four-point lead over Celtic and the loss of Gerrard mirrors the Rodgers scenario as he walked after opening an eight-point lead at the Premiership summit.
Petrov insists the parallels end there as that Hoops side was on autopilot and the Light Blues have yet to fill the managerial vacancy with the hard yards of this season still to be run.
He said: “When Neil Lennon came to Celtic in the February, the side had a good balance and was playing with confidence.
“For that reason he didn’t have to touch much and allowed that consistency to carry on from Rodgers, so that was a big help.
“Lenny just had to continue that work and do certain things.
“It allowed for a nice transition that season and there wasn’t long left in that campaign.
“The situation at Rangers is different as there is still so much of the season left to be played.
“There is still so much which can happen and at the moment Rangers don’t have a manager.
“There is speculation that may change, but it’s possible they still won’t have anyone in permanent charge when the players return from the international break.
“The games could start again this weekend and it’s a possibility Rangers won’t have a manager, which is a concern for them as well.”
The suggestion Gerrard may look to plunder some of the key players at his former club may or may not come to fruition.
But Petrov is convinced Rangers have lost their biggest asset and whoever fills his shoes could struggle to hit the ground running at a club which has been rocked to its foundations.
The Bulgarian said: “There’ll be a bit of panic and uncertainty as Rangers have lost their main man, the person who made the big decisions and now he’s gone.
“Gerrard created the opportunity for the players to go out and he implement a particular way of playing.
“He was the one who would be challenging those players every single day. All of a sudden this person leaves so of course there will now be a huge distraction within the dressing room.
“If you take any other business or place of work and remove a person who does a great job then it’s always going to be difficult to bring someone else in who can continue in that same way.
“That’s not realistic as every manager works in a different way.”
