Celtic are continuing to march forward on the domestic scene in Scotland and they have an admirer from afar in John McGinn.
The Boyhood Celtic fan is watching the goings-on at, not just from Parkhead, but also from the likes of Aberdeen and Rangers.
McGinn will lead Aston Villa out against Celtic in the Champions League in January, so he will get a taste of what Brendan Rodgers’ side are all about.
At the weekend, Celtic put four goals past Hearts to open a three-point lead at the top of the Premiership table after Aberdeen were beaten at McGinn’s old club, St Mirren.
On top of that, Rangers dropped points against Dundee United, as the Bhoys are now 11 points clear ahead of those across the city.
The champions have already secured a comfortable win in the Glasgow derby this season, as well as putting six goals past Aberdeen, with McGinn seeing things pretty clearly.
John McGinn says Celtic ‘streets ahead’ of Rangers and Aberdeen
There aren’t many weak points in this Celtic side and Rodgers can walk into the upcoming January transfer window in a relaxed manner.
McGinn made it clear that the double-winners are ‘streets ahead’ of everyone else in the league and he isn’t surprised by how bad Rangers are.
Rodgers replaced Ange Postecoglou in the dugout last summer and McGinn feels Celtic ‘took a while’ to adjust to their current boss when Ange left for Tottenham, but are now ‘flying’.
The Villa midfielder also noted the ’empty seats’ at Ibrox and how the Rangers fans aren’t having what they are seeing from their team, as he told Premier Sports.
They are flying,” said McGinn about Celtic. “I think it took them a while to adapt after Ange left, but they seem to have found that same form they had when he was there.
“They are lightning quick on the break. I think they are just streets ahead of everyone in the league, at the moment. Even when teams have their moments, if they don’t capitalise on those moments, then they just punish you.
On if he is surprised by how far Rangers are behind Celtic and Aberdeen: “No, I am not after watching some of the games they have played in,” added McGinn. “There have been games I have watched that I never thought they could break a team down – I haven’t seen a lot of the games, but what I could see is all the empty seats and I think the fans at Rangers are loyal, it doesn’t matter what division they were in, so I think they have had enough and are looking for a spark or something different.
Defining end to the year for Celtic
Some huge games are coming up for Celtic, including two Glasgow derbies (January 2 for the Premiership match) and a trip to Aberdeen.
By the time the New Year comes about, there is every chance Rodgers has the first trophy of the season in the bag, as well as a lead bigger than three points in the league.
If that happens, then it will allow Celtic to put more emphasis on the Champions League, especially with two fixtures after the New Year, including that trip to Villa Park.
Even against Hearts, when the Bhoys weren’t at it in the first half, they still managed to score four goals and ease to victory.
The likes of Liam Scales, Alex Valle and Luke McCowan didn’t even come off the bench to further signify the strength of this side.
