Rangers appear to be constructing a transfer strategy built on a fundamental misreading of what drives Celtic’s sustained dominance in Scottish football.
The belief at Ibrox, according to analysis of the club’s reported direction, is that Celtic’s success flows from a core group of Scottish players motivated by hatred of their rivals.
The players identified in this theory include Tierney, Forrest, Ralston, McGregor, McCowan, Scales and several others described as Celtic-minded individuals who grew up supporting the club.
The suggestion is that these players, driven by deep-rooted rivalry, power Celtic’s results and that this hatred forms the engine behind the club’s unprecedented trophy haul.
A review of Celtic’s recent scorers alone dismantles the argument immediately, with South Korean, Japanese, Belgian, Nigerian and English players all contributing to crucial goals this season.
In the Scottish Cup, the scorers were Maeda, Engels and Iheanacho. At Celtic Park against Hearts, Engels, Maeda and young Englishman Callum Osmand settled the contest in Celtic’s favour.
Players Celtic have been disappointed to lose in recent years include Adam Idah, Matt O’Riley, Nicolas Kuhn and Kyogo Furuhashi, representing Ireland, England, Germany and Japan respectively.
Before them, strikers Edouard and Dembele were French, winger Liel Abada was Israeli and attacking midfielder Jota was Portuguese. None of these players grew up with any cultural connection to the rivalry.
Celtic’s consistent success across multiple seasons has come from assembling players with winning mentalities from across the globe, not from cultivating hostility toward one specific opponent.
The argument that any club could indoctrinate players from a dozen different nations into performing at the highest level purely through manufactured hatred stretches credibility well beyond its limits.
Rangers, by contrast, carry genuine cultural indoctrination within their walls. Managers who enter the club frequently shift their public language and behaviour in ways that reflect institutional pressure.
Head coach Phillipp Rohl has been in post for less than a year, yet a casual comment from Luke McCowan reportedly provoked a disproportionate reaction, illustrating how the rivalry consumes thinking at Ibrox.
Celtic’s players, by reported accounts, were not focused on Rangers at all once their rivals fell out of the title race. Attention shifted entirely to Hearts as the remaining threat.
Celtic supporters, according to those close to the club, were not tracking Rangers’ midweek result against Hibs. Many did not learn the score until well after Celtic’s own match concluded.
The title itself felt significant because it was hard-won despite self-inflicted difficulties, not because it surpassed any statistical benchmark relating to Rangers’ claimed records.
Prioritising Scottish players or players from within the domestic league because of cultural rivalry directly narrows recruitment options and reduces the quality of available talent significantly.
Rangers’ own recent heroes have included Dutch, German, Danish and Belgian players, demonstrating that nationality and cultural background have never been reliable markers of competitive motivation.
The broader point remains that a club structured primarily to beat one rival will leave itself exposed to the other nine opponents it faces regularly throughout a domestic season.
Aberdeen represent a more credible long-term rival threat, with infrastructure plans and a genuine long-term blueprint, even if short-term decisions have repeatedly disrupted that development pathway.
The assessment from those studying Celtic’s model is straightforward: consistent title success comes from focusing on the next opponent, not from obsessing over one club across the city.
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