Ange’s Insistence That Celtic Are Not Yet Champions Is Exactly Why We Will Be.

The debate is raging today as to whether or not this league race is over already. It’s not, of course, and Ange would have no part of that chatter yesterday when he was asked about it. This is a man who was written off last season before the season was eight games old. He knows how quickly things can be turned around.

But Ange knows too that this Celtic side is strong and determined. His comments in the aftermath of the game have echoed much of what we’ve been saying here; this is a team that now believes that it can win even when the odds are against them.

Chris Sutton was debating Robbie Savage this morning and slapped him down when it was suggested that the race is over. Sutton has spent too long listening to Ange not to recognise that this will not be the line inside Celtic Park. Indeed, this is more likely to make everyone involved work harder, the better to make sure that there are no slip ups.

This is one of the secrets of our success.

How many times in recent years have you heard those at Ibrox come out after bad results and say “we should be beating these teams?” That kind of arrogance is completely absent at Celtic. Every opponent is treated with the utmost respect.

That’s why our focus is so relentless. We know every team is capable of beating us if we let our standards slip, and so we approach every game as if it were more than just three points, as if it were a do-or-die encounter. It’s the essence of “we never stop.”

This respect for the opposition, this belief that every single point matters, this recognition that things can still be turned around, is exactly why this club will not lose this title. We will keep on going until its mathematically impossible and probably then some.

Sutton is right. Nobody at Celtic will be letting their guard down. Nobody at Celtic thinks this is anywhere near over. By acting as if this title race is still wide open we’ll make sure the gap only widens until we can’t be caught.