Derek Riordan has backed Celtic to bounce back from Old Firm pain and secure a sixth consecutive league title this season. The former Hoops forward is convinced his old side has the quality to recover from their recent slump in form before the international break and retain the championship.
Riordan: Celtic are the stronger team
Riordan said: "I think Celtic are the stronger team. I think Celtic are better than Rangers, that's 100 per cent. And Hearts, aye."
He added: "I mean, that's football. You can't win every week. It's very early in the season. I think Celtic are still very strong. And Martin O'Neill's a brilliant manager. He's been there and done it every time. They'll get back to winning football."
New signings backed to come good
Riordan, who made his name as a lethal attacker at Hibs and Parkhead, has been impressed with the current set of forwards at Celtic. New Bhoys Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh made fast starts but struggled in the big-game defeats to Rangers and Ferencvaros.
Riordan has backed the pair to rediscover their form. He said: "Duran has done the job up front. So you can't say he is not their No 9. If he scores the goals, that's what you're there to do. If you can play all the positions, it means you're doing something right."
On Hogh, he said: "Hogh needs to get going a bit. I think he'll obviously come in and he scored that hat-trick straight away. So everybody was obviously raving about it. But as I say, it takes time to bed in and stuff. So I'm sure he'll come good, especially spending that type of money on someone.
"The player can't change how much he gets bought for. But he's got to try and deliver it when he does play."
Riordan also singled out another forward for praise, saying: "To be honest, I thought the boy Hassan was good against St Mirren. I'd keep Yang and Hayseed Hassan out in the wings. But Yang's been at the Asian Games and I think I've missed him, because he looked really good against St Mirren."
Riordan open to striker coach role
Riordan was back in Hoops colours at the Tennents Sixes after the Parkhead club swooped in before Hibs. The 43-year-old has been out of the game but admitted he might be tempted back in — but not as a manager.
Riordan said: "No, no, never for me. The only thing I would possibly do is just be a striker coach. Just touch and finish, basically. I think because you've sort of dedicated your whole life to football since probably eight or nine years old or something.
"I played up to about 36, I think. So it's a fair amount of years. You're nearly 30 years, basically, doing it. It just didn't appeal to me doing a manager or assistant or anything. Striker coach would probably be the one for me just having a laugh with the boys in the back and finishing and stuff."
