The morning after Celtic lost to Falkirk in the league and less than 48 hours after Rangers reached the Premier Sports Cup Final at Aberdeen's expense, Derek McInnes appeared on radio with Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist. Stelling described the discussion as a "love in" between McInnes and McCoist.
The timing highlighted a shift in the balance of power within the Old Firm. With that shift comes scrutiny in a city where the unofficial motto is: "A draw is a disaster, a defeat is a catastrophe." Pressure mounts on McInnes as gloom gathers around Martin O'Neill at Celtic Park.
Rangers' Path to the Title
The question is no longer whether Rangers can win the Premiership title, but how they can fail to win it under the prevailing circumstances. Rangers have already beaten Celtic in two competitions this season. Three more league derbies remain, allowing McInnes' side the chance to build an insurmountable lead at the top of the table.
Rangers' earlier reputation for being wasteful against lesser teams has lost currency, especially after Celtic shipped five out of six points to Dundee United and Falkirk in their last two games.
McInnes Under Scrutiny
McInnes is under surveillance. His last trophy win as a manager was 12 years ago, against Inverness Caley Thistle after extra time and penalties in the League Cup Final that went Aberdeen's way. That elongated occasion, staged at Celtic Park, was also his only trophy win so far as a manager.
He has a CV that needs improvement, but he has every advantage to ensure that work is carried out.
Celtic's Self-Sabotage
Rangers do not have Celtic's punishing midweek European matches to recover from while dropping league points. They have a multi-million pound squad that should be good enough to rise above all others outwith Celtic in the Premiership.
Celtic, meanwhile, are on a road filled with booby traps, negotiated by a team that specialises in self-sabotage. Celtic have won 14 of the last 15 league titles, taking advantage of Rangers being a corporate basket case during that time. The one exception came when Celtic turned into a basket case, with a malfunctioning manager, bad signings and awful European results bleeding into declining domestic progress.
If McInnes cannot win the league under the current circumstances, when can he win it? There is no other way of looking at the situation.
