STILIYAN Petrov will tune into the Celtic game against Rangers on television on Sunday afternoon hoping to see his former club triumph and finally sew up their seventh consecutive Scottish title victory.
But the former midfielder would like to see something else when the fierce Glasgow rivals do battle for the final time in the 2017/18 campaign this weekend – the visitors compete with their hosts and make a contest of the occasion.
The 38-year-old, who won every major honour in the game in this country during the seven years that he spent here, isn’t being disloyal to his old club by saying that.
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The man who was a key player in Celtic’s unforgettable run to the UEFA Cup final in Seville in 2003, during which they defeated Blackburn Rovers, Stuttgart and Liverpool, simply feels not being push domestically is detrimental to them.
The Bulgarian believes the club which has reached the Champions League group stages two years running and made it through to the knockout rounds of the Europa League this season may struggle in Europe if their dominance continues.
“I watched the Scottish Cup semi-final on television and while I was happy for Celtic, I was disappointed with the quality of the football, to be honest,” he said.
“Usually when you build up to a Celtic v Rangers game, you know what to expect. In the previous couple games, Rangers had showed a bit more desire, fight and urgency.
“But in the semi-final, there was nothing. It was so flat and it is really a shame to see Rangers going that way. We have all talked about Rangers closing the gap, but they didn’t show any sign of it.
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“Being an ex-Celtic player and a fan now, I wanted to see good Celtic v Rangers games. I want to see Celtic being challenged.”
Petrov added: “I think Celtic have a really special team – a young, talented team. But it hasn’t been challenged yet.
“I would like to see that because it would be good for Scottish football, it would be good for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic. You want to see your rival having a good team and giving you a push.
“Because if it continues like now, Celtic will lose their form and might not get anywhere in Europe. To be in Europe, you need to maintain your form and be on top of your game.
“If you look at it these days, Celtic could lose 10 games and still win the league. There is such a big gap between the teams.”
Petrov, who was back in Scotland last week to take part in the John Hartson Charity Foundation golf day at Trump Turnberry, played at Celtic during an era in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Rangers lavished tens of millions of pounds signing some top class players from around the world.
He feels the quality of the team fielded by the Ibrox club at that time helped his side to perform at a consistently high level both at home and abroad.
“It kept us on our toes,” he said. “I don’t like to compare times, but when we were playing we knew that if we lost a game or dropped points then it could be over for us. We couldn’t let Rangers ahead of us in case they became champions.
“Losing one or two points could be the difference. We lost one league by one goal (in 2003) and another by one point (in 2005). That was how tight it was. Now it could be 20 or 25 points. For the health of Scottish football, that is not good enough.
‘We are not talking so much about Rangers challenging Celtic, but about clubs such as Aberdeen and Hibs. But you know that at some point Aberdeen will slow down because they don’t have the financial support or structure to compete with Celtic. That’s why I hope that Rangers can get up there and challenge Celtic again.”
Petrov, now fully recovered from the leukaemia he was diagnosed with when he was playing for Aston Villa back in 2012 and looking the picture of health, faced some formidable opponents in midfield during Old Firm games during his time with Celtic.
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He squared up to one of them – former Rangers enforcer Alex Rae – during a friendly game of five-a-side football recently and found that his old sparring partner had lost none of his competitive instincts.
“When I was playing, I knew I had to be ready when the Rangers game came around,” he said. “I started against the likes of Jorg Albertz, Gio van Bronckhorst and Barry Ferguson, then it was Mikel Arteta or Alex Rae.
“Funnily enough, I played five-a-sides with Alex Rae the other week. And he still kicked the s** out of me! But that’s Alex. I went round the keeper and he literally cleaned me out. Then he goes: ‘There are no fouls in five-a-sides, Stan’. That’s what you expect, that aggression.”
However, the 105-times capped was astonished at how much time and space Scott Brown, Olivier Ntcham, Callum McGregor, Kieran Tierney and Tom Rogic got in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final as they romped to an emphatic 4-0 triumph.
He said: “Do you see those kind of battles now? No. I’m sure Scott Brown would like to have a battle because he is that kind of player. But just now he is playing very relaxed. He can play at 50 per cent of his ability because there is nothing against him.”
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