Celtic icon Frank McAvennie has slammed Rangers’ performance in their 3-0 defeat at Parkhead, calling it their worst display at the ground in years. He also criticised Ibrox legend Graeme Souness, accusing him of “trying to put a different spin on it” in his post-match analysis.
McAvennie was left stunned by how poorly Philippe Clement’s side played in Glasgow’s east end and backed former Rangers striker Kris Boyd for his brutally honest assessment in the Sky Sports studio. Boyd didn’t hold back, stating that Celtic’s substitutes were better than half of Rangers’ starting line-up.
However, Souness took a more optimistic approach, downplaying the significance of the gap between the two sides.
He echoed the same statistics as Gers boss Clement, which seemed to suggest that Celtic’s display wasn’t as dominant as the scoreline suggested.
On paper, the stats showed that Rangers were closer to their rivals than the 3-0 scoreline might have indicated.
Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie said: “Honestly, if it was a boxing match it would have been stopped. Celtic battered them. It’s the worst I’ve seen from a Rangers team, they never laid a glove on Celtic, it’s the worst I’ve seen from them at Celtic Park for a long time.
“Kris Boyd said it perfectly. When Celtic played Rangers, it doesn’t matter when, you’d say four or five of the Celtic team would get in the Rangers team, and four or five of the Rangers team would get into Celtic. Not one Rangers player from that game at the weekend would get in the Celtic team. Not one.
“They can wrap that up any way you want, it was Kris Boyd that said that and it was very honest, it’s the first time I’ve seen it because he was hurting. Boyd was hurting at the weekend and quite rightly because it was a bad performance. I’m a footballer, Kris Boyd is a footballer, Souness is trying to put a different spin on it.”