Gap in resources has grown enormously between Celtic & Rangers and other Premiership teams | OneFootball

Celtic sealed a 3-2 win over Rangers last weekend that extended their lead to 12 points at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.

With just seven games remaining in the season, it will be a miracle if the Hoops don’t end up winning the title.

Even if Rangers had won the Old Firm derby, Ange Postecoglou’s side would still have been fancied to get the job done.

Celtic have lost just once in the Scottish top flight since September 2021.

Rangers have won all their league matches except against Cetlic since Michael Beale took as manager last November last year.

The two clubs have once again dominated in the Scottish Premiership and will finish a long way clear of their rivals.

Judging by financial figures published by The Athletic, things are unlikely to change in Scotland for the foreseeable future.

In 1994, Rangers had the largest wage budget at £7.4 million with Celtic in second at £4.9m. Aberdeen and Hearts were spending £2.9m and £2m respectively at that time.

The gap has now grown enormously with the Old Firm clubs spending over five times more than the others.

Celtic’s wage bill currently stands at £58.9m and Rangers’ is £54.8m, while Aberdeen and Hearts are spending £10.3m and £11.2m respectively.

Those figures have created a massive disparity on the pitch, with the rest of the Scottish Premiership unable to compete with the big two.

Hearts have lost their last seven games to Rangers by an aggregate scoreline of 20-1 and their last eight to Celtic by 22-8, highlighting the imbalance.

Quite what Scottish football can do to rectify matters is anyone’s guess, but the current state of play is undoubtedly not healthy.