After winning Scottish Premiership title in his debut season at Celtic, Brendan Rodgers expressed his belief that the Bhoys would finish in the top six of the Premier League.
“Could we play in the Premier League? Yes, we could,” Rodgers said, per the Daily Mail.
“I have absolutely no doubt about it because we've got the Celtic factor. We have 60,000 every other week. Without the money alone, this team would compete in the Premier League.
“This is Celtic. This is one of the great iconic clubs in the world so there is no doubt that with this group we could go in [and compete for the top six].”
Many people scoffed at the former Liverpool manager’s comments. The quality of football in Scotland is considerably worse than the standard in England’s top flight and Celtic’s nearest challengers, Aberdeen, are 25 points behind them.
Of course, we can only guess how Celtic would fare in the Premier League. There is talk that the Scottish champions and their rivals Rangers could join a new ‘fifth division’ in England but that’s a long way away from happening.
How would Rangers and Celtic get on?
YouTuber ‘Hepic’ has used FIFA 17 to estimate how Scotland’s two biggest clubs would get on south of the border.
Hepic put Rangers and Celtic in the Premier League and tracked their progress over 11 seasons. The results were very interesting.
Watch the video to find out just how Rangers and Celtic got on.
Video: Celtic and Rangers in the Premier League
The results
Celtic performed much better than their rivals, although Rodgers’ prediction of a top six finish didn’t come true. Relegated in their second season, they returned to the top flight in season four and made great strides thereafter, finishing 10th in their 10th season.
But Celtic’s progress came to a shattering end in the 11th season when they finished bottom of the table. They also lost the EFL Cup final to Swansea City - double heartache.
Rangers struggled
As for Rangers, they finished 20th in the Premier League in their first season but were promoted, via the playoffs, in the third season. They lasted just one season before returning to the Championship and would never return to the top flight.
The best it got for the Gers, besides their promotion, was an appearance in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup in the fifth season.