I’ve seen a lot of chat about what the future of Scottish domestic football could look like. Single club dominance has been a large feature of Scottish football, both Celtic and Rangers have had long periods of being head and shoulders above the rest but the discussion of what comes next is interesting so I’m going to go over it.
Keeping the Status Quo
Celtic having won 14 of the last 15 league titles, have had an extended period of dominance within Scottish football in recent times even by Old Firm standards of being on top.
However there is a lot of uncertainty around the club at the moment, the never ending civil war between the fans and the board has no real sign of stopping and a manager who we can assume won’t be there next season and a lot of key players coming towards the end of their careers.
Martin O’Neill at 74-years-old can’t be the long term plan for the Celtic board but he does buy them time to identify their new longer term manager for years to come.
The likes of Callum McGregor and James Forrest both well into their 30s they’re going to have to be replaced but with no head of recruitment it’s unknown how well the club is set to replace them.
The board continue to have every move they make forensically analysed by the fans as some sections of the support have committed to boycotting cup and European home games in protest of what they feel is an unambitious board who are holding the club back.
For Celtic to maintain their dominance in the Scottish game in my opinion they will have to find their new manager, their leader that can forge the team into their image, and play a way the Celtic fans can get behind.
Next they need to get the recruitment right which would mean hiring a head of recruitment which they haven’t had since they sacked Paul Tisdale on the 5th January 2025.
However all of this would mean that Celtic would continue to win trophies and therefore the board would stay and honestly I’m not sure if Celtic fans would be happy with trophies with no movement in the board.
I honestly feel that if Hearts had held on to win the league last season Celtic would have got that board change that the fans so desperately want.
If Celtic fans want that change in the board they’re going to have to see some trophyless seasons to put the needed financial pressure on the board to make them think running Celtic isn’t financially viable anymore.
But regardless of that, despite the unstable outlook of the club it is still possible if the managerial appointment is correct that Celtic could maintain their Scottish football dominance.
A Rangers Revolution
Across the city of Glasgow, things seem a lot less turbulent, Rangers have their long term manager in Derek McInnes, there are no such fans and board issues like Celtic and the average age of the squad is much younger than Celtic’s.
However the one thing Celtic has over Rangers is the winning record, after the departure of James Tavernier there is now no current Rangers player who has experience of winning the Scottish Premiership and the only Scottish major honour winning medals is Nico Raskin, Dujon Sterling, Ross McCausland and John Souttar who all have a league cup winners medal.
Manager Derek McInnes despite his reputation within Scottish football hasn’t got a track record of winning trophies, his only triumph as a manager was also the league cup with Aberdeen back in 2014.
Although McInnes has a knack of punching above his weight with the squads at his disposal, finishing second in the league multiple times with Aberdeen despite a limited budget, taking Kilmarnock from the Championship to European Qualifiers and coming within four minutes of lifting the league title with Hearts.
Rangers have spent a lot of money since the Andrew Cavanagh led and San Francisco 49ers backed consortium took them over on the 30th May 2025. And have now built the squad they feel will start to turn the tide of dominance to Ibrox.
It’s clear to see they’ve invested in young players who can be sold on for a profit in the future just this summer they signed the likes of Olwethu Makhanya at 22-years-old, Kim Mis-su at 20 and Kevin Kelsy also at 22.
If Rangers can avoid the dropping of silly points like they have in previous seasons then they can set the tone for years of dominance of Scottish football.
Although it’s not set in stone that Rangers will become the dominant force in Scottish football in the coming years they certainly seem more stable and set to be that team than their Old Firm rivals at the moment.
A Third Contender
Something a lot of people have been looking for years is for someone to really ask questions of Rangers and Celtic and maybe establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with in Scotland.
The biggest hope for that currently sits with Hearts, they look like they are comfortably stronger than the other clubs in the Scottish Premiership outside of Rangers and Celtic and having come so close to the league title last season they will try to go the extra step in years to come.
Personally I don’t think they look as strong as the team under McInnes last season however with the backing of Tony Bloom and his Jamestown Analytics could they build something?
The next few years will be extremely interesting at the top of Scottish football, it feels like there’s a shift in the power but where will it go, if it goes anywhere?
