Former Celtic wing-back Didier Agathe feels the Hoops should have made themselves bigger and stronger in Rangers’ absence and have missed a golden opportunity to do so.

The Gers are set to play again in the Scottish Premiership for the first time since they had to start in the fourth tier following their liquidation in 2012.




Even though Celtic have managed to win four league titles on the spin, they are by no means an invincible outfit, which can be highlighted by the fact that they are still battling it out for the Scottish Premiership title with Aberdeen with just six league games remaining in the season.

And Agathe, who thinks Celtic should have heavily invested in the right type of players for the past few seasons, is of the opinion that his former employers have squandered a brilliant chance to make themselves the most powerful club in Scotland by a mile in the absence of Rangers.
 


“They should be bigger and stronger than they ever were”, Agathe, played for Celtic between 2000 and 2006, was quoted as saying by the Herald Scotland.

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“They had a chance to make themselves the biggest club in Scotland for a long time, but, instead, they have tried to not spend so much and you can see what the difference is.

“They should be out of sight from everyone else by now.

“If they had spent money, they knew that they would have a chance of European football every season. With quality players, you can make a mark there. Instead, over the last few years, the quality has not been there to do that.

“It would be a disaster if they do not win the league this season for everyone, but they should never be in this position.

“I love Celtic. I am a Celtic fan, I loved playing with the club and being a Celtic player, so I always want them to be successful and to win. But these last few years should have made them bigger, much bigger, than any other club in the country.

“You have to ask the question – can you expect to have a successful and winning team at the top level if you do not spend money? You need to invest in the right quality of players to get the results that everyone expects from Celtic.”

After Saturday’s league trip to Motherwell, Celtic will face Rangers in a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden on 17th April.