Normally Charlie Nicholas has not endeared himself to Celtic fans with his work as a pundit, often picking out holes and highlighting what he sees as problems at the club. But this time, he is backing the Hoops strongly and positively while giving the Rangers a warning about their upcoming Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.

Now that Celtic have a 6 point lead over the Rangers in the Scottish Premiership and are in top form on the pitch, there is plenty to be pleased about, if you are a fan of the Hoops.

Over at Ibrox, it is a much more tense time as the league looks to be slipping away, a tough tie in the Europa League awaits as well as they look to turn around a 1-0 away defeat against SC Braga,  and then, of course, they have to face a strong Celtic side at Hampden Park on Sunday in the Scottish Cup semi-final. It could possibly be their last chance to keep their hopes of silverware alive this season.

As reported by the Scottish Daily Express, Nicholas wrote in his column that Celtic could end the Rangers’ season this weekend by winning at Hampden Park against their Glasgow rivals:

“I reckon Celtic can end Rangers’ season in the Scottish Cup semi-final this weekend.

“I fully expect Celtic to see off Rangers and if they go out of the Europa League on Thursday to SC Braga then it really would be a final blow to their hopes of glory.

“If that is the case then there will be a lot of fingers pointing from the light blue side of the city.”

Nicholas believes Celtic can end Rangers’ season this weekend at Hampden Park

Nicholas does not believe that Giovanni van Bronckhorst is to be blamed and instead points the finger towards the Rangers’ board:

“I wouldn’t blame Giovanni van Bronckhorst. If that was to happen then it is down to the Rangers board and the lack of humility they showed last year.”

Nicholas pointed out how the club failed to strengthen in the summer and he appears to be backing Celtic strongly for this one:

“They failed to strengthen their team adequately after they won the league. They didn’t deliver much in the summer for Steven Gerrard.

“They brought in Aaron Ramsey and a couple of others in January but failed to provide more competition for the central striking option.”

He added:

“It could be that Rangers win in Europe and beat Celtic but I can’t see it.

“I have to say I fancy Celtic really strongly.”

If even Nicholas has been won over by the way Ange Postecoglou’s team are performing this season then things must definitely be going well for them. Of course, predictions matter very little and form often goes out of the window when it comes to Glasgow Derbies. Thus, if Celtic do end up winning, they will have had to earn it on Sunday.

This article was originally posted here