Celtic are making progress on Scotland’s domestic scene, and John McGinn is a fan from a distance.
The Boyhood Celtic fan follows events at Parkhead, Aberdeen, and Rangers.
McGinn will lead Aston Villa against Celtic in the Champions League in January, gaining insight into Brendan Rodgers’ style of play.
Celtic’s four-goal victory over Hearts gave them a three-point lead in the Premiership table, while Aberdeen were defeated at McGinn’s former club, St Mirren.
Rangers dropped points against Dundee United, leaving the Bhoys 11 points ahead of those across the city.
This season, the champions have already won the Glasgow derby comfortably and scored six goals against Aberdeen, with McGinn seeing things clearly.
John McGinn claims Celtic are’streets ahead’ of Rangers and Aberdeen.
There aren’t many weak places in this Celtic squad, so Rodgers can approach the forthcoming January transfer window with confidence.
McGinn stated unequivocally that the double-winners are’streets ahead’ of the rest of the league, and he is not surprised by the Rangers’ poor performance.
Rodgers replaced Ange Postecoglou in the dugout last summer, and McGinn believes Celtic ‘took a bit’ to acclimate to their new manager after Ange left for Tottenham, but are now ‘flying’.
The Villa midfielder also mentioned the ’empty seats’ at Ibrox and how Rangers fans are dissatisfied with what they see from their club, as he told Premier Sports.
“They are flying,” observed McGinn of Celtic. “I believe it took them some time to adjust after Ange left, but they appear to have regained their previous form.
“They’re lightning swift on the break. I believe they are currently far ahead of the rest of the league. Even when teams have their moments, if they don’t capitalize on them, they simply punish you.
On whether he is shocked by Rangers’ distance from Celtic and Aberdeen: “No, I am not after watching some of the games they have played in,” McGinn remarked. “There have been games I have watched that I never thought they could break a team down – I haven’t seen a lot of the games, but what I could see is all the empty seats and I think the fans at Rangers are loyal, it doesn’t matter what division they were in, so I think they have had enough and are looking for a spark or something different.”
Defining Celtic’s year-end
Celtic have some big games coming up, including two Glasgow derbies (the Premiership meeting is on January 2) and a trip to Aberdeen.
By the New Year, Rodgers is certain to have his first trophy of the season and a league lead of more than three points.
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| 1 |  Celtic |
12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 4 | 31 | 34 |
| 2 |  Aberdeen |
12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 12 | 13 | 31 |
| 3 |  Rangers |
12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 23 |
| 4 |  Dundee Utd |
13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 20 |
| 5 |  Motherwell |
12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 19 |
| 6 |  ST Mirren |
14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 23 | -4 | 18 |
If that happens, Celtic will be able to focus more on the Champions League, particularly with two games after the New Year, including a trip to Villa Park.
Even against Hearts, when the Bhoys struggled in the first half, they still managed to score four goals and cruise to victory.
Liam Scales, Alex Valle, and Luke McCowan did not even come off the bench to demonstrate the strength of this team.
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