Surprisingly, given that they could go 19 points clear at the top of the Premiership this weekend and are locked on course for another treble, they have a point to prove to Rangers too. The last two derbies have been tight and competitive, with Rangers doing a solid tactical number on Celtic’s midfield and winning the last game 3-0 at Ibrox. Uncharacteristically Celtic had to suck it up that day. They are the best team in Scotland by a distance but it is not beyond Rangers to give them a game and a fright again this afternoon. Celtic aren’t likely to win on cruise control.
Rodgers against Barry Ferguson does look like a managerial mismatch, regardless of the latter’s fresh Europa League progress, and the fact Rangers were hauled into a two-hour epic and then penalties to overcome Fenerbahce on Thursday night is a factor which suggests they may tire as Celtic come at them at full throttle.
It isn’t always so straightforward, though. Rodgers has slayed one Rangers manager after another. “Over my two spells here I have worked against five Rangers managers and every time Rangers were ‘coming’,” he said, waspishly, after a 2-1 derby win 15 months ago. “If I listened to the media and press then we would be in a constant crisis mode and constant fear of Rangers. But it’s the fifth manager now.” The unspoken message was: and I’ve seen them all off. Actually he has faced Mark Warburton, Graeme Murty, Pedro Caixinha, Murty again, Steven Gerrard, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement with a dizzying record of only two defeats from 21. Ferguson will be the seventh different man he has faced in a Rangers dugout, an incredible churn given that Rodgers has completed only three full seasons in Scotland.
Still, Old Firm games always have the ability to surprise. Rodgers has taken charge of eight of them at Parkhead and the only two he failed to win were against an interim Rangers manager. Ferguson comes equipped today with a more talented and confident squad than Murty had when he took charge of unlikely 1-1 and 0-0 draws in consecutive trips to the east end in 2017. Before the first of those Frank McAvennie had said Celtic might win by seven or eight.
It is also easy to be too emphatic about the consequences of Rangers turning up on a low battery charge after the physically and mentally draining exertions which continued until 61-and-a-half hours before the derby kicks off. The same applied in April, 2022, when they were taken to extra time by Braga on a Thursday night but rallied to come from behind and beat Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden on the Sunday. Somehow they even looked more energetic and powerful than Celtic as the game wore on. They won that one in extra time too.
Rodgers has enjoyed remarkable success against Rangers
STEVE WELSH/PA
Ferguson will have sounded like a broken record to his players about this game: barking into them about desire, competitiveness, aggression and pride. “If a player comes in to me and says he’s tired, they won’t be playing,” he said. “It’s plain and simple. It’s in the head. My brain will be ticking. I know what formation I’m going to go. In terms of personnel there are still a few positions up for grabs.” When Vaclav Cerny’s fitness was queried, given the massive shift he delivered on Thursday and the fact he agreed to be rested for a game in December, citing tiredness, Ferguson said: “‘Vac’ will not be tired. He’s been told that. It’s all in the mind. I’m the only one who can be tired.”
Ferguson should have the wisdom to look calmly at Clement’s game plan in the two recent clashes. Mo Diomande and Nico Raskin closed down Celtic’s number eights and their inverted full backs, which demanded an almighty amount of running from them but did hassle the Celtic team into poor passing. In January’s 3-0 game at Ibrox Rangers also hit the bar and the post; Celtic had one attempt on target.
The presence of 2,400 away fans, the biggest visiting allocation for a Parkhead or Ibrox derby in seven years, will be another galvanising factor for Rangers. They should not need one, given how invigorated they are by still being in Europe with Athletic Bilbao to come in next month’s quarter-finals.
To have a chance, Rangers will have to be as clinical as they were in Istanbul and move the ball faster and with more penetration than they did on Thursday night. The eventual euphoria of winning cannot disguise how mediocre they looked as Fenerbahce got on top of them in the second half before the chaotic free-for-all of extra time. Give the ball away as frequently again and Celtic are likely to be more adept at dishing out punishment. Rangers’ recent record at Parkhead is lamentable. Celtic are rested and prepared and they have a serial tormentor, Jota, back in the derby.
Rodgers description of Rangers’ victory in January — “they stole our game” — was fair enough. Rangers did have all the intensity and the ruthless finishing which is normally associated with Celtic. Rodgers’ team is unlikely to play as poorly again.
Sunday, 12.30pm
TV Sky Sports
