Rangers and Celtic meet again on Sunday, and for once the League Cup feels like the undercard rather than the main event. Derek McInnes takes his Rangers side into a Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Martin O’Neill’s Celtic at Ibrox, live on Premier Sports from noon, in a fixture that carries far more weight than a straightforward run to the semi-finals.
It is the first of two Old Firm derbies inside eight days. Win or lose on Sunday, the same two clubs meet again at Celtic Park the following weekend in the Premiership, meaning this quarter-final also doubles as the first proper form guide for a season that has already thrown up plenty of intrigue at both ends of Glasgow.
A familiar rival in a new dugout
McInnes arrived at Ibrox in June on a three year deal, taking over from Danny Rohl, who left after less than a year in charge to join RB Salzburg. For McInnes, a boyhood Rangers supporter and former player at the club, it was described at the time as the natural next step after two impressive years at Hearts, where he had come agonisingly close to something remarkable.
Last season, McInnes took Hearts to second place in the Premiership, only to be denied the title on the final day by Celtic. The manager on the other side that afternoon was Martin O’Neill. Four months on, the pair find themselves plotting against each other again, only this time from the Rangers and Celtic dugouts.
McInnes’s start at Ibrox has not been entirely smooth. Rangers dropped points in their opening two league matches and were eliminated from the Conference League before finding their feet with three straight domestic wins over Aberdeen, Falkirk and Motherwell. Those results have lifted the mood around the club, even if Rangers still sit just behind the top two on goal difference having lost early ground. McInnes reached the last eight of the League Cup with a 5-1 win over St Mirren, his first competitive victory in the job, and has since praised midfielder Dan Neil, calling his display against Motherwell “probably his best performance since he came to the club,” while Nigerian centre back Emmanuel Fernandez has begun repaying the faith shown in him after a difficult opening few weeks.
The manager’s plans for Sunday have been complicated by the loss of captain Lawrence Shankland, who is expected to be out for up to four months with a hamstring injury and will miss both meetings with Celtic. It is a significant blow. Rangers have already shown a tendency to create chances without taking them, missing several presentable opportunities in the win over Motherwell, and losing their most experienced forward option for the visit of Celtic only sharpens that concern.
O’Neill’s remarkable third coming
If McInnes represents a fresh start at Ibrox, O’Neill’s position at Celtic Park tells an entirely different story. The 74 year old is now in his third spell in charge of the club, and the route back to the dugout has been anything but conventional.
Brendan Rodgers resigned in October last year with Celtic eight points behind Hearts in the league, following a Champions League qualifying exit and public friction with the club’s board. O’Neill returned on an interim basis alongside Shaun Maloney, before Celtic handed the permanent job to Wilfried Nancy in December, fresh from MLS Cup success with Columbus Crew. Nancy lasted barely a month before he was dismissed in January, and it was O’Neill who was asked to step back in for a second time.
What followed was one of the more remarkable turnarounds in recent Scottish football. O’Neill closed an eight point gap to win the Premiership on the final day against Hearts, then added the Scottish Cup with victory over Dunfermline at Hampden Park. In June, having twice come back from outside the building to rescue the club’s season, he agreed to stay on a permanent basis, signing a one year deal with the option of a further year. It took his total trophy haul at Celtic to nine, to go with the seven he won during his first spell in charge between 2000 and 2005.
O’Neill’s honesty since returning has been one of the more refreshing aspects of his second act. Celtic remain unbeaten domestically this season and top of the Premiership, but their manager was blunt after a scrappy 1-0 win over St Johnstone in midweek, admitting his side had made scoring “almost impossible” and joking that he thought he could have scored himself at 74. Colombian forward Camilo Duran, who has six goals in nine appearances this season, was absent that night, and his return to full fitness may prove important against a Rangers defence that will already be missing key personnel of its own.
Where both clubs stand now
Neither side arrives at Sunday’s tie in ideal shape, which is part of what makes it such an intriguing contest. Celtic have the better league form and sit top of the table, but O’Neill’s frustration at his side’s finishing suggests there is more improvement to come from a Celtic team that has looked short of its free flowing best in recent weeks. Rangers, by contrast, have needed their recent run simply to get back into contention after a stumbling start, and the loss of Shankland leaves McInnes with a genuine selection puzzle up front.
What is not in doubt is the significance of the occasion. It is McInnes’s first serious cup test since taking charge, against the very manager who denied him a trophy last season, and it arrives just a week before the two sides meet again with league points at stake. For O’Neill, still finding the right blend after a chaotic twelve months behind the scenes at Celtic Park, it is another chance to show why he keeps being trusted with the biggest job in Scottish football.
Ibrox on Sunday will not decide anything beyond a place in the League Cup semi finals, but with both managers still shaping their teams and only a week separating this meeting from the next, it promises to set the tone for a fascinating month of Old Firm football.
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