Celtic and Rangers play ultimate generation game with most unlikely set of characters

For starters, neither is in the rudest of health in the Premiership. It is Hearts who lead at the ten-game juncture, six points clear of Celtic and 11 ahead of Rangers. That gap could be increasing by a further three points this weekend should the Jam Tarts defeat Dundee.

Then there are off-field matters. Both sets of fans have voiced serious displeasure at their hierarchies. There have been protests, demands for the removals of directors and boards. It has left a bitter taste in the mouth.

The only change has come in the dug-out, however. When Rangers and Celtic drew 0-0 at the end of August in the league, with Russell Martin and Brendan Rodgers in charge respectively, only a complete fantasist would have envisioned what will be plated up tomorrow at Hampden in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.

Danny Rohl, a 36-year-old German coach, will pit his Rangers wits against Martin O’Neill in his latest sitting of a previously unfathomable second Celtic stint. At the start of the week, 73-year-old O’Neill’s most likely Hampden invitation was likely to come via punditry, not management.

It is a mouth-watering clash of two generations with a lot at stake. Rohl at least had a little more warning of an Old Firm derby. His counterpart was sipping coffee on Monday afternoon before a phonecall from Celtic shareholder Dermot Desmond changed his world.

Rodgers’ departure means that O’Neill returned to Celtic Park 20 years after his trophy- laden five-year first spell came to an end. The arrangement is designed to be temporary and, with the assistance of Shaun Maloney, his team saw off Falkirk 4-0 on Wednesday night. The wise old man can still turn a trick or two.

Defeat is not on the menu

If that was the entrée in what should be a short-term arrangement, then this is the main course. Losing tomorrow’s match against Rangers cannot be on the menu. O’Neill’s last game against the arch enemy was in April 2005, when goals from Stilyan Petrov gave Celtic a 2-1 win at Ibrox. Rohl wasn’t quite in kindergarten but just 16 at the time, he was sitting exams in Zwickau and preparing for life as a footballer.

Celtic won the battle that day – but not the war. Rangers pipped them to the title by a solitary point. His first experience of the Old Firm derby, in August 2000, was far more significant and paved the way for seismic change within Scottish football.

O’Neill introduced himself to Scotland’s biggest club fixture with a 6-2 win as doubles for Chris Sutton and Henrik Larsson stunned Dick Advocaat’s side. Celtic went on to win the treble – despite losing 5-1 at Ibrox in the subsequent league meeting with Rangers – and have rarely looked back. Having collected only three major trophies in the 1990s, Celtic have won 19 out of 25 titles and 23 cup competitions since O’Neill first arrived.

That game is dubbed ‘Demolition Derby’ by Celtic fans and O’Neill cautioned against a repeat. “Well, replicating that might be extremely difficult, scoring six goals against that side,” smiled O’Neill. “I’d settle for a really lousy 1-0 victory if we could get it.

“Obviously fond memories, it was great. And it did give us a real springboard really, for that season. Because in November time, Rangers took us apart at Ibrox, but I think we had enough self-belief about us that we could withstand that and that’s what happened.

“Some lads come up and say to me, ‘that was a great game’, and they weren’t even born. They tell me their grandfathers and fathers were talking about it. It became a really pivotal match for us, not just that season, but probably for continuing on.”

Trophies galore at Celtic

Celtic have only endured three barren seasons since then and one coincided with a Uefa Cup final appearance under O’Neill. And while current complaints centre around the board more than on-field issues, O’Neill knows that victory at Hampden could have a long-lasting impact.

“This is a big game for us,” he said. “Any Celtic-Rangers game is a big game, but particularly given the circumstances of the recent days, if not weeks, absolutely.”

Across the city, it is a big test for Rohl too. Rangers recorded their first consecutive victories of the season against Kilmarnock and Hibs but this is an altogether different assignment. This will be Rohl’s first Old Firm experience and will call upon experiences from Sheffield derbies and Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund.

“I am very excited,” Rohl said. “I have had some experience but I expect a big, big one on Sunday. To be part of such a game, it’s all or nothing. You win, you go into the final, you lose, you’re out. I think everything is on for a great, great game.

“A win would be a big result and we could cap a great week with three wins in a row, I think it would be fantastic. And, of course, you feel it today as well in a meeting room. You feel it on the pitch and a dressing room. At the moment, the positive energy is really big, the belief is there.”

The result has the potential to frame the rest of the year, with European commitments and Hearts to chase down. Two men at very different stages of their career will not want to make a meal of it.