Old Firm clash sees Rangers and Celtic in crisis ahead of decisive derby

Minutes after the final whistle sounded on Rangers’ 6-0 capitulation to Club Brugge on Wednesday, a banner was hung from the famous gates at Ibrox.

“Get him out now before the seats are empty,” it read, giving a resounding verdict on Russell Martin and a clear warning of what would follow if the head coach’s dismal tenure continued.

The Rangers hierarchy might be mindful of the threat ahead of the visit of Celtic but it’s almost unheard of for there to be empty seats in this fixture. Could things already be at the point where fans vote with their feet?

Usually, the first meeting between Celtic and Rangers in any season is one where ambitions are judged and the swaggering confidence from one side or the other is given a reality check. Rarely do both sides go into the fixture in crisis.

This week’s European results have put the Glasgow giants squarely into that category though. While the reasons for and manner of their Champions League play-off exits may differ, the result is the same, and both clubs are bruised and in dire need of a positive result to change the narrative.

Celtic suffered a painful Champions League exit at the hands of Kairat Almaty. SNS Group

Celtic were the first to suffer this week, when their long trip to Kazakhstan resulted in a penalty shoot-out defeat to a Kairat Almaty side who were ranked 315th in Europe. Champions League hopes over, a likely £40m in earnings lost.

A grim performance that lacked inventiveness and any semblance of goal threat had seen the teams draw 0-0 after 90 minutes, and then extra time, before three Celtic players failed to net their penalties in the shoot-out. Celtic paid the price for not making the most of home advantage the week before, though most saw their exit as the costly consequence of transfer inactivity and a failure to strengthen the squad over at least two windows.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has spent the summer fending off questions about his growing frustrations at the club not adding the quality he wants to raise the side to the levels they hit last year, and beyond. However, after the goalless first leg and then Tuesday’s painful defeat, that shunted the team into the Europa League, the Northern Irishman was much more pointed in linking the disappointment with Celtic’s underwhelming recruitment this year.

Fan anger at the board’s transfer strategy means the Parkhead hierarchy will shoulder the blame for the European embarrassment but Rodgers will know that he can get more out of the players he has. The arrival of Michel-Ange Balikwisha from Royal Antwerp on Wednesday adds to his options and could allow the manager to add a fresh face to his starting line-up.

Nothing would lift spirits and restore confidence more than a win at the home of their rivals and if, as expected, a few new faces arrive to bolster the side, then going into September with a nine-point gap over Rangers and a strengthened squad could allow Rodgers to look forward with optimism.

Failure to win would open up fresh comparisons with last year’s side, who lifted two domestic trophies as well as reaching the Champions League knock-out stages.

Apart from the Scottish Cup final defeat to Aberdeen, the other disappointment for fans would have been the team’s derby record. After comfortably winning the first meeting of the sides and then edging out their rivals in the League Cup final, Celtic lost 3-0 at Ibrox in January, 3-2 at home to their rivals in March, and 1-1 in Govan in the final derby of the season.

Those Rangers sides, under the management of Philippe Clement and then Barry Ferguson, looked stronger than Russell Martin’s side does on current showing, so there’s a sense that Celtic have a great opportunity to get back to winning form in the fixture some fans value over all others.

If, on the other hand, they fail to get the better of what appears to be a dysfunctional Rangers side, Rodgers may find it’s him and his players rather than the board that is questioned by the fans. Regardless of transfer activity, it’s a game where a positive result is demanded, especially against wounded opposition.

In the bigger picture, Rodgers is in the final year of his contract, hasn’t yet been offered a new deal and an appetite for more may hinge on how successful the team is. With the Champions League off the table, it’s even more important to maintain a stranglehold on the Premiership and the result of the opening derby can set the tone from here on in.

One factor that could have been a concern for Celtic might have been the lingering effects of a long, and undoubtedly miserable, flight back from Kazakhstan. But the squad kept to UK time, played a day before their rivals and Rangers played almost 90 minutes with ten men in their own game.

Russell Martin is under huge pressure after a humiliating defeat in Belgium. SNS Group

For Rangers fans, the new season has proven to be a nightmare so far, and Wednesday’s horrendous display in Belgium has added even more significance to Sunday.

The arrival of the new American ownership early in the summer meant that a support that’s felt frustrated by an endless cycle of managerial change and disappointment could dream of domestic dominance again. And though Russell Martin’s appointment was met with hostility from some in the Rangers support, the San Francisco 49ers and Leeds United owners were entitled to feel their selection was due a fair crack of the whip.

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh and vice-chairman Paraag Marathe are flying in to see their first Old Firm game as owners, and it could be uncomfortable viewing if a furious Rangers support has more reason to make their feelings known.

Martin will only have been head coach for 86 days when the teams kick off on Sunday but results so far mean defeat on Sunday would leave few willing to bet he could last many more. Paul Le Guen’s infamous time as boss at Rangers lasted 240 days, and Pedro Caixinha’s disastrous reign lasted 227. It says everything about Martin’s time in charge so far that fans are calling for him to be sacked already.

Going into Wednesday’s match against Club Brugge, Rangers had only won three of nine matches under Martin, and had begun their Premiership campaign with a trio of 1-1 draws. The former Southampton boss had seen some calamitous defending and some poor performances, none more so than in the first leg against the Belgian side last week, when Rangers were 3-0 down within 20 minutes after gifting goals to the opposition.

Martin had expressed confidence that his side could turn the tie around. He had told fans that improving the team and delivering success could only come after some initial “pain”. After what was eventually a 3-1 first leg defeat, he said he had told the players “we’ll make sure that’ll be the hardest it’ll ever be for them as a group”.

In the Jan Breydelstadion, there was more pain and it was excruciating. Club Brugge scored with ease to effectively wrap up the tie with a fifth-minute goal. Max Aarons, one of eight new signings in the Rangers starting line-up, committed a needless foul that saw him sent off after eight minutes.

By the time it got to half-time, when Martin made a trio of changes and set his side up more defensively, Rangers were 5-0 down and staring at one of the worst European results in their history. Getting to full-time having only conceded once more was as much down to Brugge treating what should have been a nervy match as a training session, than it was to any improvement from the visitors.

Martin apologised to fans for what he said was a “humiliating and painful” loss and the reaction from supporters has been overwhelmingly negative.

“He has to go,” one supporter told STV. “I genuinely think it’s too big for him,” said another.

One laid out the importance of the derby and how it could be decisive. “If they lose on Sunday, how can he stay?” he asked.

The Rangers Supporters Association, founded in 1946, commented on social media, saying: “It is our considered view that the current head coach should be relieved of his duties with immediate effect.”

Martin won’t be welcomed with any warmth on Sunday as he walks into a match that looks set to define his time at Rangers.

Supporters aren’t just furious with results, and most accept that it takes time to change the direction of a team and deliver on a long-term vision. Their issue is that things appear to be worse instead of getting better, with no indication that what Martin says bears any resemblance to how things are unfolding.

The head coach needs a win and he has major decisions to make ahead of Sunday. Benching Belgium international Nicholas Raskin, last season’s stand-out player, has been a gamble that hasn’t paid off, has further irritated fans, and increased speculation about the midfielder’s future.

Many supporters could have understood captain James Tavernier’s eased out of the first-team picture as part of a new era, but Max Aarons has not looked like an upgrade, and his midweek red card raised questions about his decision-making in big games, right before a massive fixture.

For all of the issues, and all of the pressure, Martin believes he can win over the fan base and when asked how to do that he answered “By winning games”.

That’s easier said than done. Even those who believe the manager and his new-look side need to be given more time would concede that a team that’s failed to defeat Motherwell, Dundee and St Mirren on league duty this month will have to seriously up their game to defeat the title holders. And allowing a nine-point gap to open up could kill their title hopes before August is even over.

They may be aided by a new arrival if Bojan Miovski’s transfer from Girona can be completed in time to add a proven Premiership goalscorer to the side. But much more will be needed.

Defensive stability will be the basis of any improvement and there can be no recurrence of the simple mistakes that have been the hallmark of Martin’s side so far. A midfield that looked lightweight and lacking in combative attitude will need to stand up in a fixture that demands controlled aggression as a bare minimum. And up front, while Djeidi Gassama has proven himself to be the pick of the new additions, others will need to rise to the occasion and provide some punch.

Oliver Antman looked a promising signing after an impressive debut but has been a muted presence on the wing since. Nasser Djiga has gone from looking comfortable to cumbersome in the heart of the defence.

The very least that both sets of fans will demand is for there to be a visible reaction to the midweek defeats, and a determination to assert domestic superiority after the European pain.

The anxiety and anger in the support sets up what’s likely to be an intense atmosphere in a fixture that’s already renowned for a feisty mood and it could come down to which set of players handle the big occasion.

Either side could come out with a crucial win that changes the mood around their club and heaps misery and pressure on the other.

When the seats finally empty at full time on Sunday, we’ll know if the crisis continues for Rangers, the despair deepens at Celtic, or a stalemate amplifies the angst on both sides on derby day.