Little At Stake Yet Loaded With Meaning For Old Firm Managers

Scottish Premiership: Rangers v Celtic

Venue: Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Date: Sunday, 4 May Time: 12:00 BST

Coverage: Listen connected BBC Radio Scotland & Sounds, unrecorded matter commentary connected nan BBC Sport website & app, highlights connected BBC Scotland from 19:15

With his last Old Firm crippled looming into view, legendary Rangers head Walter Smith admitted he was "delighted" to beryllium leaving nan Glasgow derby firepit.

It was 2011, coming astatine a clip erstwhile status was connected nan sky and erstwhile off-field matters were dominating nan headlines. The second emphasising his desire to telephone it a day.

It is improbable Smith's erstwhile skipper Barry Ferguson will want Sunday to beryllium his past sensation of a fixture that intends everything successful Glasgow but counts for small connected this occasion.

Celtic's latest title success, their 13th successful 14 seasons, has near a bitter sensation successful Ferguson's rima arsenic nan interim caput coach prepares for what whitethorn beryllium his last crippled against nan champions, pinch nan Ibrox club's incoming paymasters expected to make sweeping changes.

As a erstwhile Rangers skipper, Ferguson knows nan fixture wrong out, having made his derby debut successful nan midfield boiler room alongside Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Jorg Albertz successful 1998. He knows what wins complete their neighbours tin do erstwhile it comes to longevity successful nan post.

But, contempt ending an almost five-year hold for a triumph astatine Celtic Park nan past clip they locked horns, Ferguson's short stint successful nan hotseat looks to beryllium coming to an extremity pinch inauspicious results elsewhere and an inability to triumph astatine home.

Putting it up to Celtic has not been Rangers' problem successful caller months.

They person won nan past 2 derbies and were a punishment shootout distant from winning nan League Cup against Brendan Rodgers' broadside successful December.

They person scored 3 goals successful 3 successive games against their aged rivals for nan first clip since 2002 and are chasing a 3rd consecutive triumph complete them successful nan aforesaid play for nan first clip since 1996-97.

And yet it feels for illustration Rangers are arsenic acold down Celtic arsenic they've ever been.

Goals person rained successful connected them and points person been shed against nan different Premiership sides pinch staggering regularity.

Rangers person only scored erstwhile successful their erstwhile six games astatine Ibrox and arsenic staggering is nan truth they person conceded astatine slightest doubly successful 11 of their past 13 overall.

For Rodgers and his team, location will beryllium a determination, if not a desperation, to travel retired connected top.

Yes, nan title has been wrapped up pinch easiness yet again. But those 2 defeats to Rangers will irk nan Celtic boss. There was a clip erstwhile nan result of these games indicated wherever nan title was going, that has not been nan lawsuit this term.

Rodgers' Old Firm grounds still stands supra each others and that is thing he will want to maintain.

He likes to person records successful mind arsenic he goes on and 1 still to execute is beating nan 106 goals his invincible broadside scored successful 2016-17 during his maiden play astatine Parkhead. Celtic are 5 distant from achieving that having scored 5 successful each of their past 3 matches.

Having secured honour number 11 arsenic Celtic boss, Rodgers has moved himself into sixth spot successful Scottish Football's managerial rotation of honour. He now stands down only Willie Maley, Bill Struth, Jock Stein, Smith and Scot Symon. The second 2 are catchable if Rodgers plans connected sticking astir for nan adjacent fewer seasons.

For Ferguson, he has 3 much chances to registry a triumph astatine Ibrox pinch nan nine mounting an unwanted benchmark of six location games without one.

The 47-year-old will person spent galore a nighttime since replacing Phillipe Clement wondering why this group of players tin hit Celtic doubly yet suffer to Queen's Park, St Mirren, Motherwell and Hibernian connected their ain patch.

Not each of those person travel connected his watch but Ferguson knows it is simply a level of ignominy that won't lavation astatine Rangers and if it is to beryllium nan extremity of his spell successful charge, he will personally want a 100% grounds from his games against Celtic.

Whatever nan result of this one, it won't registry connected nan Richter standard but nan building "dead rubber" doesn't really use erstwhile it comes to these champion of enemies.