Gerrard and Lennon on personal missions
Rangers manager pursues his first Ibrox silverware Celtic leader chases club’s 10th trophy in succession
Today’s Old Firm collision at Hampden in the Betfred Cup final is the most anticipated showdown between Glasgow’s arch foes for many years and the occasion is profoundly resonant for Steven Gerrard and Neil Lennon.
Gerrard is within touching distance of his first trophy as a manager, to add to a galactic collection of playing honours with Liverpool. Lennon aims to add to his own substantial haul of medals, both as a player and in his second spell in charge in the east end of Glasgow, by annexing the single piece of domestic silverware that has eluded him as a manager. Personal ambitions aside, however, the Scottish League Cup has become an immense signifier on both sides of this ancient schism.
Celtic seek an unprecedented 10th successive domestic trophy, while Rangers crave an end to the exile from honours that stretches back to 2011, when they edged the Scottish title by a single point from the Hoops. The green half of Glasgow considers the subsequent financial implosion at Ibrox as proof of divine wrath triggered by profligate and improper financial practices.
The Light Blue faithful perceive their monetary meltdown as an unforgivable betrayal by bankers and greedy charlatans – categories that overlap in this instance – and desperately desire proof that Gerrard has brought them out of the shadow of their rivals’ relentless triumphalism.
Celtic’s superior resources, amassed during Rangers’ absence, will probably underwrite a ninth successive title this season, but a trophy at Ibrox would be seen as evidence of substantial progress in remedying the imbalance.
As always, resolution will take the form of individual contests amid the bedlam. In Alfredo Morelos – with 25 goals this season – Rangers have the pre-eminent scorer on either side, but the Colombian has never found the mark in a derby. Odsonne Edouard (14 goals) has missed three games through injury but, in his absence, James Forrest has reached 13 goals and Ryan Christie has overtaken the French striker with his 16.
If the three are reunited at Hampden, Rangers will have a hard task to keep them at bay. In Christie’s case, inRangers creased firepower has been a consequence of Lennon’s tactical astuteness.
“The gaffer told me at the start of the season that he saw me playing a little more pushed on, just behind the striker,” said the midfielder. “Playing in that position you need to score and create but when you are playing in a team like Celtic, you are always going to get two or three chances in a game.”
Not that Christie’s success has endeared him to Edouard. “He doesn’t take it very well. He’s the same as me, he just wants to score,” Christie said.
Celtic’s ravenous appetite is ominous for Rangers’ central defence, exposed as vulnerable away to Hamilton, Feyenoord and at Aberdeen, where a 2-2 midweek draw cost Gerrard’s players their points parity with Celtic.
Connor Goldson’s partnership with Filip Helander has looked shaky and evoked memories of the Goldson error which gifted a goal to Celtic when lost 2-0 at Ibrox in the first derby of the season.
“If I have a bad game, if I make mistakes, it’s due to me being a human being and not being the best central defender in the world, which I know I’m obviously not,” Goldson said. “But, over the course of a season, I try to limit them as much as I can and stay as professional as I can.”
Asked for his reflections on the home defeat by Celtic, the 26-year-old said: “It was a game of hardly anything, truthfully – a mistake for the first goal by myself and, apart from that, it was a scrappy Old Firm derby.
“Since then, we haven’t lost a game domestically. Confidence is high. Whatever team is picked, it’s a cup final and it’s completely different from any other game we’ll play as professional footballers.”
If that much is a truism, it has imprinted itself on Gerrard, with his long experience of the Merseyside rivalry. “This derby is more intense in terms of the media coverage. There’s a lot more attention on these two clubs rather than it being spread out over six to eight clubs in England,” he said.
“We’re a different team compared to the one I inherited, but we’re nowhere near the finished article. There’s still a massive job to do here and we still want to add people to give us an even better chance but, as you improve and progress, it’s happening in other places.
“It’s moments and days like Sunday that decide whether this will go well or not.”