Why this Rangers v Celtic derby is shaped by shortcomings as Rodgers and Beale try to escape thermonuclear fall-out

Beale’s reconstructed Ranges side limp into an encounter where they will have the whole of Ibrox backing them, and on their backs, courtesy of Celtic’s refusal to accept 700 away tickets. The 5-1 cuffing by PSV in Eindhoven that ended their interest in the Champions League was the Ibrox club’s biggest loss in a European qualifier across more than six decades of continental competition. Of their nine new signings, only keeper Jack Butland has fully convinced, and with the opening day defeat to Kilmarnock, they have already suffered Premiership pain.

As is true for Rodgers’ in-flux Celtic. Much of that physical, centre-backs Cameron Carter-Vickers, Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh and playmaker Reo Hatate sidelined by injury. It remains to be seen if their captures of centre-back Nat Phillips, midfielder Paulo Bernardo – both on loan – and £3.5m attacker Luis Palma across the closing days of the window will bring instant debuts for any of the trio. Or whether the Northern Irishman, in his opening second-stint experience of a fixture he dominated across his glittering first spell, will have to rely on the largely untried and untrusted central defensive pairing of Gustaf Lagerbielke and Liam Scales. No department of his team has functioned smoothly in recent weeks. A period that witnessed the end of Rodgers’ midas touch snaring Scottish silverware with the 1-0 reverse at Kilmarnock to dump them out of the Viaplay Cup. A bitter pill followed by an unpalatable scoreless draw at home to St Johnstone. Blanks that mean should they not score in the derby it will become the first three-game domestic run without a goal for any Celtic team since 1994.

Both Beale and Rodgers know what is at stake, and the present status of their sides. A win would ensure that the one leads the other – Celtic with the chance to stay top and move four points ahead of their rivals, while Rangers could be two points to the good of the Scottish champions, looking down on them for the first time since Beale’s arrival last December. But even success won’t make everything alright for supports that have been left suspicious and sensing dangers owing to what their teams have produced thus far. In a campaign still very much in its infancy. Rodgers has suggested Celtic’s problems are easily fixable. That remains to be seen. But the fact he only took charge again in the summer, and could be forced to field – after Phillips’ arrival – his fourth and sixth-choice centre-backs, puts more onus on Beale to carry the day on his own environs. And move on from a PSV pounding he acknowledges really stung.

“Both teams are a bit in transition, maybe ours even more so because we lost most of our front players over the summer,” he said. “We brought new ones in and it’s still early in their time. [To be ahead of Celtic] would be a nice position to be in going into the international break. That was always the aim. If we go into the break in front, it would be a good start to the season. Then we’ll have to work really hard for two weeks because we have five games in 15 days including Europe and a cup quarter-final. Time for a big reflection will be on Monday morning when we come out of the Celtic game. We’ll really assess our work up to this point. We wanted to be in the Champions League and Wednesday was the first one I’ve experienced that was a big disappointment in terms of the gulf in level between the two teams.”

Beale confessed it is tough to escape the pressures of the job in such weeks. Which he does by retreating to his country abode and doing dad duties with his young family. “When we lose a game the noise is big,” he said, appreciating there is no middle ground when managing one of Scotland’s big two. “It’s the same passion that makes the two clubs what they are. I know that. It’s a huge rivalry which has a religious background, which always adds more to it. Because I don’t follow that, it’s not something big for me. But I understand it’s been borne through generations. I’m getting to the stage where I should know how it looks.”

Rodgers lost only the last of the 13 derbies he contested in his first spell, between 2016 and 2018. But the book is firmly closed on that era of seven-straight trophies. “I’m still finding out about this group,” he said. “That’s exciting in its own way. They’re not born as a good team, they have to grow to become that. A number of these players did the treble last year but if you look at it, it’s a different group. Players want to move on and you have to regenerate the team. The cycle begins again. Listen, we’ve obviously some players out. However, the players that are there and playing, I will learn a lot from. It’s about the courage to play, to take the ball, to take responsibility, especially when you have no supporters there. I’ll learn a lot for sure.”