The William Hill Premiership game between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox this afternoon was tipped, with each side desperate for victory after their midweek humiliations in Europe and both sets of supporters on the brink of revolt, to be explosive.
To say that it failed to live up to its pre-match billing is something of an understatement.
Russell Martin’s team drew 0-0 with Brendan Rodgers side – the first stalemate between the age-old adversaries since 2017 – in a live televised clash which was high on tension but low on quality.
Here are five talking points from a hugely disappointing encounter in Govan.
Desperate derby
It may be because so many signings have come in during the summer and these new-look teams need time to gel. It might be because it is still so early in the 2025/26 campaign. It could, in the case of Rangers, be because Martin has just taken over as manager and is still trying to implement his ideas.
But the first meeting of the season between the two Glasgow giants was, whatever the reason, absolutely dire.
The Old Firm game is often, due to the intensity of the ancient rivalry, described as being one of world football’s greatest derby matches. But the calibre of fare on the field in it is increasingly leaving much to be desired.
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There were some cracking, exciting clashes between Celtic and Rangers last season. But the standard of play in these games is deteriorating by the year. Lovers of football metrics would have been stunned that these two teams recorded xG ratings of 0.16 and 0.17.
Will matters improve? It would be no bad thing for Scottish football if they could raise their games somewhat. This was a poor advertisement for our national sport. Goodness only knows what Sir Alex Ferguson and Graeme Souness, who took in the action from the main stand, thought of it all.
Malfunctioning midfield
Celtic’s midfield dominance in this fixture is now a thing of the past. The Parkhead club used to, thanks to the technical expertise and football intelligence of Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor and Matt O’Riley, boss the boiler room and control the majority of their meetings with their city rivals as a result.
But in the past season Rangers have been more than a match for them in that all-important area. That was very much the case today. Hatate, McGregor and Arne Engels toiled against Thelo Aasgaard, Connor Barron and Mohamed Diomande. The lopsided make-up of their team may have been the issue.
Benjamin Nygren and Daizen Maeda were played out of position on the wing and at striker once again. Both men buzzed about enthusiastically and had their moments. But Rodgers’ side were not the well-oiled machine they have been on so many occasions during his two tenures.
Maeda moved out wide and Nyrgen slotted into the playmaker position behind the lone striker when Shin Yamada and James Forrest came on in the second half. But the replacements made little difference.
Would Adam Idah, who was absent from his squad having been down in Wales to complete a medical with Swansea City this weekend, have made a difference if he had been involved? Those who suggested so were clutching at straws given how ineffectual the Republic of Ireland internationalist has been in recent weeks. But it all seems a little dysfunctional.
Damp squib debutants
There were derby debuts for new Rangers players Nasser Djiga, Aasgaard, Djeidi Gassama, Jayden Meghoma and Mikey Moore and Celtic summer signing Nygren.
But the home and away supporters were most intrigued by the players who were making their first appearances for their sides after being signed on Friday and Saturday respectively.
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Michel-Ange Balikwisha, the Belgian winger who joined in a £5m move from Royal Antwerp, slotted straight into the visitors’ line-up on the left of the front three as Yang Hyun-jun dropped to the bench.
Meanwhile, Bojan Miovski, the former Aberdeen striker, was deployed up front for the hosts even through he had only taken part in a single training session with his new team mates.
The duo are by no means the first to make their bows in the fixture. But would they be able to make a difference for their sides so soon after stepping off the plane? Neither man really did.
There were appeals for a penalty early on when Miovski went down following contact from Liam Scales. But referee Don Robertson and VAR official Andrew Dallas were unimpressed. The North Macedonian worked hard thereafter, but was unable to engineer an opening up front.
Balikwisha was fine. He did what he could with the limited service he received before being replaced by Forrest. Marcelo Saracchi, the Uruguayan left-back who joined from Boca Juniors on loan this weekend, took over from Kieran Tierney with 20 minutes of regulation time remaining.
He gifted Rangers a free-kick in a dangerous area with a needless challenge on Findlay Curtis and was fortunate the opposition didn’t capitalise on it. There will be more to come from the new boys. There will have to be.
Robust Rangers
It says much about where Rangers are at the moment that a 0-0 draw with Celtic is viewed as a step in the right direction.
The manager brought back right-back James Tavernier and midfielder Diomande and both players acquitted themselves well. The home side were far more robust than they have been in previous outings.
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But they failed, for all the pressure they enjoyed, to get a solitary shot on target. The goal that John Souttar scored was disallowed after a VAR check showed the centre-half had been offside when his captain had supplied him.
Rangers, who have won just three of their 11 games this term, have still made their worse start since 1983. Their manager acknowledged following the final whistle that his side needs to start scoring goals, winning games and climbing the table and he was not wrong.
Fan frustration
The unhappiness that exists among both the Rangers and Celtic supports about the stewardship of their clubs in the wake of their Champions League exits to Club Brugge and Kairat was apparent throughout the game.
Banners unfurled by Rangers fans in the Copland Stand at Ibrox read "We Deserve Better - Enough is Enough" and "Martin and Co Must Go". There were pictures of manager Martin and chief executive Patrick Stewart on stop signs.
Not to be outdone, their counterparts, around 2,500 of whom were billeted in the corner between the Sandy Jardine Stand and the Broomloan Stand, held up pictures of their major shareholder Dermot Desmond, chairman Peter Lawwell and chief executive Michael Nicholson behind stop signs.
Chants in support of Nico Raskin, the Belgian midfielder who was missing from the squad and who had allegedly been told to stay away from the stadium after a fallout with his manager, were started by the Union Bears ultras group midway through the first half.
What transpired during the course of the 90 minutes will not have done a great deal to placate them or convince them that better times lie ahead. Both Celtic and Rangers have much work to do to win around their followers around in the weeks and months ahead.
