By Alistair Aird
Challenging the Paradigm
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Russell Martin will undergo his Old Firm managerial baptism on Sunday. And recent ragged results, poor, insipid and uninspiring performances and a humiliating drubbing in Belgium mean it will be a fiery one. A record of three wins from his first 10 matches is the worst of any permanent manager in the club’s history, and history doesn’t favour him going into this one either. Only five of his predecessors – Bill Struth, Graeme Souness, Walter Smith, Ally McCoist and Barry Ferguson – have managed to score a victory over Celtic in their first Old Firm league match, and there aren’t many that can foresee Martin adding his name alongside some very esteemed company this weekend. But before we look forward, lets take a look back to how those who have gone before him have fared when they faced Celtic in a league fixture for the first time.
William Wilton Celtic 2 Rangers 2
William Wilton became the first Rangers manager to lead his side into battle against Celtic in a league match. But although the two would often meet early in the season as the years passed, this inaugural Old Firm league match in the inaugural season of the Scottish League took place 13 games into the 18-game season at Parkhead on 21 March 1891.
Going into the game, Rangers were second in the table, two points behind leaders Dumbarton. Celtic, meanwhile, were fourth on nine points. They had played two games fewer than Rangers and had also had four points deducted for fielding ineligible players.
The match report in the North British Daily Mail started by referencing the fact that the match took place at ‘the ground of the Irish combination’, reference to the roots of the hime side perhaps.
After winning the toss, Rangers had a goal ruled out after 15 minutes – John McPherson was deemed to be offside – but broke the deadlock ‘five or six minutes later’ when Neilly Kerr scored with ‘a fast shot.’
Peter Dowds ensured that the score was level at the interval, and he would edge Celtic in front in the second half. But some ‘grand play’ from Rangers eked out an equalising goal, David Hislop the scorer.
Rangers would win four of their last five games, but defeat at home to Celtic proved costly. Rangers and Dumbarton both ended the campaign on 29 points and a play-off at First Cathkin Park was ordered. That ended in a 2-2 draw and the first ever Scottish League title was shared.
Bill Struth – Celtic 1 Rangers 2
Bill Struth had taken over as Rangers manager following the tragic drowning of William Wilton in Gourock. And Rangers, who had pipped Celtic for the title by three points in the previous season, were rampant when his debut season, 1920/21, kicked off.
Struth’s side won 12 and drew one of their opening 13 league matches and remained unbeaten after a trip to Parkhead for game number 14 on 23 October 1920.
Celtic led at the break thanks to a goal from Joe Cassidy, but Rangers would score twice in the final 20 minutes. Tommy Cairns equalised and after left back George McQueen had to ‘be assisted to the pavillion’ after fracturing his collar bone, Alan Morton won the match for the visitors with a ‘terrific drive from 30 yards.’
Rangers were relentless thereafter. Despite losing 2-0 at home to Celtic on 1 January 1921, Struth’s side won 35 of their 42 league games. They were champions once again, finishing 10 points clear of runners-up, Celtic, and 26 points better off than Hearts who finished in third place.
Scot Symon – Celtic 2 Rangers 0
After 34 years at the helm, 18 league titles, 10 Scottish Cups and two League Cups – the latter had only been inaugurated in season 1946/47 – Bill Struth stepped down as Rangers manager at the end of season 1953/54. He was succeeded by a man who had played under him, James Scotland Symon.
Rangers opened the new season by winning four of their six League Cup section ties and drawing 1-1 against Hibernian at Ibrox on the opening day of the league season. League game number two took Symon’s side to Parkhead on 18 September 1954.
Celtic were the defending champions. Their title win in season 1953/54 would be their last until season 1965/66 under Jock Stein, and they would inflict the first of eight away league defeats on Rangers when they two met in Glasgow’s east end.
The first half was poor – one scribe said that both sides were ‘as jittery as jellies in the wind’ – but Celtic had been the side that seemed most likely to break the deadlock. Their goalkeeper, John Bonnar, hadn’t been called upon to make a save in the opening 45 minutes.
Thirteen minutes after the break, Jimmy Walsh, the Celtic centre forward, got the better of Duncan Stanners to put the home side ahead, but Billy Simpson almost eked out an equaliser three minutes from time when his effort was turned round the post by Bonnar. Celtic promptly went up to the other end and ensured victory when John Higgins poked a shot beyond George Niven.
Rangers bounced back, scoring 21 goals in their next four league games, but despite being unbeaten at home – the only points dropped were that opening day draw against Hibernian and a 1-1 draw against St Mirren in February – those eight defeats away from Ibrox proved costly. Rangers finished third, eight points adrift of champions Aberdeen.
Davie White – Celtic 2 Rangers 2
Despite losing that first Old Firm league encounter, Scot Symon went on to become one of the most successful managers in Rangers’ history. He shaped one of the finest sides to grace the turf at Ibrox, the zenith being a domestic Treble in season 1963/64. But the emergence of Celtic under Jock Stein would ultimately cost Symon his job, and he was shabbily sacked not long after Rangers drew 0-0 at home to Dunfermline Athletic. Rangers top of the league at the time.
David White was handed the reins and the team got that proverbial new manager ‘bounce’. Rangers won each of White’s first nine league games, the run including a 10-2 win over Raith Rovers that featured a hat trick from Alex Ferguson.
But the quest for 10 wins in a row was halted at Parkhead on 2 January.
Rangers were two points ahead of Celtic in the race for the title, but the home side took the lead after 18 minutes when Bertie Auld’s free kick beat Erik Sorenson by virtue of a wicked deflection from Sandy Jardine.
Willie Johnston equalised 10 minutes into the second half, but Celtic looked to have secured both points when Bobby Murdoch found the net after 78 minutes. But an error from the Celtic goalkeeper, John Fallon, would earn Rangers a point. Three minutes from time, Fallon allowed a shot from Kai Johansen to squirm under his body and honours ended even.
Rangers won 13 of their next 16 league matches. But draws against Dundee United and Morton and a 3-2 defeat against Aberdeen on the final Saturday of the season proved costly. Celtic won the title by two points.
Willie Waddell – Celtic 0 Rangers 0
White was unable to halt the Celtic juggernaut. A home defeat against the Polish side Gornik Zabrze in November 1969 would be the tipping point. White was sacked and replaced by the iconic Willie Waddell.
Rangers won Waddell’s first four league matches in charge and travelled to Parkhead on 3 January looking to avenge the 1-0 league loss against Celtic at Ibrox back in September.
The match wasn’t a classic. The pitch was hardened due to frost and the only real moment of note was a disallowed goal a minute before half time. Billy McNeill beat Gerry Neef with a header, but the referee, John Paterson, who was handling his first Old Firm game, ruled it out due to an infringement.
Unfortunately, results for the remainder of the season were inconsistent. Rangers won only five of their last 13 league games. They finished second, 12 points adrift of Celtic.
Jock Wallace – Celtic 3 Rangers 1
After leading Rangers to European glory in Barcelona in 1972, Waddell moved ‘upstairs’ at Ibrox and Jock Wallace took over as manager.
Wallace would oversee five wins and one defeat in the the League Cup before his side lost 2-1 against Ayr United in their opening league match. A 2-1 win over Partick Thistle a week later got points on the board ahead of the campaign’s first Old Firm match that took place on 16 September.
With Parkhead in the throes of reconstruction, the match took place at Hampden with a midday kick off. But Celtic certainly didn’t miss their home comforts. They were 3-0 up after 49 minutes and a goal from John Greig in the final minute was scant consolation. The only comfort was that Celtic hadn’t been more ruthless and scored more goals.
Rangers lost again a fortnight later – going down 2-1 against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park – but after losing 1-0 at home against Hearts on 1 December, everything seemed to click into place. A 20-match unbeaten run that featured 18 wins followed. Alas, points dropped earlier in the season proved costly and Celtic won a seventh successive title by one point.
Incidentally, Wallace also tasted defeat when he faced Celtic in a league match for the first time when he returned as manager in season 1983/84. The weekend after Ally McCoist had scored a hat trick to secure the League Cup in the final against Celtic, Celtic won 3-0 at Parkhead.
There would be another managerial debut against Celtic in that 1983/84 campaign too. As the Rangers board sought a replacement for John Greig, Tommy McLean took over a caretaker. In the league, he would oversee a 3-0 defeat against St Mirren at Love Street and 2-1 defeat against Celtic at Ibrox. Sandy Clark scored the Rangers goal.
John Greig – Celtic 3 Rangers 1
After a glittering playing career, John Greig became Rangers manager in the summer of 1978. But his tenure would get off to a rough start, with Rangers failing to win any of their first six league games. Four of those games were drawn, and one of the two defeats came against Celtic on 9 September.
Billy McNeill was also taking charge of his first Old Firm match and his side were two goals up after 14 minutes courtesy of Tom McAdam and George McCluskey. A goal from Derek Parlane four minutes into the second half halved the deficit, but McAdam scored again before Alex Miller spurned an opportunity to set up a grandstand finish when his penalty kick was saved by Peter Latchford.
Rangers recovered from their wretched start. After winning just four of their opening 16 league games, they won 13 of their next 17 to get themselves back into the title race. But Celtic would edge them out, a 4-2 win at Parkhead sealing the deal and denying Greig the domestic Treble in his first season at the helm.
Graeme Souness – Rangers 1 Celtic 0
The rebirth of Rangers was still very much in the embryonic stages when Celtic came to Ibrox on 31 August 1986. Rangers had won two and lost two of their first four league games, and four days before the Old Firm match, they had needed penalties to edge out East Fife in the League Cup. Ally McCoist, who had scored four of Rangers’ six league goals, had a penalty kick saved by Gordon Marshall in regulation time.
Rangers would win the game 1-0. The goal was scored by Ian Durrant, the dynamic midfielder keeping his composure to score after surging through the middle to latch on to a sublime reverse pass from Davie Cooper.
That win laid down a marker. It didn’t eradicate the inconsistency immediately – Rangers dropped points in seven of their next 20 league matches – but it was a statement of intent. A 2-0 win over Celtic at Ibrox set the tone for the rest of the season. Rangers won 14 of their last 18 league matches to secure their first title for nine years. Celtic were six points adrift in second place.
Walter Smith – Celtic 0 Rangers 2
When Graeme Souness left to take over from Kenny Dalglish as manager of Liverpool in April 1991, there was only one man that the players wanted to take over at Rangers, Walter Ferguson Smith.
After seeing off the challenge of Aberdeen to secure the title on the final day of season 1990/91, Smith’s first full season as manager kicked off with three home wins and a defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle.
A fortnight after the loss in Gorgie, Smith took his side to Parkhead and they secured a dominant 2-0 win. Mark Hateley scored both goals, rounding Pat Bonner to score the first one after scampering clear of the Celtic defence before profiting from a Bonner fumble to grab the second.
Rangers stormed to the title. They dropped points in only 11 of their 44 league games, finishing nine points clear of Hearts and 10 better off than Celtic who ended up in third place.
Smith was also victorious in the first Old Firm match of his second spell as Rangers manager, an Ugo Ehiogu overhead kick securing a 1-0 win at Parkhead on 11 March 2007.
Dick Advocaat – Rangers 0 Celtic 0
After leading Rangers through one of the most successful eras in their history, Walter Smith left in the summer of 1998. He was replaced by Dick Advocaat, and the Dutchman hadn’t quite got his team firing on all cylinders when he led them into his first Old Firm game on 20 September.
Advocaat’s side had come back from 3-0 down to defeat Shelbourne 5-3 in a UEFA Cup tie and had dropped points in two of their opening five league games. More would be dropped in the Old Firm game, and but for a sublime save from Lionel Charbonnier, Advocaat could have joined the others that had gone before him by losing his first league match against Celtic.
But once everything clicked into place, Rangers were unstoppable. The domestic Treble was secured for the first time since season 1992/93, with the league clinched at Parkhead and Celtic also beaten in the final of the Scottish Cup.
Alex McLeish – Rangers 1 Celtic 1
After a delightful first two seasons, Advocaat’s side started to struggle to maintain supremacy. He was replaced as manager by Alex McLeish in December 2001, and McLeish got off to a flying start courtesy of a stunning 2-1 win over Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup in February.
His Old Firm league debut would end in a draw, though. Celtic led through a goal from, but a thunderous strike from distance from Arthur Numan ensured that the game ended 1-1.
Rangers would lose only one of their remaining matches that season, a 2-1 defeat against Livingston in April. They were too far behind Celtic to mount a challenge for the title, but McLeish did secure a Cup double. Ayr United were beaten in the League Cup Final and Celtic were vanquished by three goals to two in a memorable Scottish Cup Final.
Paul Le Guen – Celtic 2 Rangers 0
When Paul Le Guen took the Rangers job in the summer of 2006, it was supposed to propel the club to the next level. His track record with Olympique Lyonnais suggested that the Frenchman could be the one to realise the dream that had been chased for 50 years. Maybe, just maybe, Rangers could win the European Cup/Champions League.
Le Guen’s tenure got off to an inauspicious start. An opening day win over Motherwell at Fir Park was followed by draws against Dundee United and Dunfermline Athletic, a home win over Hearts, another draw away from home against Kilmarnock and a win over Falkirk. And six days before the first Old Firm league match of the season, Le Guen’s side were beaten 2-1 at Easter Road.
The Celtic match took place on 23 September and it represented the first real test of Le Guen’s coaching credentials. It was one he failed to pass. Thomas Gravesen opened the scoring and a chest-beating Kenny Miller secured the three points 16 minutes from time.
There would be no improvement after that. Rangers lost against Dundee United, Falkirk, and twice against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Dressing room unrest became public and captain Barry Ferguson was dropped. But Le Guen wasn’t in a strong enough position to make such a significant call. The supporters and most of the first team squad aligned with Ferguson and Le Guen was gone in January.
Ally McCoist – Rangers 4 Celtic 2
When Walter Smith decided to step down as Rangers manager after leading his club to a third successive league title in May 2011, he had a natural successor. The sorcerer’s apprentice, Alistair Murdoch McCoist.
And the darling of the Ibrox fans for most of his playing days got his managerial tenure off to a decent start. Although they exited both the Champions League and UEFA Cup before the end of August, an opening day draw in the league was followed by five straight wins. Ten goals were scored and none conceded.
A further four would be added to the ‘Goals For’ column when Celtic visited Ibrox on 17 September. Steven Naismith opened the scoring and although Celtic led at the break, second half goals from Nikica Jelavic, Kyle Lafferty and Naismith sealed an emphatic win.
It looked as if Rangers would canter to the title. They led Celtic by 10 points in mid-October and 15 on Guy Fawkes Night – admittedly, Celtic did have two games in hand – but by the time Celtic won the season’s second Old Firm league game three days after Christmas, they had supplanted Rangers at the summit.
What followed was the darkest of dark days on 14 February 2012. The least said about that, the better.
Mark Warburton – Celtic 5 Rangers 1
The demotion of Rangers to the lower leagues in Scotland meant that it would be 2016 before the two faced off in a league match again. Since McCoist had masterminded a 3-2 win at Ibrox on 24 March 2012, Kenny McDowall and Stuart McCall had been in the dugout before Mark Warburton had come in and completed the journey back to the top flight.
Warburton’s first four Premier Division matches were a mixed bag. Draws against Hamilton Accies and Kilmarnock sandwiched wins over Dundee and Motherwell. Game five would take them to Parkhead.
The match would see Scott Brown pitted against Joey Barton, the latter having come to Scotland in May. It would be Barton’s eighth and final game for Rangers.
Joe Garner had scored just before the interval to halve Celtic’s 2-0 advantage, but Rangers collapsed in the second 45. Moussa Dembele completed his hat trick – the first treble by a Celtic player in an Old Firm league match since 1966 – and Phillipe Senderos was ordered off as Rangers fell to a 5-1 defeat.
Warburton’s Rangers would lose again to Celtic on Hogmanany, but when the sides met again in the league at Parkhead in March, Warburton had taken Plan A and left the building. His exit had been somewhat ignominious too when he chose to join Nottingham Forest.
Graeme Murty – Celtic 1 Rangers 1
When Warburton left, Graeme Murty took over on an interim basis. He oversaw defeats at Dens Park and the Caledonian Stadium and a win over St Johnstone at Ibrox. His last match of what would be his first spell in charge was a 1-1 draw against Celtic at Parkhead. Watched by incoming manager Pedro Caixinha, a late goal from Clint Hill cancelled out a first half effort from Stuart Armstrong.
Murty would return to the helm when Caixinha was sacked in October 2017, leading Rangers to a 0-0 draw at Parkhead in December and suffering a narrow 3-2 loss at Ibrox in March. But his tenure would end with back-to-back Old Firm thrashings, 4-0 at Hampden in the semis of the Scottish Cup and 5-0 at Parkhead in the league.
Pedro Caixinha – Rangers 1 Celtic 5
Not many Rangers supporters had heard of Pedro Caixinha before he became the manager of the club. And it wasn’t long before they collectively wished they had never clapped eyes on the Portuguese.
A fine 3-0 win at Pittodrie early in his tenure proved to be a false dawn. Three weeks later, Celtic came to Ibrox and recorded their biggest ever win at the home of their Old Firm rivals. The visitors were 2-0 up and cruising at the interval and scored three more goals in the second half. Kenny Miller’s goal didn’t even offer a crumb of comfort. This consigned Rangers to a second Old Firm defeat in a week as they had lost to Celtic in the last four of the Scottish Cup six days earlier.
It didn’t get much better for Caixinha after that. Rangers lost at home to Aberdeen before the season ended, and after an indifferent start to season 2017/18 that included a humiliating defeat in Luxembourg and another home defeat against Celtic, Caixinha was dismissed.
Steven Gerrard – Celtic 1 Rangers 0
Steven Gerrard was appointed Rangers manager in May 2018. Although he didn’t have a proven track record as a manager, Gerrard’s stellar playing career meant that his appointment stimulated a level of excitement and anticipation that he could bring silverware back to Ibrox.
However, initial domestic results were mixed, draws against Aberdeen and Motherwell coming either side of a 2-0 home win over St Mirren. And he would taste defeat for the first time in a league game on 2 September when a goal from Olivier Ntcham saw Brendan Rodgers extend his unbeaten Old Firm run to 12 games. Celtic were dominant and only a fine display from Allan McGregor prevented the winning margin being any wider.
Slowly but surely, Gerrard got it right. Two home wins over Celtic were secured before the season ended and the club’s European status was elevated by a number of fine displays in the Europa League. It took time and patience and in his third season, Gerrard delivered, the coveted 55th league title was secured and Celtic’s dreams of 10-in-a-row were shattered.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst – Celtic 3 Rangers 0
After not receiving what he felt was the necessary backing to fix the roof when the sun was shining, Gerrard joined Aston Villa in November 2021. He was replaced by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and the Dutchman got off to a solid start, securing qualification for the knockout stages in the Europa League and leading his side to seven straight league wins. The run was ended by a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie, and the weekend before his Old Firm baptism, van Bronckhorst saw his side conceded a goal in the 96th minute in a 3-3 draw against Ross County.
He would then taste defeat for the first time as Rangers manager on 2 February at Parkhead. The home side were 3-0 up by half time and by the end of the match had supplanted Rangers at the top of the league table.
Rangers recovered, winning five of their next seven league matches, but an Old Firm defeat at Ibrox in April all but sealed the title for Celtic. They would finish four points clear of their rivals.
Michael Beale – Rangers 2 Celtic 2
Despite leading Rangers to the Europa League Final in Seville, van Bronckhorst was sacked in November. A cataclysmic Champions League campaign and a 4-0 thumping at Parkhead didn’t help his cause, but given the paucity of options he had to cover for the injuries he had at the time, his dismissal was harsh.
Michael Beale took over and promised the fans that the handbrake would be released. His forwards were going to ‘wreak havoc’. And he did enjoy that new manager ‘bounce’, winning his first four league games and coming desperately close to earning a fifth win in a row when Celtic came to Ibrox on 2 January.
Rangers trailed at the break thanks to an early goal from Daizen Maeda, but Ryan Kent curled in a beauty to restore parity before James Tavernier scored from the penalty spot after Fashion Sakala was fouled. But a goal from Kyogo Furuhashi two minutes from time earned a point for Celtic.
Ten straight league wins followed, but there would be Old Firm defeats in the League Cup Final and the semis of the Scottish Cup. And the winning run in the league was halted when Celtic won 3-2 at Parkhead in April.
Beale did chalk up an emphatic win over Celtic after the split – Todd Cantwell inspired a 3-0 victory at Ibrox – but a disastrous start to season 2023/24 ended his time with the club. A limp 3-1 home defeat against Aberdeen made his position untenable.
Philippe Clement – Celtic 2 Rangers 1
A bald Belgian called Philippe Clement took over from Beale. He masterminded a 1-0 win over Aberdeen to win the League Cup and won nine and drew one of his first 10 league fixtures.
The run would come to an end at Parkhead on 30 December. Goals from Bernardo and Kyogo had the home side 2-0 up after 47 minutes and a late goal from James Tavernier couldn’t kickstart a grandstand finish.
The defeat left Rangers eight points adrift of their rivals, albeit they had two games in hand. But nine wins in a row reignited the title challenge and the mission to go from terrible to Treble looked to be one that would be accomplished. But Rangers’ bottle would crash in the run in, a home defeat against Motherwell, a 3-2 loss in Dingwall and a meek 0-0 draw against Dundee ultimately proving costly. Celtic also snatched the Scottish Cup thanks to a late goal from Adam Idah.
Like so many before him, patience would be a virtue when it came to Clement. A 3-0 defeat at Parkhead was among a run of ragged early season results. There was fighting spirit in the League Cup Final against Celtic, but inadequate refereeing would cost the Light Blues the trophy.
By the turn of the year, the fans had had enough. Even a 3-0 win over Celtic at Ibrox couldn’t place any credit in the bank for the beleaguered Belgian. And when Rangers lost 1-0 at home to Queens Park in the Scottish Cup, it was all over.
Barry Ferguson – Celtic 2 Rangers 3
The appointment of Barry Ferguson as interim manager raised many eyebrows, and his short stint in charge was something of a rollercoaster ride. There were some low moments as he tried to restore some pride in a side seemingly devoid of any mental strength or fighting spirit, but the highest of highs came at Parkhead on 16 March.
This would be a match where the character that Ferguson demanded would be shown in abundance. Rangers led after only four minutes thanks to a header from Nico Raskin, and they went up the tunnel at half time 2-0 ahead after Mo Diomande doubled their lead. Celtic fought back to level the match, but a stunning strike from Hamza Igamane ensured that Rangers won a league match at the home of their rivals for the first time since 2020.
So what does this deep dive into our history tell us ahead of Sunday? One thing that jumps out is that some of our managers have gone on to have very successful tenures after failing to win their first Old Firm league match. But their respective situations were markedly different to the one Russell Martin finds himself embroiled in. They had credit in the bank, a substantial amount for the likes of John Greig for instance. That meant there would be tolerance.
Martin on the other hand has none, if anything he is in debt up to his eyeballs. And tolerance levels are at an all-time low, the predicament exacerbated by the humiliating 9-1 aggregate loss to Club Brugge. Even if Martin was to join Mr Struth, Souness, Smith, McCoist and Ferguson as a winner on his Old Firm managerial debut, it is likely that that won’t be enough to heal the pain and suffering he has inflicted on the Rangers supporters.
The party for Russell Martin is well and truly over. Indeed, there’s a compelling argument to suggest that it didn’t even start in the first place.