Celtic must end 20-month wait as match that sparked Rangers reign goes on mantelpiece
Any victory will do as manager recalls huge moment in 2000
Celtic have not won a Premiership Old Firm derby in 20 months against Rangers. There would be no better time to end that barren run.
Victories have come in cup competitions at both Hampden and Ibrox, but the last time Celtic tasted success on league duty was a 3-0 home win on September 1, 2024. For a club that has in the main dominated the fixture in the 21st century, the wait is going on too long.
At least they have Martin O’Neill at the helm. This will be his first home meeting with Rangers for more than 20 years but it was his reign back in the early 2000s that set the tone for Celtic’s dominance.
A 6-2 victory in August 2000, made famous by Henrik Larsson’ audacious chip and three goals in a rip-snorting first 11 minutes, was O’Neill’s first taste of Celtic v Rangers. Anyone inside Parkhead will remember the magnitude of the win. Celtic went on to claim the title that season in landslide fashion. There will be no 15-point gap this time. Matters with leaders Hearts are not entirely within their hands.
Celtic could be six points behind Hearts by the time they face Rangers on Sunday lunchtime. O’Neill and Co are rooting for Motherwell in their game against the Jam Tarts on Saturday night at Fir Park. Celtic could win their remaining three fixtures and still finish second, given their goal difference is inferior by five to capital outfit.
So going out all guns blazing, like they did in 2000, in the final Old Firm derby of the season is non-negotiable for Celtic. “I think we have to,” said O’Neill. “There’s no other alternative. We have got to get on the front foot as quickly as possible and peg them back if we can.
“That’s the only way forward for us. There’s no point sitting back and seeing how the game develops, allowing sides like Rangers to come in to the game.
“Last week I thought they controlled the first half against Hearts and they will be trying to do the same thing again here.
“We have a couple of games left and who knows what will happen on Saturday evening with Hearts. It’s still, mostly, within our grasp so we have to go out and win. We need to win our matches, it’s really as simple as that, and see where it goes.
“I’m not saying we are capable of running up a cricket score in the remaining three matches, because we’re not. The opposition is also very strong, but we have to win the games.”
Looking back on Celtic v Rangers in 2000
Oh how O’Neill would love to call upon the class of 2000, with Chris Sutton, Larsson et al. “It was my first Old Firm game and we won our matches leading up to it,” recalled O’Neill. “Nothing prepared me for the atmosphere of that game. Did I think it was a turning point? No, absolutely not. In hindsight it was a seminal moment.
“But it was so early in the season and we went to Ibrox in the November and got mauled. We did learn that even thought we’d been well beaten, we’ve gained confidence from the run we had. I think we actually dropped points the following week at Easter Road but we turned the corner after that.”
When put to him that the win was a turning point in the fixture, O’Neill smiled. “I started that myself… it’s nice to hear,” he said. “When I look back on it, it probably was. A lot of things played into it, like it was the start of the century and the record Celtic had in the previous 10 or 12 years wasn’t great. I’ll take it.”
He’ll take any win on Sunday. We are at the business end of the season. The red zone. And Celtic are in danger of being dethroned. Some feel the champions have an edge because they’ve been over the course and distance before, but O’Neill thinks the notion of a psychological battle is overplayed.
“Eventually when everything is over in seven days or so, the team that wins it will say they handled the pressure better,” said O’Neill. “But there might just be a moment in a game, when you might have slipped up or made something happen that was out of context of the game.
“Sometimes that can be overstated in my experience. It’s a bit like people talking about Arsenal a couple of weeks ago and saying, have they bottled it? No, they’ve been up there they whole time, and they could end up this season winning them both. It’ll all be decided in the next seven days.”
O’Neill was asked if this will be his last Old Firm game. “Very likely,” replied the 74-year-old. A new man is expected in town regardless of how this season pans out. They would be wise to take counsel from the Northern Irishman before their first taste of such a glamorous match.
“I think it’s very difficult to take the emotion out of it,” commented O’Neill. “This is a world famous fixture – I don’t know what anyone could take the emotion out of it. It has to be emotional. You have to try to channel it.
“The early message from us would be to be disciplined. Even in those heady days 20 years ago, that was the message you tried to convey.
“We didn’t quite convey it to the likes of Chris Sutton, who got himself sent off a few times so obviously he didn’t heed it… “So yes, play with your hearts as well as your heads.”
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