Neil Lennon: Old Firm games can make or break careers

Neil Lennon has upped the stakes ahead of what is already one of the most eagerly anticipated Old Firm derbies for years by describing matches against Rangers as being able to make or break Parkhead careers.

Celtic host the Ibrox side on Sunday with both sides having racked up eight consecutive league wins since the start of the season. But Rangers have the advantage when it comes to knowledge about the fixture among their playing personnel.

Six of the players who started in Celtic's 2-1 victory over Dundee United on Sunday have never played in a Glasgow derby before. Rangers go into Sunday's clash at Celtic Park with far more experience of the fixture. Ten of the players who started in the 4-1 win over Motherwell last weekend have played in several of the encounters.

"We have to try and explain to the players who are making their debuts what it is like but you can't replicate that until they experience it themselves," Lennon told the Celtic View. "I think it's a game that defines players more than anyone, games that hold big stakes like this can have a big effect on how the fans look at them."

The high turnover of players since Tony Mowbray began to dismantle Gordon Strachan's side has meant that Celtic have often faced a more experienced Rangers team in recent Old Firm clashes. While the Parkhead side have undergone rapid change, Rangers have come to be defined by their stability, on the pitch at least.

Even when Lennon tasted victory in his first Old Firm derby as manager in May he did not know whether it would also be his last, with the club having still not decided whether to appoint him on a full-time basis. He took time to drink in the scene at Celtic Park on that evening, and even rebuked Walter Smith afterwards, following the Rangers manager's own criticisms aimed at Andreas Hinkel. The Celtic full-back had insisted that his side were still the better team, despite Rangers' title win. Lennon is well positioned to explain to his players about the ability of such clashes to rouse passions and interfere with clear thinking. "They are great occasions and they're very exciting for the fans but from this side of the fence, as manager now, it's a totally different experience altogether," he said.

"You can't enjoy it until it's over, and the build-up alone is different.

"People have been asking me about this game for three or four weeks. You try and avoid those questions then but now I can allow my focus to be on this game."

Lennon does not believe too much can be read into the outcome of the fixture.Three more Old Firm league fixtures have still to come and, with both sides displaying a consistency that has prevented one from breaking free of the other, there will still the twists and turns to come.

"It adds a little bit more significance to the game as neither team will want to relinquish that 100 per cent record," Lennon said.

"Something's going to give - but I don't think there's much between the teams. We have both shown a level of consistency and a good mentality. I'm sure it will be tight, and it's fair to say both sets of fans will be looking forward to it. But it's just one game, and I don't think it will have any bearing on which way the league is going to go. It will just give a psychological edge for a while."

Former Rangers defender John Brown believes the number of Old Firm debutants in the Celtic team will play a significant part in the outcome.

"I think that it's a big factor," he said. "Rangers are a solid unit and they've grown used to playing alongside each other over the past three seasons. That's particularly the case in defence, where everyone in the back four knows each other and what they should be doing. Celtic's rearguard has still to be tested domestically, although they were found wanting in Europe against Sporting Braga and Utrecht.

"Rangers have a quality goalkeeper in Allan McGregor but there's still a question mark over the big lad Forster and whether he can handle the pressure of an Old Firm game."

Brown made his own Old Firm debut in a 5-1 win for Rangers in 1988 after signing from Dundee. "Ray Wilkins scored that wonder goal but the game still passed me by," he admitted. "Because of the pace and the passion there's not a lot of football played in these matches either and that can also be difficult for foreign players.

"To be fair, some of the British lads struggled just as much but this Rangers team has been over the course before - I think only Vladimir Weiss and James Beattie haven't - and they know how to cope in a cauldron, which is exactly what Parkhead is."