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By CALUM CROWE Published: 21: 00 AEST, 1 September 2025 | Updated: 21: 00 AEST, 1 September 2025 View comments The Old Firm derby on Sunday won’t live long in the memory, as two desperately poor teams battled it out in a slugfest at Ibrox. It was one of those games where both sets of supporters were entitled to feel dismayed at 90 minutes of their life they will never get back. But despite the lack of quality on both sides, it still threw up plenty of talking points in both camps as Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic maintained their six-point lead over Russell Martin’s Rangers. Here, Daily Mail Sport breaks down some of the key issues to emerge from the first derby match of the new season. Russell Martin and Brendan Rodgers embrace after the Old Firm derby at Ibrox Daizen Maeda struggles during the Premiership clash - and he wasn't the only one A GAME SO UGLY IT COULD HAVE CRACKED MIRRORS Whether or not this was the worst Old Firm derby in living memory will be a subjective notion, but there were certain things which were quantifiable and a matter of fact. Between them, Rangers and Celtic had a combined total XG of 0. 32. That’s the lowest ever recorded for both teams in a Scottish Premiership match. Rangers finished the match without registering a shot on target, the first time that’s happened in a league game in four years. Celtic, meanwhile, had two shots on target, neither of which were even remotely memorable. In terms of the quality of football and as a spectacle, it was embarrassing that this was the best Scottish football’s big two could serve up. As for the managers, the result buys Russell Martin a little bit of time. But with games to come against Hearts and Hibs immediately after the international break, he’s not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. Brendan Rodgers has now watched his team fail to score a goal in three of their last four matches. Rodgers used to dominate this fixture, but he hasn’t beaten Rangers over 90 minutes in his last five matches against them. He also hasn’t won at Ibrox in two years. As a contest, this was instantly forgettable, but it highlighted just how poor the big two are at the moment. It should encourage the likes of Hearts that they could well mount a challenge this season. Both Old Firm managers look to make their point during what was a drab, goalless affair CELTIC AMATEUR HOUR IN THE TRANSFER MARKET Adam Idah travelled to Swansea on Friday to undergo a medical after terms were agreed on a £7million move to the Welsh club. At that point, Celtic were confident they were going to have a deal wrapped up to sign Danish international Kasper Dolberg from Anderlecht and that he would go straight into the squad for the Old Firm clash. But after the Dolberg deal stalled, the Celtic hierarchy basically put the brakes on Idah’s move to Swansea, leaving him and Brendan Rodgers in limbo. Idah didn’t play against Rangers in case he picked up an injury and it jeopardised the deal, whilst Rodgers claimed after the match that he had absolutely no idea why Celtic sanctioned the whole thing without having a replacement in the door first. All they achieved was to leave themselves desperately short of options up front. It sounded very much like a manager who was disillusioned about the club’s transfer dealings and with decisions being made above his head. Despite being a cash-rich club with close to £80m in the bank, Celtic are now scrambling around in the final hours of the transfer window trying to sign players that should have been brought in six weeks ago. All in all, it’s amateur hour. Liam Scales and Bojan Miovski clashed in the box but a penalty kick wasn't awarded TIERNEY AN EXPENSIVE LUXURY INCAPABLE OF PLAYING 90 MINUTES When Kieran Tierney left Arsenal and moved back to Celtic as a free agent in the summer, fans were delighted that the prodigal son had returned home. Even if Tierney’s choice was rooted more in romanticism than ambition, it was viewed as a major upgrade on the left side of Celtic’s defence to replace the outgoing Greg Taylor. But, so far, it hasn’t panned out that way. Tierney has failed to complete the 90 minutes in all six matches he has started so far this season. He doesn’t look fit or robust enough to go the distance. Rodgers was asked about this post-match on Sunday and admitted that Tierney’s ability to last a full 90 minutes has to improve. The club are mindful of over-stretching him given some of the injury woes he has suffered in recent years. But it’s looking more and more like the hamstring injury he suffered in last summer’s Euros for Scotland has had a long-term impact. Given the wages he is on after returning from Arsenal, Tierney is an expensive luxury at the moment. There was a moment early in the second half on Sunday when he was absolutely skinned by Rangers winger Djeidi Gassama. With a prime Tierney, renowned for his tough tackling and defensive steel, that just doesn’t happen. A big improvement is required. Left-back Kieran Tierney was again removed after around 70 minutes of the game RUSSELL MARTIN’S CLAIMS OF ‘MEDIA MISCOMMUNICATION’ ARE JUST CLASSIC DEFLECTION TACTICS The main points from Martin’s post-match media conference focused on the performance being a turning point in Rangers’ season, the support he has from the club’s American owners, and also his fallout with Nico Raskin. Martin insisted he feels more supported than ever after a chat with chairman Andrew Cavenagh over the weekend, whilst accepting they need to start winning games to stop the noise and protests from fans. He also refused to answer questions on the Raskin situation. But there was one line that really jumped out - ‘It’s my job to win games, it’s the media’s job to get clicks and to create misinformation between people’. What misinformation? Nothing that has been reported over the past week since the debacle against Club Brugge has been in any way inaccurate. Raskin was bombed out of the squad and trained away from the rest of his team-mates on Friday, even though Martin claimed that there had been no breakdown in their relationship. If anyone’s been guilty of misinformation, it’s the Rangers manager. The media’s job is to report on what we see. What we have seen is a Rangers manager who has won just three of his 11 matches in charge so far. He has overseen the club’s worst start to a league season in 42 years. If he’s unhappy with anything that’s been said or written, so be it. The old gag sprung to mind about the biggest problem journalists create for any failing manager is telling people his results. Youssef Chermiti looks to be on his way to bolster Martin's attacking options at Rangers PATIENCE WILL BE REQUIRED WITH RAW CHERMITI Youssef Chermiti will become the second most expensive player in Rangers’ history when he joins from Everton in a deal which will be worth £10million. Rangers will pay £8m of that up front, with another £2m in performance-related add-ons. That’s a big fee for a 21-year-old who has only scored three goals in 47 senior appearances for Sporting Lisbon and Everton. Chermiti has also been troubled by injuries over the past year or so, limiting his involvement with Everton. It was Ruben Amorim who promoted him from the Sporting B team into the first-team set-up with Everton paying £11. 5m to sign him back in 2023 and the view in Portugal was that there’s definitely a talent in there. A little raw and unpolished in terms of his technique, but deceptively quick and mobile for such a big fella at 6ft 4ins. Chermiti is powerful and has decent pace, but Rangers fans will need to be patient. Ultimately, they are signing potential with the former Portugal Under-21 striker. He’s a long way from the finished product, so it’ll be up to Russell Martin to help develop that talent and to coach him. Don’t be surprised if you also see Chermiti playing out wide at times and cutting inside, with Bojan Miovski operating as the central striker.

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