We’ve had cup final replays, the cup withheld due to a riot, and a modern pitch set-to which forever changed the way we enjoyed the games but penalty shoot-outs between the two Glasgow sides are yet to work their way fully into the fabric of the competitive history of hatred.
The 1974 Drybrough Cup Final was lost on penalties: Tommy McLean and the King of Ibrox Park missing from the spot. I mean no harm to the competition where Davie Cooper scored one of the greatest goals of all time – and poor Sandy Jardine’s effort in the same game was for a long time forgotten – but it isn’t quite the same as the Scottish Cup.
And, despite the ups and downs, and the unbelievable record at Celtic Park, where we haven’t beaten Celtic in a game before the Semi Final since 1903, we’re yet to see a penalty shoot-out between the sides.
This isn’t totally surprising, as the practice didn’t really become a common option until the last days of the 1960s and a regular addition until into the 1970s, but it will happen one day. And tomorrow is the next chance to experience the perverted joy and pain of kicks from the penalty mark.
Last Sunday night the prospect of taking this cup replay to penalties would have been seized with gratitude by all but the most detached-from-reality Bluenose. Despite creating a number of chances, Rangers were soundly beaten in the Parkhead league game; the third time in 2011 Rangers had been second-best in these fixtures. One clear-the-air meeting, a European progression and a welcome points-swing in the SPL later all is perhaps not quite so bleak - but Celtic start as firm favourites (odds-on in some quarters) and deservedly so.
There are a number of questions we need the answers to and a number of areas where huge improvement is needed in order to progress:
1. Will David Weir play?
2. What should be our formation?
3. What have we learned from the last few derbies?
4. Who takes the penalties?
Walter’s approach in recent times hasn’t changed all that much – we’re unlikely to see two up front and will be willing to absorb some pressure before counter-attacking – so question four isn’t as sarcastic as it may appear: we may not play for penalties but we have to be thinking about them.
David Weir was rested on Sunday. He is available for selection. If Walter doesn’t pick him then this is truly the end for Weir, but if he does select our captain (and I think he will) then it has to be as part of a three man central defence. We cannot once again accommodate Weir as one of two, and cannot afford to alter our approach to try to protect his lack of pace.
That, then, suggests a back five with the full-backs pushing forward when we have the ball. It’s not necessarily a negative set-up (witness the Valencia game at Ibrox where we created so many chances) and it also should mask the greater problems at the back; for all Weir has been culpable it is as clear as day that both full-backs haven’t had great defensive seasons, and Whittaker – for all his talents – simply is not a quality first choice at the position. Whisper it, but the much-maligned Kirk Broadfoot (or Kris Broadband as some painfully unfunny twerp in CD3 insists) has been a huge loss.
Injuries mean the rest of the team tends to pick itself, and for all Walter has been heavily criticised he can’t do much when Mo Edu looks as if he needs fifteen minutes to wake up during a game; Davis has barely kicked a ball until the last week; and Jelavic forgets to pack his shooting boots for the last tussle at Celtic Park.
In terms of what we’ve learned, the one thing on which we as fans can agree is that the levels of commitment and effort have not reached that expected or demanded in derby matches. We have heard a lot from the Club in recent times re robust talks, a focus on the game and bans on Twittering and clubbing, but we have to hope this attempt to re-energise and consolidate is more successful than similar talk before the last two games. Nobody can complain when you are defeated fair and square – and no number of motivational speeches can compensate for a lack of form and skill - but the support cannot possibly take a further dismal display. Slight weakening of the opposition through injury may help but it is for Smith to determine a way to take advantage of this and to hope his players can accomplish whichever plan he sets out for the task. They have failed miserably in 2011 derbies.
And so to the penalties: it’s far from inconceivable that we will draw tomorrow’s game. It will take a better performance and much better attitude but the prospect of penalties is something we must have granted due consideration this week in what passes for training.
Our recent record in shoot-outs is good. We have a good number of men at the club who are proficient in the skill. The five ideal candidates? Let the arguments commence but Whittaker, Papac and Davis are certainties. I hope we have been practicing.
Tomorrow’s game is, arguably, the least important of the three remaining against our Glasgow irritants. But this isn’t a computer game, and nor is it a case of picking and choosing which you would be happy to lose in order to win another.
Celtic flopped miserably at the weekend and delivered a real boost to the Rangers’ hopes of 3IAR. But they have shown in recent times – especially against the champions – that they have the measure of the opposition. However, were they to lose tomorrow we could easily see a return to pre-Christmas form and more pressure on the one man at the club that is worst placed to deal with it.