There has rarely been af time when the bosses of both Celtic and Rangers have so much in common
There was a famous photo a few years ago of Ange Postecoglou and Gio van Bronckhorst sharing a table in a Glasgow restaurant in the build-up to Christmas.
It was a neat moment given Old Firm bosses are painted out to be sworn enemies, hell bent on inflicting maximum damage on each other and their teams.
In reality, it was two guys doing similar jobs who bumped in to each other by chance and sat for a natter.
We’ve not seen any evidence of such an encounter between the two current gaffers. But if Wilfried Nancy and Danny Rohl were to have a chance meeting somewhere in the city, it might come at some kind of Old Firm support group.
There has rarely been af time when the bosses of both Celtic and Rangers have so much in common.
Both are relative rookies to the managerial game, both have inherited fairly ramshackle squads – and both are handcuffed to external club forces that will dictate their short and medium-term futures, before they can even hope to get to any chance of the long-term.
Nancy and Rohl are in the same boat with the clock ticking towards the Bells.
The pair are utterly reliant on others behind the scenes doing their jobs – to make sure they can do theirs. And yet these are the guys who will be in the firing line, this week and beyond, the ones carrying the can, even if it is a tin of out-of-date beans left at the back of the cupboard.
It’s funny, both managers are probably in their jobs because recruitment was so poor before they arrived.
It cost the previous gaffers their jobs in one way or another.
Now the new guys are depending on vastly different outcomes this January to give them a chance of survival down the road.
At least Rangers are not reliant on all of the same people this time around. Kevin Thelwell and Patrick Stewart were forced to clear their desks after months of bungling at Ibrox.
The reshuffle is still ongoing so Gers are now going to rely on a freelancer to come in to help with the window. It will be interesting to see how Stig Inge Bjornebye gets on in the coming weeks at Ibrox.
It’s hardly an ideal set-up but if he has a decent hit rate then perhaps he could stick around longer. If not, he’ll be off into the sunset – and Gers will have more mess to mop up.
Likewise, across the city, it’s surely last-chance saloon for Paul Tisdale at Celtic.
The head of football operations was helping out in summer 2024 but it took Brendan Rodgers stepping in late to get deals over the line.
Tisdale’s task last January was digging out a striker after Kyogo Furuhashi left but his impact was nonexistent.
Jota chapped on the door looking to get back in, likewise Kieran Tierney wanted up the road and Rodgers had the roller deck out to get Jeffrey Schlupp in as cover for Greg Taylor.
It wasn’t exactly a recruitment based on extensive scouting. And that before was the shambles of last summer.
The club pinned that one on Rodgers being stubborn on what he wanted, which now looks like he might have had a point. But Tisdale is now free – and he is the one who has to deliver for Nancy.
The Frenchman has played a cute game over transfers so far. He has talked about assessing the squad and maybe seeing about adding.
Take all that with a pinch of salt. Nancy knows exactly where Celtic are lacking.
The recruitment staff have had six weeks to prepare for a manager they knew was going to implement his own style and the profile of players who would fit it.
Celtic and Rangers will collide on the pitch on Saturday and it will be the usual fun of the fair.
But the real battle will be going on off the park – because both clubs don’t have the firepower to win the Premiership this term.
Hearts are out in front and have already stolen a march by signing players to fit the perceived gaps in their side.
In Glasgow, Nancy and Rohl need to hope they can win the Old Firm arms race, otherwise the pair of them might be snapped together – drowning their sorrows.
