GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – AUGUST 31: John Souttar of Rangers scores his team’s goal past Kasper Schmeichel of Celtic which is later disallowed during the Premier League match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox Stadium on August 31, 2025 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
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It’s hard to think of a time when both Rangers and Celtic have been simultaneously caught in such a swirling storm of madness.
A mere 10 games have elapsed in the Scottish Premier League season, yet on either side of the Old Firm, there are crises of the clubs’ own making.
Both Russell Martin, who began the season as Rangers boss, and Brendan Rodgers, manager at Celtic, have departed, having not only failed to qualify for the Champions League but also overseen dreadful starts to their Europa League campaigns.
The gloom was typified by new Gers boss Danny Rohl beginning life in the Ibrox hotseat with an insipid 3-0 loss to Norwegian side SK Brann.
Postgame Rangers legend Ally McCoist pulled no punches in detailing how dire things were.
“I’ll be brutally honest, last night I was as depressed as I’ve been throughout this whole debacle,” he said on British radio station TalkSport.
“I actually feel for the manager. I don’t know what he’s going to do. He might improve them in terms of a little bit of organisation.
“But I don’t think there’s anywhere near the level of improvement in that team that will be required to even get them up the league domestically. They’re just absolutely miles off it.”
His analysis of the loss to Brann was arguably even more damming.
“They’re getting outfought, outrun, outmuscled. It’s actually very sad to watch,” he added.
“You just look at the goals they conceded. The goals were synonymous with the Rangers’ situation at this moment in time. They were laughable, the goals they lost.
“They haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home in 24 games. That’s actually difficult to achieve.”
Maybe it is of modest comfort that rather than disappearing into the distance at the top of the Scottish Premier League table, as they have done in recent years, bitter rivals Celtic are also in the midst of a crisis.
Brendan Rodgers has resigned from his position, having had an almighty fallout with the hierarchy and with the team struggling for form.
Having complained about transfers and club operations for some time, Rodgers found the club taking a swipe back as he walked out the door.
“Regrettably, his words and actions since then have been divisive, misleading, and self-serving,” the statement announcing his departure read.
“They have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the Board. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable.”
The problem for Celtic is that the problems run far deeper than that. In September, an open letter signed by over 400 representatives of tens of thousands of fans was sent to the board, accompanied by a detailed list of concerns.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – OCTOBER 23: The Celtic fans hold up a banner which reads ‘sack the board’ during a UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD3 match between Celtic and SK Sturm Graz at Celtic Park, on October 23, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
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In particular, supporters questioned the club’s transfer spending and long-term strategy.
As Paul John Dykes, from a Celtic State of Mind podcast, told broadcaster Sky Sports News: “The big thing for us is that your voice doesn’t seem to be heard.
“Many of us may not be shareholders at Celtic, but we’re certainly stakeholders, season ticket holders, people who are constantly putting money into this football club,” he added.
For those outside the Old Firm bubble, the travails of one of soccer’s most persistent duopolies are not exactly cause for concern.
Heart of Midlothian currently sits top of the Scottish Premier League table, having recently dispatched Celtic 3-0 at home.
And whilst an exciting new look to the table, long-time followers of the game in Scotland know that backing another side to win the league at any stage of the past 40 years would have made you look pretty foolish.
Hearts were the last side to come anywhere near remotely close way back in the mid-2000s under the ownership of the eccentric Vladimir Romanov.
That push for the title, before it dramatically imploded, was powered by a series of surprising and but shrewd acquisitions from abroad.
This time is quite similar, although the man masterminding this latest title tilt is a good deal more reserved than Romanov.
Gambling entrepreneur Tony Bloom is known for using data models to transform Brighton and Hove Albion from a struggling lower division outfit to one of the best developers of talent in the Premier League and now he’s trying his hand at Scottish soccer.
In addition to investing $13 million in the squad, Bloom is allowing the recruitment team to utilize the analytics tool that has helped the Seagulls reach such impressive heights.
Whether they last the course or are outmuscled by the seasoned Old Firm sides remains to be seen.
But it’s high time a disrupter, powered by intelligent data models for identifying talent, caused a stir in Scotland.
The Old Firm has been on top for so long, they’ve barely had to think about what might happen if someone started to outsmart them.
Shaking them up with a bit of new thinking can only be good for Scottish soccer.
