Celtic master Martin O'Neill teaches pupil Danny Rohl hard lesson but Rangers display suggests something – Keith Jackson
It was another Hampden glory day for Martin O'Neill but our man reckons Danny Rohl has brighter days ahead
Brendan Rodgers wasn’t sure if he was driving a Honda Civic or a Ferrari.
So it was probably perfectly fitting that when Martin O’Neill got behind Celtic's wheel he would come screeching back into town joyriding a DeLorean.
The scorched earth of the National Stadium had the old man’s tyre tracks singed all over it by the time the first derby of his second spell in charge reached its almost inevitable conclusion.
It was chaotic, it was thunderous and at times it was fuelled by simmering hot tempers.
It raged on into extra-time amid unrelenting drama and all manner of plot twists.
But when it was finally over, and the lactic acid was causing legs to stiffen all over the Hampden pitch, it was the 73-year-old’s name which was ringing out around Glasgow’s south side.
It was as if he had never been away, Back To The Future style.
This blockbuster of a semi-final was everything that O’Neill thought he had left behind 20 years ago when he threw his bags into the boot and headed off into the future.
Some things never change, of course. And this particular fixture remains as unpredictable and as volatile as the Northern Irishman will have remembered, a quarter of a century on from his first one.
Back then, he made a habit of winning more than his fair share of them as he started a changing of the guard at the top of the Scottish game.
It was O’Neill who got the ball rolling on Celtic’s era of superiority back at the turn of the millennium.
And it’s O’Neill who now stands 90 minutes away from adding to his own collection of silverware in the most unlikely of circumstances.
For new Rangers boss Danny Rohl, who was still in short trousers when O’Neill’s first tour of duty began, every day is a school day. But some lessons hit harder than others.
And this was a sore one for a 36-year-old even though he comes out of the smouldering wreckage with his reputation not just intact but most probably enhanced.
Rohl recovered from a ropey first half, during which his team fell one goal behind and a man down into the bargain after Thelo Aasgaard was dismissed for planting a boot into Anthony Ralston’s unmentionables.
It may have been accidental as the Norwegian was tryinig to spin on to his own flick but it was no less an eye-watering moment which left ref Nick Walsh with little choice but to dig out the red card.
At that point, Rangers looked dead and buried, already trailing after Johnny Kenny thumped home a fine header after 24 minutes of Celtic domination.
But to Rohl’s credit – and that of his remaining 10 men – they displayed the resolve and the tactical nous to make a quite monumental match of it. Which is precisely what had been expected before a ball had been kicked.
Even the hotly-anticipated release of the line-ups was laced heavily with intrigue. No sign, even on the bench, of Kelechi Iheanacho despite O’Neill suggesting on Friday that the striker had a decent chance of making it.
That left Kenny leading the line with only inexperienced young gun Callum Osmand in reserve. Both would get their name on the scoresheet with Osmand sliding home the goal which made it 3-1 in the second period of extra-time.
O’Neill was scraping a side together with the odds and ends that were left available, even if his attacking options were beefed up by the return to the starting line-up of Daizen Maeda.
By contrast, Rohl had a different set of issues to resolve, and chief among them was who to leave out.
Youssef Chermiti and Danilo started up top, with the likes of Djeidi Gassama, Oliver Antman, Mikey Moore and Bojan Miovski all on the sidelines.
They’d all be thrown on and each and every one of them played their part as Rangers fought and scratched their way back into the contest.
Ref Walsh resisted the temptation to level up the numbers before half-time when Auston Trusty foolishly planted a boot into Jack Butland’s head for no apparent reason.
A lack of force probably saved the American from his own lack of brain cells but he was hugely fortunate to be shown only a yellow card.
Rohl’s side, though, wasn’t looking for help.
They went on to dominate the second half, against the odds – and even though £8million Chermiti remained on the pitch despite some woeful finishing.
It was Danilo who made way for Gassama at the break and the Frenchman quickly became a central figure.
It was his shot that crashed off Ralston’s elbow with 10 minutes left and when Walsh pointed to the spot – a decision backed by VAR – James Tavernier levelled with a perfect, high-pressure penalty.
Celtic ended the 90 minutes back on top but the swings in momentum were wild and plentiful.
Moore had also come off the bench and offered a constant threat. However, at the same time, Osmand replaced Kenny and it was Celtic’s youngster who would emerge the hero.
Before that, skipper Callum McGregor had stepped up to thrash a spectacular long-range effort into the roof of Butland’s net.
The Rangers keeper had made a number of outstanding saves but this one seemed to deceive him in mid-air and he looked suitably crestfallen as McGregor wheeled away in celebration.
At the other end, Kasper Schmeichel was also coming up with heroics, in the shape of game-changing saves from Nico Raskin and Gassama.
It all ended with O’Neill punching the air in delight and, just days after his interim appointment, he has secured Celtic a place in the first final of the season on December 14 when they will face St Mirren back at Hampden.
Whether or not the old man is still hanging around or has stepped aside by then remains to be seen. That’s one which only the future can determine.
But Sunday was all about a blast from the past. And it will be remembered fondly by Celtic’s people in many years from now.
For Rohl, it’s all about what comes next. The Rangers boss is only just beginning to make his own impression on this rivalry.
And even though he tasted Old Firm defeat for the first time, his decision-making in the heat of battle displayed the kind of bravery and quick-thinking tactical flexibility that suggests he has some memorable triumphs of his own still to come.
