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On A day when his job could well have been on the line, and with so many knives being sharpened, Russell Martin emerged unscathed from his first taste of the Old Firm derby as Rangers manager.
A point against a Celtic team who were utterly toothless throughout the 90 minutes is unlikely to appease many supporters who still feel Martin is not the right man to take the club forward.
In the fullness of time, this may well only prove to be a stay of execution for the beleaguered Ibrox boss, whose search for a first league victory now extends to four matches.
But this buys Martin some time. Perhaps not in the eyes of supporters, but in the eyes of the club’s new American owners.
Andrew Cavenagh and Paraag Marathe, the club’s chairman and vice-chairman, were both present at Ibrox for this first derby of the new season.
They were joined in the directors box by Sir Alex Ferguson and Graeme Souness, but what those two old warriors would have made of this powderpuff affair is anyone’s guess.
John Souttar of Rangers scored with this header but his effort was ruled out for offside
Souttar scores but Rangers fans were to be left disappointed when VAR intervened
The message was clear behind Rangers boss Russell Martin but he lives to fight another day
A game desperately short on moments of genuine quality, this was extremely rare in that it was an Old Firm match that went exactly to script.
Two extremely poor teams fighting it out in a scrap. The usual passion, fire and fury? Yeah, absolutely. But also a contest of much thud and blunder.
Brendan Rodgers has now failed to beat Rangers over 90 minutes in each of the past five meetings. Previously so dominant in this fixture, Rodgers hasn’t claimed a victory at Ibrox in two years now.
His team were dreadful in attack, with no presence up front whatsoever. Their need to sign a new striker before the transfer deadline was underlined and capped-up in big bold letters.
Adam Idah is on his way out the exit door and was not part of the squad here as he closes in on a move to Swansea City.
This was a day when Rodgers was looking to rekindle the old magic but the reality of Celtic’s summer transfer business is that they have left the manager without a wand to wave.
Celtic still sit six points clear of Rangers and are odds-on favourites to go on and win the league title, but they look a shadow of the team from last season.
Thelo Aasgaard of Rangers clashes with Cameron Carter Vickers and Arne Engels
Brendan Rodgers tries to get his message across to Celtic team during derby clash
As for Rangers, Martin will now head into the international break with the pressure eased slightly. His team edged it as the better side over the piece.
But with games to come against Hearts and Hibs immediately after the international break, he may not be out of the woods just yet.
The main positive from this stalemate was that he suffered no further wounds on the back of his team being ripped apart against Club Brugge only a few days ago.
There was no Nico Raskin in the Rangers squad. Despite Martin’s claims to the contrary last Friday, the relationship between the player and manager has broken down.
Raskin has been named in the latest Belgium squad at international level, but finds himself bizarrely bombed out at his club.
All that remains to be seen now is whether he is sold before the transfer window closes on Monday night.
Bojan Miovski was pitched in for an immediate debut up front for Rangers after completing a £4.2million move from Girona on Saturday.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha was also thrown straight in for Celtic on the wing after joining from Royal Antwerp for a fee of £5m. All in all, there were eight Old Firm debutants across both teams.
Arne Engels of Celtic is sent flying by Mike Moore of Rangers in heat of battle
Russell Martin encourages his Rangers players from the sidelines at Ibrox
Martin would have demanded a response from his players after the shambles that unfolded against Club Brugge in midweek.
Rangers certainly started the match the brighter of the two teams and, with Thelo Aasgaard ordered to man-mark Celtic skipper Callum McGregor, they were pressing and making life uncomfortable for their rivals.
A long ball upfield into the right channel saw Miovski get in behind Liam Scales. The Celtic centre-back was caught wrong side and clumsily barged the North Macedonia striker to the floor.
Ibrox howled for a penalty, but neither referee Don Robertson nor VAR Andrew Dallas deemed the challenge worthy of punishment and waved away the protests.
For all that Rangers had made a decent start, it didn’t stop the stadium erupting into song in support of Raskin on 26 minutes.
The club’s star player being outcasted by a manager whom fans are openly calling for to be sacked, there was only going to be one winner.
Rangers thought they had taken the lead on 32 minutes when John Souttar rose to head the ball beyond Kasper Schmeichel from a James Tavernier free-kick.
Martin celebrated by raising two clenched fists above his head. But a much-needed shot in the arm turned into a moment of further frustration as the goal was ruled out by VAR for offside.
Supporters sent a message to the Ibrox hierarchy about Martin before the game
Sir Alex Ferguson was an interested spectator at Ibrox but he didn't witness a great game
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh is a face in the crowd at Ibrox
Having hardly kicked a ball over recent weeks, Mohamed Diomande was having his best game of the season so far. His energy became a prominent feature in the Rangers midfield.
Celtic were struggling to create anything under their own steam. Rodgers’ side actually looked more dangerous when Rangers had the ball in defence.
Especially in the case of Nasser Djiga, the Rangers centre-back continues to look like a mistake waiting to happen and he took far too many chances once again.
Incredibly, Celtic became the first team to fail to register a first-half shot against Rangers across four Premiership matches so far this season.
Celtic's Daizen Maeda tries to recover from a blow that left his face bloodied
Truth be told, it was a poor game lacking in quality. Rangers edged it as the better team during the first half, but it was instantly forgettable as a spectacle as neither side registered a shot on target.
Rangers winger Djeidi Gassama skinned Kieran Tierney early in the second half and broke forward down the right. Gassama drilled a low cross into six-yard box but Liam Scales blocked the danger.
Reo Hatate finally managed Celtic’s first shot on target on the hour-mark as he stung the palms of Jack Butland from distance.
Miovski enjoyed a decent debut in terms of putting himself about, but service to the new Ibrox striker was limited and chances were few and far between.
Celtic rallied for a ten-minute period midway through the second half, but at no point did they really click into gear in an attacking sense.
In the end, it was a point apiece. Rodgers will know that his team were second best and, privately, won’t grumble at a point. His counterpart Martin is safe. For now.
