The Bitter Old Company’s competitors have united in disarray

When Glasgow’s two major football teams meet at Hampden Park, winning means everything.

But rarely has there been such a strange accumulation of a combination as has not needed a sideshow.

In Scotland, when chaos knocks on the doors of Celtic and Rangers, the news hits the headlines.

Recently, neither of the old company’s clubs has been without turmoil.

This may seem exaggerated to the casual observer or those outside Scotland’s central belt, but in few UK cities is football so deeply woven into the social fabric as it is in Glasgow.

But this time, there is an unusual symmetry: both clubs are struggling, on and off the field, at the same time.

In fact, both teams will feature different coaches since they last met and played out a goalless draw at Ibrox on August 31.

In Glasgow, it is rare for both clubs to be in what some might describe as a state of ‘crisis’ at the same time.

For more than a decade, Rangers’ turmoil has provided their rivals with a steady diet of schadenfreude, but ahead of Sunday’s League Cup semi-final, both clubs are vying for negative headlines.

And in the East End, Celtic fans have spent weeks protesting against a board they see as out of touch with reality.

Manager Brendan Rodgers appeared to validate their frustration when he publicly criticized the club’s failure to strengthen the squad in the summer.

Missing out on the lucrative Champions League only served to fuel the unrest – and appeared to justify his complaints.

After years of harmony, success and near-total domestic dominance, all was not well inside Parkhead – and something had to happen.

That ‘something’ was Rodgers’ unexpected resignation, which was quickly followed by a blistering attack from Celtic’s major shareholder, Dermot Desmond.

The Irish businessman, usually a reserved figure, quietly controlled the club for three decades.

But in a rare public statement, he accused Rodgers of divisiveness, self-serving and misleading the masses.

In football parlance, the challenge was with the feet with the studs visible.

Rodgers has not yet responded.

The ferocity of Desmond’s comments has drawn the curtain on tensions that have existed for some time.

This may signal the end of the unity that Celtic once prided itself on.

Rogers has now been replaced by former manager Martin O’Neill and former player Sean Maloney.

For fans, the panic wasn’t just about the public fallout, but it was usually Rangers who had the market in chaos.

On the other side of Clyde, the Rangers’ problems are nothing new.

Since the club’s financial collapse in 2012, fans have lived through regime changes, court battles, management failures and even liquidation.

Many feel they have endured enough. But in Glasgow, football is not a hobby. It’s an inheritance.

This is something the club’s new American owners are quickly discovering.

When he was appointed head coach in the summer, fans warned that Russell Martin was not the right person.

But the consortium stood firm, keen to demonstrate its authority.

After seven games and a torrent of toxic protests, Martin was gone.

The owners admitted they had underestimated the strength of Glasgow’s football.

They are not the first, and they will not be the last.

Unlike O’Neill, who coached Celtic from 2000-05, new Rangers boss Danny Ruhl will make his Old Firm debut on Sunday.

The appointment of the former Sheffield Wednesday manager has ended a lengthy search for Martin’s replacement.

This time, both groups of supporters share a common cause: the desire for change on the board. History suggests that they often get what they want.

But this is not just a Celtic and Rangers story. Both clubs now look anxiously along the M8 motorway, towards a rival who dares to dream.

Heart of Midlothian sit at the top of the table and have the backing of Brighton owner Tony Bloom, the data-driven investor who helped transform the Premier League club.

When Bloom promised Hearts fans he would end Old Firm dominance within a decade, many dismissed it as arrogance.

Since that hasn’t happened in 40 years, you can understand why.

However, Bloom’s methods – and the unity around Tynecastle – are making people wonder if this is the season in which the Glasgow duopoly is finally broken.

Whatever happens in May, unity is something Celtic and Rangers will pay good money for at the moment as they prepare to do battle once again.