From the bull ring to the lion's den
You can have any kind of complex you like in this game. Except one.
You can be paranoid, delusional, duplicitous or persecuted. But you can't, under any circumstances, have an inferiority complex. It's bad for business, especially in the Old Firm's version of La La Land.
The dominant characteristic exhibited by the Rangers supporters who called into Superscoreboard after Celtic's 2 - 0 win over their team in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden on Sunday was a feeling of inadequacy where their team and the side who had just beaten them was concerned.
The fans felt embarassed and angered by the way their side chased shadows all afternoon and the scatter gun came out when it came to apportioning blame for that state of affairs.
Pedro Caixinha's credentials, team selection and tactics were called into question.
Dave King's level of investment in the club and the coherency of the chairman's strategy for the immediate future of the club also came under scrutiny.
And the perennial favourite, concerning how Rangers propose to address the danger of Celtic winning Ten in a Row, was also brought out and dusted down for good measure.
All of the above has started to prepare the ground for what promises to be a memorable game between the Old Firm at Ibrox on Saturday.
THe sixth, and final, derby of the season will have more issues attached to it than you can shake a stick at.
- It is Rangers' last chance to to be the team who inflict the first domestic defeat of the season on Celtic.
Even if that happens, it'll be a worthless achievement, given that Brendan Rodgers' side have already won the league title.
But this is Planet Scotland and the bragging rights pay no attention to common sense.
- If Celtic win the game they would go 36 points clear of Rangers in the league table, which is the equivalent of being at a different postcode from your rivals.
Once again, it's a redundant statistic, given that the league title's already been won. But this is a rivalry that has no room for the intrusion of reason or logic. Or even civilised behaviour.
Pedro Caixinha's warm embrace with Brendan Rodgers and the exchange of pleasantries which went on immediately after the final whistle at Hampden on Sunday has not played well with a section of the Ibrox support.
They can see nothing to smile about in the aftermath of a resounding defeat from the side who also eliminated them from the penultimate stage of the League Cup earlier in the season.
And they heard nothing that pleased them when Caixinha spoke in his post-match interview at Hampden about inviting Brendan into his office for a glass of Portuguese wine following Saturday's Old Firm game.
What we have here is a culture clash.
Caixinha is clearly a civilised man, likewise Rodgers.
Civilised behaviour has yet to be officially outlawed in the West of Scotland, but Caixinha will this week be exhorted to understand that the Rangers fans would rather Brendan's wine left a sour taste in his mouth because it was imbibed after a defeat at Ibrox.
Caixinha, the one time inhabitant of the bull ring, has to understand that he is now in the lion's den.
Too much was said after the loss to Celtic.
The Rangers fans don't want to hear that Caixinha's number two, Helder Baptista, told him the players were too delicate to be spoken to harshly before the game against Celtic.
They don't want to know about Pedro arranging bottles and glasses into tactical shapes for the benefit of instructing the press at his post-match conference inside Hampden.
The press are too cynical for that kind of thing. The fans also know the tactics didn't work, so visual demonstrations are not what they need right now.
What they crave/demand/cherish is the thought of finally laying a glove on Celtic at the weekend.
Failure to do so, especially if a negative result involves being passed about like a parcel by Celtic once again, will bring about the end of Caixinha's honeymoon period and the start of domestic disharmony.
I have already stated my belief that, for as long as Brendan Rodgers is in charge of Celtic, Rangers will live in their rivals' shadow.
That is one man's opinion and another man's incentive to destroy its validity.
But the hard questions are now there waiting to be asked.
How many of Sunday's side are up to the job of questioning Celtic's supremacy ? Next to none.
How much money is there to fund a re-build of the squad at Ibrox ? Yet to be established.
How long will Caixinha get to prove himself ? The next transfer window and the first half of the new season in all probability.
Rodgers is under contract for the next four years. Six titles won and four years of Rodgers to come adds up to a ticking clock for Caixinha.