We may be unlikely to see it addressed directly when Brendan Rodgers and Michael Beale are in the respective dugouts in Glasgow. But the two go back almost 20 years...with Beale previously admitting his new adversary is one of his coaching inspirations.
It's a new challenge facing Brendan Rodgers but there is a familiarity there as the Northern Irishman gets set to take over from Ange Postecoglou. Both because he's been here before, and because he knows the man in the dugout across the city like the back of his hand. Rodgers and Rangers boss Michael Beale go back to the days they were both working within Chelsea's youth system in 2004 and their respective careers have crossed paths various times since; at Liverpool and later in Glasgow while Beale coached under Steven Gerrard.
Rodgers is set to be appointed Celtic's new manager tasked with replacing Ange Postecoglou and maintaining their dominance over Rangers having just stormed to a domestic Treble, something Rodgers was no stranger to during his first term at Parkhead. And Beale is on record admitting he's learned plenty of what he knows from Rodgers' philosophy.
Beale was already at Stamford Bridge coaching the under-sevens when Rodgers was named their head of youth by Jose Mourinho in 2004 and by the time Rodgers was appointed Liverpool boss to replace Kenny Dalglish in 2012, he once again found Beale on his staff. By now coaching an under-15s side which included Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Speaking of his time at Liverpool, Beale said in 2018: "When I was on holiday in Spain, I had a chance meeting with Frank (McParland), who was the Liverpool academy manager. We got talking and he said there was a vacancy coming up. I went to speak to Liverpool and I moved there in the summer of 2012.
“Kenny Dalglish was manager at the time. He was my hero for years and a close relative of my nan, Ray Harford, had been assistant to him at Blackburn. He left as I was on the brink of coming in but Brendan took over as manager. That was a nice coincidence because I knew Brendan’s background. I’d been involved with him as a staff coach at Chelsea and I had an idea of what he might like. I believed in his philosophy and fell in line with that.
“Things moved very quickly at Liverpool. From 2012 to 2017, we had 25 debuts for players who had worked their way up. Brendan and Jurgen Klopp are both managers who like to work with people and develop them."
The two coaches held an affinity and it's easy to see why given the parallels in their respective coaching careers. Both retired from playing early - Rodgers at 20 and Beale at 21 - and jumped straight into coaching. They worked together loosely at Stamford Bridge before Rodgers took the jump to manage Watford and when they reunited at Anfield, Beale immediately bought into his philosophy.
Speaking later, Rodgers also revealed a "similarity in ideas" in how he and Rodgers work. Youth-focused squad-building is at the heart of it as he told the Mail on Sunday: "Brendan was at Chelsea when I was there and we would have some similarity in terms of ideas. We want to be expansive coaches. I liked his personality as a youth coach and I saw that again at Liverpool, he was always promoting the right things and willing to give a young player a chance. I think that is refreshing."
