Rangers' Pedro Caixinha choosing odd battlegrounds in Celtic's wake

Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha squared up to Celtic captain Scott Brown

When deciding to rail against Celtic in the wake of Saturday's Old Firm game, Pedro Caixinha wasn't exactly short on causes to fight.

He could have highlighted the flare flung on to the pitch from the Celtic end, he could have raised the big claim for a penalty when the score was still 0-0, he could have shone a light on Leigh Griffiths' provocative behaviour when blowing his nose on the blue paper that was part of the Ibrox club's tifo display before appearing to wipe the contents of his nose on a corner flag bedecked with the Rangers emblem.

What Griffiths did was insulting and inflammatory. A few weeks ago, Celtic fans were in a state of high-dudgeon when Neymar refused to shake Tony Ralston's hand at the end of a Champions League match.

The Brazilian was criticised for showing a lack of respect to a young professional trying to make his way in the game at the top level. What, then, do we say of Griffiths? A lark to be dismissed as part of Old Firm panto or something worthy of censure? The latter, surely.

• Caixinha accuses Celtic's Brown of elbow

• Rodgers praises 'exceptional' Griffiths

• Match report: Rangers 0-2 Celtic

Caixinha picked an argument right enough, but he picked an odd one. He went up against Scott Brown on the touchline at half-time about what he saw as an elbow from the Celtic captain into the head of Alfredo Morelos.

He followed up on the theme in the post-match news conference, metaphorically squaring up to Brown again, pointing to the player's reputation while giving it the 'you try that with me and you'll see what happens' routine.

The Rangers manager was correct in one regard. Brown does get away with things in games in Scotland.

He is a commanding footballer and leader and has an aura that helps him out. He sometimes goes unpunished for things other players get sanctioned for. Among fans of other clubs, it is a bit of a running joke about the number of fouls he is allowed to have before a referee will take action against him.

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths blew his nose on some blue tissue paper

In the case of the Morelos incident, though, Brown did not do what Caixinha claimed. There was no swinging elbow as the Rangers manager was gesticulating about at the break. There was no reason to erupt so publicly at what happened.

Brown brushed Morelos away with his arm and Morelos hit the floor. It happens multiple times in games.

The striker didn't seem to protest. He certainly didn't hold his head as if taken out illegally. He got up and got on with it.

Caixinha went to town on that incident above all others and it was peculiar given what else he could have spoken about.

This was another sobering day for his team. There were few surprises in this game, precious little that was different to what has gone before and what we expected to happen again.

Rangers' spirit was a little stronger, Celtic's finishing was a little weaker. But, overall, it was a game played along similar lines as the previous two on Caixinha's watch, a run of three games that now has a cumulative score of 9-1 to Celtic.

Rangers people - the board, in particular - might have been expecting more given the amount of money they have released to their manager in recruiting his squad. You can enter a degree of mitigation because Lee Wallace and Bruno Alves were absent - although 19-year-old Ross McCrorie was manful on the day - but, if the official statistics are to be trusted, Brendan Rodgers' team had more possession on Saturday than they did in the last 5-1 game of last season before Caixinha had spent a penny.

Rangers had new recruits Fabio Cardoso, Ryan Jack, Graham Dorrans, Daniel Candeias, Carlos Pena and Morelos all starting and later introduced Aaron Nemane and Eduardo Herrera off the bench. Eight new signings and Celtic had precisely the same number of attempts on goal on Saturday as they did in the 5-1 game at the end of April - 18 - and precisely the same number of attempts on target - seven.

Celtic eased to a 2-0 win at Ibrox against their city rivals

The difference was in the execution. Celtic were profligate and yet they won with little fuss.

Celtic and Rangers live in the same city, but they exist in different worlds now. For Rodgers, the testing ground is Europe. He takes his team to Brussels this week for a game against Anderlecht that will tell us infinitely more about their progress as a team than anything that happened at Ibrox.

As far as Champions League group games go, this is as winnable as they come. Anderlecht have a fine pedigree in the Europa League over the past two seasons - Manchester United struggled to put them out in the quarter-final last season - but the Anderlecht then is different to the Anderlecht now.

Their player of the year, Youri Tielemans, joined Monaco for £21m in the summer. Without him, they sit seventh in the Belgian league with three wins from eight games. Their manager, Rene Weiler, was sacked last week.

Celtic's away record in group competition in Europe is awful, but this is a game to measure them by. Just as the verdict on Caixinha is unfavourable in the competition he must be judged on then the same will apply for Rodgers if these ties with Anderlecht go wrong and Celtic are left with no European football post-Christmas.

History tells us we must always compare the Old Firm, we must always wonder about the gap between them and how big it is and how, and when, it may close. It's a waste of time.

The gap is so vast it's not even a conversation. It will be again one day, but nobody can say when that day will be.

The truth is that Celtic have had tougher examinations against St Johnstone and Partick Thistle this season than they had on Saturday. They drew the former and won the latter 1-0. Thistle had a clear claim for a penalty dismissed in the last few minutes of that game.

Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha was sent flying after a collision with Ibrox midfielder Josh Windass

Rangers have played 23 games under Caixinha and have not yet won three on the bounce. He's won 52% of his matches in charge, or 50% if you just count this season after the summer splurges.

Has he bought well? Would he have been better off spending his money on more domestic talent who know what's what in this country rather than gambling the way he has?

Given a blank canvas, how many Rangers fans would now choose to lose some of Caixinha's signings if it meant the likes of John McGinn, Jamie Walker, Louis Moult and Jason Cummings could be brought in for similar money?

For Rangers, Celtic are a false standard. Losing to them is never good, but these days games against Celtic are not the most relevant battleground for the Ibrox club, whether they can bring themselves to accept that or not.

In the league, Rangers have already lost to Hibs and have drawn with Hearts and Partick Thistle. They sit in fifth place in the table, one point ahead of Motherwell.

Caixinha's chat is fun, but entertaining journalists isn't his function. As bountiful as it is, Caixinha will not be judged on his rhetoric.

Up next, Rangers have Hamilton Accies, St Johnstone and then Motherwell in the League Cup semi-final. The Portuguese has cornered the market in fighting talk. The time to start backing it up is upon him.