EVENING TIMES sportswriters Ronnie Cully and Thomas Jordan debate the big Old Firm issues ahead of Sunday's Co-operative Insurance League Cup Final.

A GLANCE at the team-sheets from the last time these two met in a cup final six years ago simply highlights the damage changing football econo-mics has caused to the Old Firm.

No such quality like Alan Thompson, Chris Sutton and, of course Henrik Larsson, will appear in green and white this Sunday.

And how this fixture longs for the contributions of those who turned out in 2003 in light blue, men like Ronald de Boer, Claudio Caniggia and Mikel Arteta. But let's not use that as an excuse.

The form of this match in recent times, two dreadful encounters at Ibrox in December and then at Parkhead last month, has left us wondering just what kind of fare will be served up. Again, let's not have that as an excuse.

No moaning over a pitch - it has been re-laid. No get-out that the pressure for points strangles the game now - this is a one-off final, someone has to leave with the silverware.

We want the men with real reputations, Pedro Mendes, Aiden McGeady, Barry Ferguson, Scott Brown, Steven Davis and Shunsuke Nakamura to turn up, strut their stuff and give us a Celtic v Rangers final to savour.

Let's have 4-4-2 on each side and a ding-dong for the bragging rights, let's have goals with Kris Boyd and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink among them. Okay, that's stretching it ...

But if ever Scottish football needed a showpiece to live up to it's billing, then it's this Sunday at Hampden.

Off the back of the Champions League diet that fans have gorged on through their TV sets, we don't expect the magic of Liverpool v Real Madrid or Juventus v Chelsea.

But the Old Firm can do much, much better than the last couple of offerings, no matter how much both camps tried to defend them and throw their noses in the air, claiming the critics know nothing.

Your eyes are a sound judge, and there are players in both camps who can illuminate this final and not only remind everyone of what's good about the Old Firm, but whet the appetite for the 10-game duel for the SPL title that will be fought out after the dust settles this weekend.

When the Old Firm are in Europe after Christmas, as has been the case for the past few years, the League Cup is often scorned on as the poor man of the domestic season.

But this one has taken on an extra edge, for many different reasons. Hopefully, those pressures will not strangle the fixture again.

For Celtic, defeat would leave them out of two cups inside eight days. Quick as his critics are on to the trigger, losing to Rangers is the last thing Gordon Strachan needs.

His counterpart, Walter Smith, has operated under a different kind of strain, albeit he plays by the same rules as Strachan.

When Rangers tumbled out of Europe before the schools were back, domestic success was quickly demanded by a support who has not tasted the sweet honey of a championship since 2005.

With no distractions, Rangers - given the squad assembled - should have been going the distance, and they are now the only team that can do a treble.

Victory on Sunday, and dreams of a clean sweep will only be heightened. Defeat, and many will wonder if Rangers could recover from the mental setback of an Old Firm loss.

As always, the teams set out by Strachan and Smith will be at the fulcrum of all debate. The spat with Boyd appears to have removed any chance he had of starting for Rangers, if there was ever one in the first place given his poverty of appearances in this fixture.

Kyle Lafferty and Kenny Miller, a pacey and energetic front two, should start, assuming that Smith wants to have a real go.

The rest of Rangers' team picks itself, bar left midfield and right-back, and these are the areas Smith will no doubt spend most of his time deliberating over.

As for Strachan, he must wonder just what face of his side will show, no matter who he puts out. Last midweek, Celtic regained pole position in the league with a fine performance at Kilmarnock.

Just a few days later, they were awful and went out of the Scottish Cup to St Mirren. Same personnel, but a quite dramatic difference in what they produced.

Back four more or less picks itself. A wide, open space and decent surface should lend itself to McGeady and Nakamura, while finding the right partner for Brown is crucial. Paul Hartley, course and distance specialist, would be my bet.

And then there is up front. Twenty-five games between them without a goal, just who gets the nod from Hesselink and Georgios Samaras to partner Scott McDonald? Making that decision for Strachan right now must feel like the man going for execution and choosing between the axe or guillotine.

But these occasions can often thrown up drama. What price a Hesselink winner? Who knows, this is the Old Firm and anything can happen.

What we do know is that this will be compelling viewing. These matches always are, even if they are rank rotten.

While it's true finals are only ever remembered for winners, let's hope this one is also remembered for the quality of the game.