THOSE of a Rangers persuasion could quite easily, as Celtic supporters gloatingly suggested as their team coasted to a third consecutive win at Ibrox early on Saturday afternoon, choose to look on the bright side following their latest derby defeat.

Yes, Pedro Caixinha’s team was once again beaten, and well beaten at that, by Brendan Rodgers’s side to fall eight points behind in the Ladbrokes Premiership table after just seven games.

But they avoided the sort of humiliation they had suffered at the hands of their great rivals on the last occasion they met.

The quite staggering tactical naivety on show in that record 5-1 defeat back in April was nowhere in evidence at the weekend. Ultimately, it was just two lapses in concentration, which allowed first Tom Rogic and then Leigh Griffiths to score, during the second half that denied them a result.

Had Alfredo Morelos done better with a header shortly after Rogic had put the visitors in front, had Craig Gordon not produced such a fine instinctive save, then could the final outcome not have been different? It is possible.

Elsewhere, new signing Ryan Jack, as has so often been the case this season, performed with assurance in central midfield. Their teenage centre half Ross McCrorie, starting in just his first game for them, also produced a display that belied his tender years and augured well for both his own future and that of his club.

Rangers were without two of their most important players – the vastly-experienced Portuguese defender Bruno Alves and their influential captain and left back Lee Wallace – due to injury. Could they really expect to do any better with such a hastily cobbled together back line?

Given the years of heinous off-field mismanagement they are still striving to recover from, considering the superior resources their adversaries have to construct a squad with, taking into account all of the mitigating factors, the 2-0 loss could be regarded by some as progress of sorts.

Sure, Caixinha has lavished nearly £9 million bringing in new players like Daniel Candeias, Fabio Cardoso and Morelos during the close season. But Rodgers had the luxury of starting with Moussa Dembele on the bench. The striker alone is worth far, far more. So what more could be expected?

However, the only reason Celtic failed to win by a greater margin was their final ball left a huge amount to be desired and their finishing also let them down badly.

On another day, they would have capitalised on their dominance to a greater degree and punished their hosts far more ruthlessly. Stuart Armstrong, Griffiths, Patrick Roberts, Rogic and Scott Sinclair have all enjoyed far better showings up front and will do so again in future. Even Dembele looked way off it when he came on.

It could have been every bit as much of a doing as it was last time around. No, this game raised as many questions about Caixinha, his game plan, his new-look side and his overall suitability for the role he occupies as it answered.

Why, for example, was Carlos Pena preferred to Kenny Miller? The Mexican once again looked some way short of fitness and contributed virtually nothing to proceedings. His team mate, a veteran of so many of these contests, made a definite difference when he came on. Despite being 37, he played with far greater energy and physicality.

Miller’s ability to hold the ball up and bring those around him into play certainly proved invaluable in a game in which his side spent long spells on the back foot. Indeed, he set up Morelos, who had looked isolated up front by himself and was repeatedly caught offside, prior to his arrival on the park, for his side’s best chance.

Pena, who scored a sublime glancing header in the Betfred Cup quarter-final win over Partick Thistle on Tuesday evening, deserves to be given time to settle in Scotland and chances to justify the £2.5 million transfer fee that was spent on him. But he was brought in back in June. Increasingly, fans are asking why he was signed and what exactly it is that he offers.

Why, too, was Alves allowed to travel to Madrid to receive treatment for his calf strain from Ronaldo’s physiotherapist? Does Caixinha think the staff at Auchenhowie are inadequate?

Wouldn’t it have been beneficial to have the 94-times capped 35-year-old around the squad in such an important game even though he wasn’t playing?

It is fair to state that no manager, no matter how accomplished, would be able to challenge Celtic given the predicament Rangers are currently in. But even finishing second above Aberdeen, one of the teams now above them, looks far from a certainty.