They are on their way to Hampden but who shall not be moved?

Holders Celtic take on city rivals Rangers in the final of the League Cup on Sunday afternoon.

It is the first time the two Glasgow clubs have gone head-to-head in a Hampden showpiece since 2019. The Hoops waltzed off with the silverware that day thanks to Christopher Jullien's goal and an inspired goalkeeping performance by then-number one Fraser Forster.

The Scottish champions are defending the tournament they won last season after coming from behind to defeat Hibernian 2-1 with Kyogo Furuhashi's brace handing Postecoglou his first taste of cup success in this country.

How will Postecoglou fare against Michael Beale's men this time round? TCW's Tony Haggerty looks at the key threads surrounding the showpiece...

Aaron Mooy or Matt O'Riley?

It's probably the only major selection dilemma/quandary/headache (delete as needed) that Postecoglou has ahead of this match.

Both men have made stellar contributions to the cause this season and have been a large driving force behind the Hoops moving nine points ahead in the Scottish Premiership.

While people have said that Denmark under-21 international O'Riley has gone off the boil this season he still possesses the most assists in the league with 10. He also showed recently that he is rediscovering his form of last season and hammered in his first goal in the 5-1 rout of St Mirren in the Scottish Cup last 16 tie.

Meanwhile, former Brighton midfielder Mooy has been on fire since returning from a successful World Cup in Qatar with Australia and has scored six times in all competitions this campaign.

READ MORE: Celtic predicted line-ups for the League Cup final v Rangers

The Aussie has got the nod over O'Riley in terms of starts in 2023 so far and his compatriot has often turned to him to be deployed in the number eight role alongside Reo Hatate and Callum McGregor in the engine room.

The Australian made a point-saving contribution to the equaliser during the New Year derby at Ibrox and he has also scored three from three spot kicks that have been awarded to Celtic since he assumed the role.

Mooy, like O'Riley, possesses a keen eye for a killer pass and is a goalscoring threat. However, the imperious form of the Australian since his return from World Cup finals duty as well as the fact that he has demonstrated that prowess from 12 yards could be deciding factors.

Postecoglou will need cool heads in the white-hot heat of a Glasgow Derby final and they do not come much cooler than Mooy. That could tip the scales and balance in the Australian's favour... but only just.

Be prepared... but put on a show

Last season's Scottish Cup semi-final extra-time defeat to Rangers at Hampden still lingers for those of a green and white persuasion.

This is largely why Postecoglou's Celtic are preparing for Sunday's cup final to go the distance. The Hoops looked jaded during the second period, in which they lost owing to Carl Starfelt's own goal despite taking the lead that day through Greg Taylor.

The Aussie revealed this week that his men have been practising penalties in the lead-up to the first showpiece of the season. Postecoglou is meticulous and nothing is being left to chance this time.

He said: “You prepare for everything. There’s no part of the game I think you should dismiss, so everyone prepares as if it will go the distance and that way there are no surprises on the day.”

Indeed, there should be no surprises for the 57-year-old and his team as they have visited the national stadium four times since Postecoglou took charge.

Those visits encompass a 1-0 win in the League Cup semi-final against St Johnstone, a 2-1 victory over Hibernian in the League Cup final, the 2-1 extra-time loss in the Scottish Cup semi-final to Rangers and a 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock in the League Cup semi-final.

The Hoops have yet to hit the dizzy heights that the Aussie and his players know they are capable of in those. Is this the day that Postecoglou's team bring 'our brand of football' to Hampden?

If they do then Celtic will be in Postecoglou's own words "hard to stop". If that happens and the Hoops pile on the agony and turn on the style then we certainly won't need extra time or penalties for Celtic to register the correct result and for green and white ribbons to be draped around the trophy for the second successive year.

Beale 0 Postecoglou 1?

There's been a lot of talk ahead of this one - maybe too much talk.

When it comes to the two managers Rangers boss Beale is the rookie here. His only experience of the League Cup final is riding shotgun with Steven Gerrard as they lost to Celtic in the 2019 showpiece.

Beale, to all intents and purposes, is a shrewd tactician and his men and their results have improved significantly since he inherited the managerial reins from Giovanni van Bronckhorst. However, his ridiculous claim that Rangers had won two out of the last four major domestic honours up for grabs in Scotland has rightly been called out and challenged.

His 'lucky' jibe in reference to Postecoglou's transfer work will not be allowed to just quietly go away either while some of Beale's charges - particularly Fashion Sakala referring to Celtic as 'the other mob' - may well prove to have been unwise as well as blatantly disrespectful prior to such a huge match. 

Celtic Way:

It's fair to say that Postecoglou has traversed a more diplomatic line so in the 'phoney war of words' between the managers it is first blood to the Aussie, who continues to hold a Jock Stein-like quality to his public behaviour and utterances.

Inspirational words don't automatically turn players into cup winners, granted. But in short both the Celtic players and their manager like to do all their talking on the field where it matters most.

We shall see how true that statement is on Sunday - and if Beale and his Rangers men were right to be full of braggadocio.

In terms of media duties, though, it definitely seemed a case of Michael Beale 0 Ange Postecoglou 1.

Pitch imperfect?

The national stadium was in a state of disrepair for both League Cup semi-final matches.

Postecoglou had his say back then and admitted before the Kilmarnock clash: "Even when I walked out before the game, I was disappointed in the pitch."

Despite the Hoops defeating Derek McInnes's men 2-0 on the day the surface turned out to be a hindrance to Celtic's free-flowing brand of quick, attacking football.

Both managers will be hoping for a decent pitch this time around. However, you get the feeling that Beale would not be too perturbed if Hampden could act as some sort of leveller between the two sides.

When he addressed the media in midweek, Postecoglu said: “The whole pitch thing is not just a challenge, this is an event to showcase our football. You’ve got two good footballing teams and the pitch and the stadium are part of that event, and you want them to be presented well. Hopefully, it looks good.”

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou, Robin Williams and me - Tony Haggerty

He is not wrong as this is Scottish football's first showpiece event of the season and it is being pitted against the English version of the League Cup final between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Wembley later that day.

Obvious comparisons will follow between the two finals north and south of the border but Postecoglou is definitely right about one thing: we want to portray Scottish football in the best possible light at all times.

Hopefully, Hampden will be restored to somewhere near pristine condition in time for the final.

If not then the pitch is just another one of those challenges that Postecoglou references every other week - usually his Celtic players find a way of coping before prevailing in the end.

Every edge possible...

This week Postecoglou revealed that he is never done learning more about football by sampling other sports and picking the brains of other coaches.

Postecoglou is a member of an informal ‘brains trust’ of Australian coaches, who each steal little titbits from one another’s experiences in a pool of knowledge they have picked up from leading teams across their various disciplines.

The Parkhead boss also just happens to be great friends with current Australia and former England rugby union head coach Eddie Jones and they and a whole host of others bounce ideas off each other.  For Postecoglou it is all about the thirst for gaining more insight and educating himself on how best to deal with athletes who come from a variety of sports, not just football.

Postecoglou said: "I’ve always had networks of people and Eddie (Jones) is one of them, and along with three or four other Australian coaches from different codes, we catch up once a month on Zoom. It’s more cathartic than anything else, we just complain for half an hour about our sort of burden, unburden ourselves and move on.

"You always get stuff, because even though it is different sports, we are all dealing with similar things, particularly in the team dynamics and dealing with young men and young athletes. Particularly as you get older, you want to make sure that you are constantly understanding the way they communicate so your message gets across.

"I’ve always tapped in, and I’ve had quite a few other coaches come through Celtic just to spend the week with us, and they get a bit out of it, I get a bit out of it and the staff get a bit out of it because we can pick each other’s brains.

"We’re obviously [from] different sports, but the roles are very similar in most respects. There’s always stuff you can take away from the way they deal with issues, whether it’s player issues or welfare issues.

“Even if the sports are different, [and] there isn’t a tactical exchange of ideas, there certainly is in terms of methodology and how you convey your ideas to players, whether that’s technology or other sources. There’s always stuff you can pick up. How to handle the media’s a good one!”

That in itself will be music to Celtic supporters' ears despite the fact that Postecoglou stated he has a firm handle on football management after performing successfully in the same role for 26 years.

It is refreshing to hear that he is always trying to expand his knowledge palette and is willing to learn new things by listening to different coaches from a broad spectrum of sports.

The wisdom gained along the way is something that could certainly make a difference to Celtic on cup final occasions such as this.