LEE Wallace watched his gaffer getting a grilling live on BT Sport after the victory against Ross County a fortnight ago and thought to himself that Brendan Rodgers would never be treated in the same manner. While Celtic’s Northern Irish manager understandably has considerably more credit in the bank with an invincible treble win compared to the Ibrox side’s Europa League humbling, the Rangers captain said last night that for his part he finds Pedro Caixinha passionate and inspirational. In other words, exactly the way he tries to be when he coaches his amateur boys’ club Tynecastle BC. And as for his manager’s oft derided claim that Rangers had the best squad in Scotland - the nub of TV pundit Chris Sutton’s criticism on that occasion - Wallace simply hopes to prove him correct one day.
“I’m not sure [if Caixinha gets treated unfairly],” said Wallace. “But I remember watching the situation you are talking about and I did feel there was a small part of that. I’m not sure if it was Brendan Rodgers standing next to the guys that that might have been the way that the questions were going.
“But these guys are in these jobs for these reasons, and we will never complain about that,” he added. “We just have to get on with it, keep fighting through it, and understand that sometimes that is the way the things go, especially at a top club. I think the manager was quite strong and handled himself well.”
The truth is often bent a little when it comes to sporting pyschology, and Caixinha eulogising a squad which finished 39 points behind the Parkhead side and was promptly scattered to the wind was merely another example of that. “We always respect what the manager says and, at the same time as an aspiring coach myself, I can totally understand where he is coming from,” he said. “I get where you guys take and it how you take it, which is fine, but I can totally understand that the manager is showing he has got faith in his players as individuals and as a team. One day, we want to make sure that he is proven right.
“It is nice [that he believes in the squad] and that is one thing he has got, whether it is a training day, or when we watch his press conferences, the pre-match stuff, he is inspirational. He is very passionate and very motivated and we respond well to that. We respect what he says and we want to try and prove him right in the long run.”
Not everything Caixinha says to his players is complimentary, mind you. Respected captain or not, left back Wallace was the recipient of some of his manager’s ire from the technical area in Dingwall when he was culpable in conceding some soft free-kicks against Ross County’s Michael Gardyne. Reared by Jim Jefferies at Hearts, Wallace is used to managers who are prepared to call a spade a spade.
“I was in a bit tight to Gardyne and I totally took his point on board,” recalled Wallace. “They were looking most likely to score at that moment of the game from free-kicks into box and I was a bit slack. We respond well to how he is in training and his behaviour in the same from training to match. It is really consistent and we all take inspiration from that.
“Growing up at Hearts, we had a lot of strong characters,” he added. “Going back ten, eleven, twelve years, the way to maybe manage players was to go at them full whack. Back then, I was quite thick skinned and strong at a young age and I took it on board. I had my off the field stuff, but I think as I grew and played more games and got more mature, the next cycle came in.
“For what its worth, it is how I try to coach the lads at Tynecastle and how I try and captain the lads here. I think have got a not bad grasp of people’s body language and what they respond to best. Some players might need a bit more than others, while some might be the arm round the shoulder and be a bit easier with your communication. That is the way football has gone. There is no right or wrong way. The manager has got a bit of both and he will have his own understanding of who responds best to what situation. I think we have got a good balance.”
In the short term, Rangers simply face a momentous eight-day spell which could utterly shape their season. And if Wallace and Caixinha feel the criticism was bad before, they should see what it is like if results go in the opposite direction.
But there is plenty to be gained too. After back-to-back wins against Ross County and Dundee, a four-goal margin of victory at Firhill tonight would lead to the rarity of Rangers sitting top of the Scottish top flight, a sight only been glimpsed for around ten days last August in the last six years or so.
There then follows a chance to book a BetFred Cup semi-final place, back at the newly-named Energy Check Stadium at Firhill on Tuesday night, before the biggest match of the season so far, a home Old Firm derby against Celtic. “There is more confidence for sure,” said Wallace. “I can see that in the players’ eyes. But wverything we are talking about now, about the boys feeling well, smiling, training well and enjoying good, we need to continue that by winning games. It is two tough games, Friday and Tuesday and obviously we have got the big one at the back of that.”
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