GRAEME MURTY is set to remain Rangers interim manager for the upcoming Old Firm match which he believes would be the “stellar moment” for him as a person and coach.
The club might yet appoint a Director of Football before the match at Celtic Park on Sunday, March 12, but it is becoming increasingly unlikely that a replacement for Mark Warburton, be it permanent or temporary, is going to be in place within the next two weeks.
Murty has St Johnstone at home tomorrow night and then Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Cup on Saturday before their fourth meeting with their Treble-chasing city rivals, a game which many supporters will approach with some dread.
Read more: Graeme Murty never imagined becoming the Rangers manager and it's as difficult as he feared
Murty said: “Do I allow myself to think about the Celtic? Minimally. I would say less than 10 per cent of my thoughts are on that game because we have two massive games to go beforehand. I’m actually not even thinking that much about Saturday, I’m thinking about Wednesday’s game because it’s really important that we get the win.
“If it occurs that I’m in post come Celtic, the message won’t change to the players. It’s all about them.
“Would I welcome it? If it happens it would be a stellar moment for me as a person, to walk out there and experience that - the positive and negative parts of the atmosphere, the hostility, that exuberance that Celtic have got at the moment and the challenge of preparing a team to go and handle that.
Read more: Graeme Murty never imagined becoming the Rangers manager and it's as difficult as he feared
“Would it be difficult? Yeah. Would it be something to look back on and say I learned a great deal about myself and about the players? Absolutely. But I’ve said from the start it would be presumptuous of me to project that far forward.”
Murty backed himself to cope with such a pressurised situation but admitted: “Your intentions can be all well and good but until you are put in that situation you don’t know how you’ll handle it. So I couldn’t tell you just yet. Ask me afterwards.”
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