WHEN Rangers supporters were asked around a month ago to name potential locations to hunt for a new manager, it’s pretty much a dead cert Doha was somewhere between Parkhead and Pluto on the list.
The Qatar Stars League, for all its obvious qualities, isn’t exactly renowned for churning out some of the world’s most experienced coaches. Particularly those who have ‘able to do it on a cold Tuesday in Dingwall’ at the top of their CV.
Yet, it was the cosmopolitan Middle East metropolis in Qatar where Rangers’ board sought to unearth the head coach they wanted to not just rectify the deficiencies of the current lot, but somehow knock them into some sort of title-contending shape. In the land where glistening shards of infused glass and metal surge high into the air above the sprawling sand dunes, Pedro Caixinha was unearthed.
After taking over Al Gharafa in December 2015, the Portuguese has had mixed fortunes being in charge of a club that currently attracts an average home gate of around 400. Ben Jacobs, a senior journalist with BeIN Sports, is an expert when it comes to football in the region.
“Pedro would have got a culture shock when he arrived,” explained Jacobs, a jolt to the senses that will surely be repeated whenever Caixinha sets foot in Glasgow. “Training takes place as late as 9pm, matches kick off at 9pm or 10pm.
“He will have had to change his philosophy of when the players eat and come in and how they train. He will have had to leave them plenty of time to pray. If he’s in charge over Ramadan you need to take that into account as it can clash with games. Some players will fast and some will be unable to play.
“It’s just whether or not the style of Scottish football suits him. It’s much more physical than what he is used to based on his last few jobs, particularly Garafah. It’ll be a lot faster in Scotland, the pitches here are impeccable and not every Scottish pitch is like that.”
Surely the understatement of the week.
One aspect of the 43-year-old’s make up that will appeal to any Rangers supporter who has watched their team’s defence of late through the cracks in their fingers is his footballing mantra of building from the back and ultimately making teams hard to beat.
“Rangers are getting a tactician. Someone who has always thought the game through thoroughly. He is also reasonably defence minded,” explained Jacobs. “He’s not only managed Al Gharafa but Santos before that. The one unifying quality is undoubtedly his attention to detail, his use of technology and new-found means.
“A lot of Portuguese coaches come to the Middle East whether it is Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, and they are seen to be quite attack minded, modern coaches. But in Pedro’s case, alongside that desire to play simple tactics, move the ball quickly and get it wide, in my eyes he will set up Rangers with defensive tactics and will build them from the back moving forward.
“That’s been one of the main things with Gharafa since 2015. He’s turned them into a very solid, defensive unit. Pedro will look to shore things up. Whether that means a change of personnel or formation.
“I’m absolutely sure he will have watched Rangers. He will have seen their liabilities at the back and first and foremost to stop the goals from shipping.”
It is difficult to gauge just how Caixinha will adapt to Scottish football when, as is expected, he is unveiled as the new Rangers manager in the coming days. The task is not made any more easier by looking into the environment he currently works in.
Under the rule of chairman Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, the Portuguese is used to outside influences when it comes to the day-to-day duties that come with being the head coach of a full-time in the Middle East, as Jacobs explains.
“One of the problems of managing out here is you are restricted due to local quotas. It’s not like you are able to go out into the transfer market and bring in more than a few players. We haven’t really seen what you would say is his influence or firepower in the transfer market due to local quotas. It’ll be interesting when he gets to a club like Rangers and he can bring in who he likes to see who he exactly wants to sign.
“He’s in full control, theoretically, of the infrastructure. He is the manager. But one of the problems is that even though there is no director of football, you are very much bound by the locals in Doha whether they are Sheikhs or Royalty or influential figures behind the club. Al Thani will effectively, as the President, have final say on everything. If he likes the manager, it could be the case Pedro will say ‘I want X amount and be left to it’ but there are scenarios where the owner, and President Al Thani in particular, will tell him who to play.
“That can be a very strange situation. Every club is different but at Gharafa the president does have a fair amount of sway and there is an expectation that you are extremely well paid but you are bound to some extent by the local desires, particularly with Qatari players.
“You may end up getting a call one day from someone senior at the club saying ‘the president wants you to play this player up front’ and it doesn’t matter what the form is like. So yes, Pedro has full control in theory but he hasn’t really managed to bring in what I would call his players.”
Given that experience, coming into Ibrox and working with a director of football should be a doddle then?
Jacobs said: “I’d have no worries about him working with a director of football. He’s a very mild-mannered character and would take advice of someone who knows the ins and outs of English football. He’d be the first to admit he’d take a bit of time to settle in.
“I don’t think he’s the kind of manager who is going to walk through the door and elevate Rangers to a Celtic star level from the back end of this season and the beginning of the next.
“However, he will want to consolidate the club, improve their defence and if he has suggestions how to do that from someone who knows the region a bit better then I think he will be fine within that system.
“If you are being really harsh and you looked at the results, the pedigree, the signings, the standard of where he is coming from and whether he is a well-respected tactician or not, Pedro is a very surprising choice at such a big historical club like Rangers.
“Even if the expectation at Rangers has been lessened towards the back end of this season because of where the club has come from, he’s still walking into a stadium of thousands of people. Garafah’s average attendance is about 400.
“He’s obviously going to have a quick increase in standard that he’ll have to get used to.”
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