AFTER 18 years and 11 stops, Glasgow is now home for Pedro Caixinha. It is a new environment, a fresh challenge and different way of life.
It will take time for the Portuguese to adapt to the city and to Scottish football, but that is a commodity that is always in short supply at Ibrox. Caixinha will have to learn quickly and the coming days and weeks will be enlightening for the 46-year-old as he gets up to speed.
He will surround himself with his closest confidants, but a fresh face could point Caixinha in the right direction. The Light Blues boss is set to add a ‘local assistant’ to his staff and the process to bring another right hand man on board will be stepped up now that Caixinha has his feet under the desk.
When Paul Le Guen was installed as manager a decade ago, the Frenchman appointed Yves Colleu as assistant and Stephane Wiertelak and Joel Le Hir to his backroom team. But there was no place for someone who had been there, done it and worn the Light Blue t-shirt.
Ian Murray was part of the squad that Le Guen inherited and took charge of before he was replaced by Walter Smith, and the 35-year-old reckons Caixinha has made the right call by opting to bring on board a coach with an understanding of the demands of Rangers and the nuances of our game.
“I think it is important for him to have someone that knows Scottish football,” Murray told Herald Sport. “He is coming over from Qatar with his staff and it is a huge ask to adapt quickly, especially at a club like Rangers when you don’t really get time.
“I think it is important and I would have been surprised if they hadn’t decided to go down that route. They are not stupid guys, they will realise that as well. It will be interesting to see who they go for.
“That is a huge factor and I don’t think people realise how intense it can be in Scottish football. That is not just at Rangers or Celtic, but the league in general. Everyone wants to beat Rangers and players raise their game against them. That is just the nature of the business.
“If they think teams are going to sit back and allow them to knock the ball about and play how they want, then they are in for a big shock pretty early. I am sure whoever comes in will brief him on that and let him know about the game.”
Caixinha put pen-to-paper at Ibrox on Saturday before heading to Parkhead the following day to get his first taste of the Old Firm showdown as the Gers emerged with a deserved share of the spoils.
The Portuguese will spend the rest of the week putting his plans in place for the visit of Hamilton Accies, and Murray knows the Light Blues squad will be determined to make a positive first impression to finish a rollercoaster campaign on a high note.
“The players will want to catch the eye early on and want to be part of his short-term plans and then progress into his long-term plans,” he said. “It is a different scenario than the one that Le Guen faced. Rangers fans are not happy with the performances and feel a lot of players don’t deserve to be at the club so it is up to the players to change that.
“When Le Guen came in, he took a lot of flak. I think Caixinha will be given more leeway than Paul was given because the circumstances are different. But there is no doubt that if you don’t win games then the pressure will be on the players and the manager.”
The appointment of Caixinha has been questioned in several quarters in recent days as the Gers board have plucked the Portuguese from Qatar and tasked him with clinching the Premiership crown.
Many supporters are wary about the arrival of a coach with no experience of the Scottish game and little experience at the top level as a manager in his own right. But Murray insists the former Santos Laguna and Al-Gharafa boss should be given a chance to prove his worth at Ibrox.
“You have to take every case on his own merit,” he said. “There is nothing to say that because Le Guen didn’t work that Caixinha won’t work, or because (Mark) Warburton didn’t hit the heights expected that an English manager couldn’t have done the job. As long as you adapt quickly and you are qualified for the job then you can be successful.
“You can’t say it will work or won’t work because every managerial appointment at every level is a gamble.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel