PEDRO CAIXINHA, the Rangers manager, insisted he had no regrets about naming his starting line-up 30 hours before kick-off despite Kilmarnock interim boss Lee McCulloch revealing he changed his plans after hearing the news. Speaking after the sides’ goalless draw at Rugby Park, Caixinha said he had named his team following an injury crisis to give his chosen players confidence and would not hesitate to do so again if he felt the occasion merited it.
“I am happy with the decision,” he said. “Sometimes you might be bluffing but I am not a bluffing guy. Did you try to think of it from the opposite side? Not from me as Rangers manager but from Lee as Kilmarnock manager? Maybe he needs to think more about my team. The only change you saw was [Conor] Sammon on the right and [Jordan] Jones on the left. Is that [a lot of changes]? I don’t think so.
“I need to give confidence to my team. That was the message for the opponents and for all of Scotland, but it was especially a message for our players to say that I am counting on you. It doesn’t matter which 11 we have. Let’s go to war. Would I do it again? If I need to do it, I will do it for sure.”
McCulloch, though, felt knowing who would be starting for Rangers gave him an opportunity to tweak his own tactics.
“Slightly, yes,” he said, when asked if he had changed his plans. “I’ve never heard of it being done in Scottish football before. I didn’t change my starting line-up but I used the news in the dressing room, I used it in part of the team talk. But if a manager wants to name his team a day before a game he can.
“I wouldn’t do it. I wait until an hour and 15 minutes before the game to give it in to the referee. But I’d never be critical of another manager.”
Caixinha admitted that he “could not be happy” with his side dropping two points for the second time in a week. “We are Rangers, we have a culture of winning and getting the three points all the time,” he added. “So we cannot be happy drawing the game. We need to reinforce to the players the demands of playing at such a massive club that needs to win all the time. We need to be angry when we don’t do it.”
Rangers now play Aberdeen on Sunday at Pittodrie, looking to close the 12-point gap. Caixinha admitted finishing second is now looking unlikely.
“It’s getting difficult,” he added. “We know we need to play twice against Aberdeen and that they have to play against all of the top six again The maths says it can still be done but the next game will be crucial to understand if you are able or not. If you don’t win on Sunday against Aberdeen, you don’t deserve to be in second position.”
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