Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, The Who famously sang. But whether the Rangers supporters will be fooled again by proclamations of their side’s readiness to challenge Celtic remains to be seen.
No sooner had interim Rangers manager Graeme Murty been confirmed as (semi) permanent Rangers manager until the end of the season, than he was licking his lips at the prospect of measuring his side up against the champions of Scotland.
And why not? Murty’s last visit to Celtic Park as a manager, in his previous spell as Rangers interim manager, saw the Ibrox men gain their only point against Brendan Rodgers’ side since winning promotion to the Premiership in 2016.
Of course, there is the small matter of a home game against Motherwell on Wednesday to negotiate first, but there is little doubt that there is one match on the horizon that is dominating the thoughts of everyone at Ibrox over the festive season.
And make no mistake, Murty’s sights are set on proving that they can not only give Celtic food for thought over 90 minutes, but over the remainder of the league campaign.
“We have a chance next week to measure ourselves against Celtic, who are the benchmark,” said Murty. “But we also have to be pushing as a football club to be at the top table. They are currently there and the team to beat. We have to make up the gap, that's the aim for the season. It was the aim at the start and it's still the aim.
“We must have an outstanding second half of the season. We have a cup competition to play for and we're still in touch in the league – albeit we could be closer. If we're positive and strong, who knows where that could take us?
"I'm not thinking about me, I'm thinking about us getting close to them. I'm proud of the players and what we did that day in front of a packed house at Parkhead. But are we going to shout from the rooftops about getting a draw at Parkhead, or are we going to aspire to be better than that? Are we going to aspire to have a team that go to Parkhead and compete and win? And hopefully win leagues, because that's what I want for the club, I'm sure that's what the board wants and I'm certain that's what the fans want.”
Murty admits that with a little more stability now at his back, the dynamics of his relationships with the Rangers players may change over the coming weeks. Those relationships are likely to be examined further as he looks to put his own stamp on the team in the January transfer window.
But one thing Murty will never do after an adverse result is blame the players he has inherited. As Rangers manager, he says, the buck will stop with him.
“I've been holding the reins and preparing a team for someone else until now,” he said. “I've been keeping the ship as steady as possible and not rocking the boat. But now those reins have been passed to me and I have to be true to myself.
“I must try to shape things how I see them and not second guess what another manager might want. I have to compose the squad the way I'd like it and implement a style of play I'm comfortable with. I now have an opportunity to do that.
“The squad is composed of two different philosophies in Mark [Warburton]'s and Pedro [Caixinha]'s. But it's what I have. I'm sick of hearing youth coaches or managers blaming players. It's up to you as a coach to get a tune out of what you have. If you can, great. If you can't, look at yourself and what you're doing.
“I played Daniel Candeias in a diamond formation recently and it didn't suit him. It was my decision, but it was unfair on him, so we changed it to get the best out of him.
“There are assets in the squad, but I need to get them together collectively and get good outcomes for the football club.
“There's a window coming up so there might be a slight accent on what I would like. But I'm just grateful for being here and to work with the players we have."
With it being the traditional time of year for contemplation, Murty is only now managing to get his head around what has happened to him in these last 12 months since making the move from the relative tranquility of Norfolk to the maelstrom of life in Glasgow.
“My wife moved up from our house in Norwich a year ago on Thursday,” he reflected. “So, that shows the year that we’ve had.
“We’ve had loads of ups and downs, load of challenges. I think we’ve ridden them out fairly well. I’ve got no doubt there’s many more challenges to come.
“I’m grateful to her for the support she’s given me. I’m also grateful that it was a brilliant decision to come here - to move and relocate the family here.
“I could never in my wildest dreams have thought I’d be sitting in front of you here as Rangers manager. It’s still ever so slightly surreal at the moment.”
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