MARK WARBURTON has lauded the bravery and forward-thinking by Hearts in their appointment Ian Cathro as manager and insisted the Tynecastle dressing room will accept him despite the Scots’ relatively low profile.
The Rangers manager himself came to coaching through an unconventional route which perhaps explains why he was so vocal in his backing of Cathro, who faces at Ibrox this Saturday in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
The 30-year-old and his assistant Austin MacPhee have certainly got Scottish football talking this week and Warburton cannot understand why, in some quarters, their arrival has been greeted with some scepticism.
“I don’t know Ian or Austin but they are well qualified and beat a lot of good candidates to the job. I’m sure they are more than ready for the fight,” said Warburton.
“His age? I don’t mind that. Some will say it is a brave call but it might be a magnificent call by Hearts, you never know. But he’s certainly qualified for the job. He’s attracted attention and good luck to him - after Saturday.
“What qualifies qualifications? You can have a player who is injured at 18 and does his badges and coaches and 14 years later people will say he’s only 32. But he has 14 years of experience behind him. I’m sure he has impressed a lot of people.
“I read Austin’s comments in the papers this morning, saying he didn’t come from a high quality playing background. I just played Conference level football, so there are different backgrounds and Ian has done lots of coaching around the world.
“He’s taken a different route in but however you do it, it takes hard work in terms of getting the qualifications and being the best you can be. Nothing changes.
“It is a big job but all credit to him. He is brave to take it on. It’s a big call for him, it’s a big call for the club, but he has the subject knowledge and I think he has the ability to do it."
Warburton believes that players now are far more open-minded regarding being managed by someone who did not have a stellar playing career.
“I read Austin’s comments about the dressing room ‘zoo’ and players are intelligent,” he said. “They want to come into an organised environment and know what they’re doing. They want to enjoy what they’re doing and they want to leave feeling better for it.
“If you can do that, it doesn’t matter if you’ve played in the World Cup or you’ve played for Raghouse Rovers - it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, as long as you do that for the players. They are smart guys and if you get the environment right, they will respond accordingly.”
Joey Barton was in the news again after he spoke out about his lack of regret about signing for Rangers and the manager was asked whether he, too, would not have changed things give how his brief spell ended.
“Hindsight is a marvellous thing,” said Warburton. “I’m not referring to Joey but any player you sign, there is always a risk.
“You do as much homework as you can but you are taking one player out of an environment and team, and putting him in another. You hope he settles. If you can get it right seven or eight times out of ten, you are in a good place.
“You look at it, and hindsight is a marvellous thing, but you have to take risks sometimes.
“You do your homework, you weigh up all the positives and negatives, and hope you make the right all.
“Has what happened put me off? Not at all. You have to be brave with your recruitment. You can’t be reckless but you have to be brave when the time is right. A lot of homework goes into every single player.
“A lot of fans will say, ‘why don’t you sign him?’ but there is a reason why. On the pitch he might be great for us, but a bad apple in there…we can’t afford that.”
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