Pedro Caixinha raised eyebrows almost as soon as he was appointed Rangers’ new manager back in March. Not just because he was something of an unknown, either. His public persona instantly lent the Portuguese to tabloid headlines, insisting at his unveiling that the squad at Ibrox was just as good as the one possessed by Brendan Rodgers and runaway champions Celtic. From that moment on, the pressure was on to deliver in accordance with his own expectations.
Sunday’s League Cup semi-final defeat to Motherwell underlined just how far short Caixinha is from meeting the benchmark he set for himself that day seven months ago. The 2-0 loss suffered at Hampden means the Portuguese is still to notch three successive wins over the course of his tenure as Rangers boss. That is a damning statistic and accurately reflects the nature of his reign to date.
There have been glimpses of an effective team this season. The feeling is that, in terms of individual quality, Caixinha’s Rangers side is better than his predecessor Mark Warburton’s. The issue is that Caixinha is getting just as little out of the Ibrox outfit, or even less if you consider the superior quality at his disposal and the millions spent on transfers during the summer.
Caixinha is a Rangers who seems incapable of guiding his team through big games. He was afforded a degree of leeway for a while on the basis that he was forging a team that first wasn’t his, and secondly had so many moving parts after an exceptionally hectic transfer window. But that period of leeway is now running out and what’s left behind is a far from glowing evaluation.
Even looking past the home defeat to rivals Celtic last month, Rangers have also failed to collect wins against Hearts, with Sunday’s League Cup semi-final defeat to Motherwell further highlighting how the Ibrox side fails to show up when it matters most. That’s not good enough for a Rangers manager. Their support demands more, much more.
What’s more, Caixinha appears to lack the temperament to handle the pressure of being the manager at Ibrox, blaming his players on Monday after asking the media to blame him, not his players, in the immediate aftermath of the defeat to Motherwell.
“Our performance was really, really poor,” he told reporters the day after the game. “When that happens, as a leader I have to assume it [responsibility] loud and clear. I told the players 'you're embarrassing me, you embarrass the club, you embarrass our fans and now it's time for you to react and I'm glad that we are playing on Wednesday.
“If I can pick the same 11, if all of them were available, those guys who didn't do the work that they needed to do yesterday, those are the ones that are going to start the match.” This came on the back of a dressing room power struggle between Caixinha, Kenny Miller and Miller’s agent over a perceived leak. Not to mention a touchline scrap with Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson that resulted in the Portuguese being sent to the Hampden stands on Sunday.
Rangers need a manager who can block out all distractions, yet they have one who is drawn in by every single distraction. Caixinha has assembled a team that is capable of so much better, but he might not be the man to help them, as a coach, get to that level. That’s where chairman Dave King has a decision to make.
It’s difficult to envisage how Caixinha can now escape the cycle he is now swirling around in. A fundamental alteration is required in both the character of the team and the manager for a meaningful change in direction to be achieved.
