CHEERS BHOYS
Murty: Clueless Celts pair Macca and Walker have done my team talk.. rants have fired us up to pull off a Parkhead shock
GRAEME MURTY has thanked former Parkhead pin-ups Andy Walker and Frank McAvennie for penning his Old Firm team talk.
The Rangers stand-in boss has branded the ex-Celtic duo clueless as his team bids
to become the first Scottish side to beat Celtic all season. Murty hit out as Rangers sealed a deal with Qatari club Al-Gharafa over compensation for incoming boss Pedro Caixinha, who could now arrive in Glasgow just hours before tomorrow’s High Noon kick-off.
Reports in the Middle East claim the Light Blues have forked out £400,000 for the Portuguese gaffer but that is being hotly denied within Ibrox as sources claim the fee is nominal.
Sky pundit Walker claimed this week Rangers are weak, timid, lack heart and have never been more scared of the Hoops.
His comments came a couple of days after former strike pal Macca said Celtic could rack up a record 8-0 win in the fixture.
Murty is ready to hand over the reins to Caixinha on Monday morning when the former Sporting Lisbon assistant is set to be paraded. After three wins in five games as Mark Warburton’s replacement Murty has vowed to go out with a bang.
Speaking of the ex-Celtic pair, he said: “They’ve done my job for me. I don’t have to motivate the team.
“I’ve picked up all the headlines of all the experts outside of our group who don’t really know the players but have made these sweeping statements.
“I’ll pin them up and say to the players, ‘That’s what the world thinks about you. What do you think about yourselves? What are you going to do about it? Go and put it into effect on Sunday.’
“That’s the bottom line. People can think what they like about this group of players but they have a fantastic opportunity to change everyone’s minds.
“I always liked going to a stadium where you had no chance. It was like that throughout my career as I played for small clubs.
“We are behind at the moment at Rangers and people are throwing things at the players. I’ve told the players no one expects them to win. However, they have a fantastic opportunity to get off on the right foot with the new manager and make a statement about where they want to be.”
Celtic have won 26 and drawn once in the league this season and Rangers have not won at the home of their arch rivals since a Kenny Miller double helped them to a 3-1 victory almost seven years ago.
Murty added: “It’s going to be very difficult. We’ve looked at the way Celtic problem-solve during games and how they go about winning matches.
“We’ve really enjoyed looking at their weapons these last few days while trying to come up with a way to counteract them.”
Caixinha could watch from the stand at Celtic Park now compensation has been agreed, although Rangers were last night awaiting the paperwork being rubberstamped by Al-Gharafa’s legal team.
He is keen on bringing members of his backroom staff to Glasgow. It is believed he wants his long-term assistant Helder Baptista and fitness coach Pedro Malta with him.
Baptista – a former Paris Saint-Germain and Rayo Vallecano midfielder – worked with Caixinha at Leiria and Nacional in their Portuguese homeland before following him to Santos Laguna in Mexico and then to Qatar.