SEVEN YEAR PITCH
Caixinha tells 15-year-old Billy that he should stay and grow into a star at Ibrox until he’s 22
PEDRO CAIXINHA enjoyed his Indian dinner date with Dave King but hopes he has given Billy Gilmour food for thought after a trip to the hot property’s parents’ house to try to convince him to stay at Rangers.
The Light Blues have agreed a fee in principle of around £400,000 with English giants Chelsea for the teenage prodigy to avoid losing him for just £100,000 in training compensation if he moves after his 16th birthday in June.
Caixinha is convinced Gilmour has a bright future and hopes he isn’t tempted by the bright lights of London.
And he made a trip to the family home in Ayrshire to try to persuade him to stick around at Ibrox.
Gilmour was a stand-out for Scotland in last year’s Victory Shield and Caixinha has told him Rangers is the best place for his development with plenty of time on his side if he fancies a change in the future.
The Gers boss took advantage of the break in domestic action after his first game in charge to take care of business with his first meeting with chairman King who jetted in from South Africa and talks with Gilmour’s parents.
Caixinha said: “Billy is a fantastic guy. We are assessing him and I have already met with the parents.
“It’s a family decision. We are waiting and I hope Billy can stay with us.
“He is a 15-year-old boy with a bright future in front of him. If he is playing with guys four or five years older than him he makes a difference and that’s really good.
“He anticipates the time and space he needs to perform the actions. I think it’s important for him to be with us and it’s also important for us he stays.
“He should stay with us and his parents to give him more time to grow and more time to get experience to arrive at the right level of football at say 22 or 23.
“He is a bright kid – I call him Billy the kid because of his age – and a clever kid for me is someone who anticipates everything that is going on before all the others.
“Billy is that sort of player. He understands what is going on and at only 15 he can compete with boys of 20 years old and has even come in to train with us in the first team.
“Now we have a situation with the club that he belongs to, with us, and a family situation. So we need to deal with it and to do that we have held a meeting with his parents.
“I won’t share what was said at this moment but I did explain my point of view.
“I do believe that for Billy, the family ourselves or even Chelsea or another club later in the future to receive a player on another level, better ready to go on this adventure, it is better for him to stay here.”
While Caixinha is still in the dark over Gilmour’s next move he is clearer on his relationship with King. The 46-year-old said: “It was fantastic and it was a pleasure to get to know Dave.
“It was a fantastic dinner, I like Indian food! It was very interesting and things were really clear so we are getting in the same direction and on the same wavelength as what needs to be done from here until the beginning of the season.”
But Caixinha’s main aim is to ensure his players are singing from the same hymn sheet as him as he continues to implement his preferred playing style on the team.
The Portuguese admitted the one advantage he has working in Scotland is the passion, professionalism and game intelligence that wasn’t there in his previous jobs in Qatar and Mexico.
He said: “You need to teach the players more than coach them, you need to educate them and let them see the game like this. You need to establish priorities if you want them to see a clear picture.
“We are working on different situations. These adaptations are not only physical. The majority say it is about fitness. Fitness is important but for us it is just one regime.
“What is really important is the dominant, that’s the main principle. One
is tactical, the other is physiological. I need to create the training to get those stimulations both ways.
“It is about them understanding what is going on and taking decisions so they need to be aware all the time, making decisions all the time. It takes some time to get adapted but the players need to be intelligent.
“The best players are the most intelligent ones. They are wise about the game, they read the game, they understand the game and they make better decisions.
“In Qatar, for example, they are very skilful but I believe it is difficult to transmit passion to them. Mexican players are very skilful as well but they don’t have the same level of professionalism. “In all places you have very good points and other points you are weaker at so you need to balance these things. But if you ask me, ‘Do you prefer your players to be passionate?’ I will totally agree. “The only point not negotiable with us is the attitude. Guys who are committed to run are guys who are committed to learn. It is easy to lead them in this direction.”