I CAN DO A ZIDANE IF I BECOME BOSS
Murty: Wife gave me pelters for thinking of Gers while we were hill-walking up Campsies
GRAEME MURTY already has a reaction in mind if he’s asked to walk back down the marble staircase again later this month to coach the Rangers kids. Super. Smashing. Great. The interim Ibrox boss could go from 50,000 fans against Partick Thistle at Ibrox to “one man and a dog” for a game involving the Under-20s.
Even Jim Bowen was never this cruel.
Murty laughed and said: “Is it like Bullseye? Look at what you could have won? It’s a speedboat, take it back!
“No, honestly, I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to sit in this seat. I will do it for as long as the board see fit to entrust me with this position.
“If it’s for the short term I will thank them and get back on with my job, taking myself to as high a level as possible.”
Murty reached the heights earlier this week on a walk up Dumgoyne, the westernmost peak of the Campsies from which a fine view is accorded across the entire landscape of Glasgow.
His mind, however, was only on a small corner of G51, although he was brought down to earth by his missus Karen, who is as much life coach as life partner f o r someone who admits to a lack of selfconfidence. His good lady would have been proud of him yesterday as he sat in front of the media and made a confident pitch to become the new manager, even if he surely knows the board will go for greater experience at this crucial juncture in their history.
Murty said: “I was out with my wife on Thursday and we walked up Dumgoyne. It was a beautiful view on a glorious day and all I could think about when she wasn’t directly talking to me was, ‘What if this or that happens and who do I want to do that?’
“She asked me a question and I was like, ‘Hmm?’ She knew exactly what I had been thinking about and had some short, sharp words so I focused back in again. All she wants when I’m not at work is to not be at work.
“It’s just the nature of the game. It is all consuming and so it should be because it’s a fantastic experience.
“That I’m sitting at home thinking about patterns of play for Rangers? It still sends shivers down my spine.
“It is not fair to say Mrs Murty does not want me to become the manager of Rangers in any shape or form.
“If anything she wants me to stop doing myself down and to have more belief in myself because she has lots of belief in me. I’m not comfortable talking myself up and never have been.
“The collective is by far the most important thing not my personal ego.
“Do I feel ready to be a manager? I know what my wife would tell me to say. The honest answer is I don’t know.
“To caveat that, if I was given an opportunity to be manager I wouldn’t change. It would just be me with a different title.
“Do I think I can do it? Yes. Do I think I can help the team? Yes, I definitely can. But could I do it full-time, 365? I don’t know because I’ve never done it.
“My whole ethos in becoming a coach was to try to make people better. If I can do that from the top spot at this club From Back Page a full-time basis. The Rangers board are drawing up a list of successors to Pedro Caixinha and although Derek McInnes remains firm favourite Murty is ready to step forward if asked.
Two Ibrox interim spells apart, he has no senior managerial experience after coaching kids at Southampton, Norwich and Rangers.
But Murty, 42, said: “I don’t then great. I’m sitting in this position now and it has happened for a reason. I need to make sure that when the board come to me and say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ then I’m ready to go.”
Murty averted talk of a crisis last weekend when he led Rangers to a 3-1 win over Hearts following the sacking of Pedro Caixinha.
If he wins against Partick today it will allow the board to get on with the job of finding a successor to Caixinha over the international break without a soundtrack of hysteria.
Murty said: “Training this week has been bright and it has been a real pleasure to get to know the players better. They think this job is too big for someone taking their first steps as manager.
“This is the first and last time I will use the name Zidane. He hasn’t done too badly in his first managerial job.
“I will not ever compare myself to him – managerially or football-wise. But I think the right person is the right person,regardless of when call me many names, although I am generally Murts.
“Some say gaffer but I told the lads to call me what they like because I’ll still be me. As long as the players understand the messages I’m trying to get across I’m quite relaxed about it.
“The first goal against Hearts told me a lot. All 10 outfield players celebrated and the bench was also bouncing.
“I haven’t seen splits or people pulling in another direction. “We know the expectation of the fans. Rangers will match them only when we win the league, qualify for the Champions League and get some of those big Euro nights.” they get the job. If the board said, ‘Graeme, it’s yours, take it’. Fantastic. Great. I might even crack a smile.
“You would be crazy to turn this job down.
“For all that it’s a highpowered and high-pressured job, and very much in the media spotlight, this is one of the stellar jobs in British football. You can’t turn it down, as I couldn’t turn it down when the board asked me to step up.
“This is a fantastic football club. Whoever gets this job will be very, very fortunate.
“For people to think of turning it down because it’s not right, without knowing what goes on – I’d urge them to think again. Because this club is a fantastic opportunity.”
(3pm unless stated) ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (3) Huddersfield v West Brom ................... (5) Newcastle v Bournemouth .................. (6) Southampton v Burnley ....................... (7) Stoke v Leicester ......................... 12.30 (8 ) Swansea v Brighton ............................. 10) West Ham v Liverpool .................. 5.30
SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP (11) Aston Villa v Sheff Wed ........................ (12) Barnsley v Birmingham ....................... (13) Bolton v Norwich ................................. (14)BrentfordvLeeds ....................... 5.30 (-) Bristol City v Cardiff ..................... 12.0 (15) Derby v Reading .................................. (16) Ipswich v Preston North End .............. (18) Millwall v Burton Albion ...................... (19) Nottm Forest v QPR ............................ (20) Sheff Utd v Hull ..................................
FA CUP 1st RD (-) Fylde v Kidderminster ........................... (-) Wimbledon v Lincoln City ...................... (-) Blackburn v Barnet ............................... (-) Boreham Wood v Blackpool .................. (-) Bradford v Chesterfield ........................ (-) Carlisle v Oldham .................................. (-) Cheltenham v Maidstone Utd ................ (-) Colchester v Oxford City ....................... (-) Crewe v Rotherham ............................... (-) Ebbsfleet United v Doncaster .............. (-) Forest Green v Macclesfield ................. (-) Gainsborough v Slough ......................... (-) Gateshead v Chelmsford ....................... (-) Gillingham v Leyton Orient ................... (-) Hereford v Telford ................................. (-) Luton v Portsmouth .............................. (-) Morecambe v Hartlepool ...................... (-) Newport County v Walsall .............. 5.15 (-) Northampton v Scunthorpe ................. (-) Peterborough v Tranmere ..................... (-) Plymouth v Grimsby .............................. (-) Rochdale v Bromley .............................. (-) Shaw Lane v Mansfield ................. 12.30 (-) Shrewsbury v Aldershot ....................... (-) Stevenage v Nantwich Town ................. (-) Wigan v Crawley Town ........................... (-) Yeovil v Southend .................................
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP (22) Hamilton v Aberdeen ......................... (24) Hibs v Dundee ..................................... (25) Rangers v Partick ............................... (26) Ross County v Motherwell ................. (27) St Johnstone v Celtic ................ 12.30
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP (28) Brechin v Dumbarton ......................... (29) Dundee Utd v St Mirren ...................... (30) Falkirk v Dunfermline ......................... (31) Livingston v Inverness CT ................... (32) Morton v Queen of South ...................
SCOTTISH LEAGUE 1 (33) Albion v Forfar .................................... (34) Alloa v Airdrieonians .......................... (35) Arbroath v Ayr ................................... (36) Raith v East Fife ................................. (37) Stranraer v Queen’s Park ...................
SCOTTISH LEAGUE 2 (38) Annan Athletic v Berwick ................... (39) Cowdenbeath v Montrose .................. (40) Edinburgh City v Stirling ................... (41) Elgin v Peterhead ................................ (42) Stenhousemuir v Clyde ......................
(2pm unless stated) ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (1) Chelsea v Man Utd ......................... 4.30 (2) Everton v Watford ........................ 4.30 (4) Man City v Arsenal ........................ 2.15 (9) Spurs v Crystal Palace .................. 12.0
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (17) Middlesbrough v Sunderland ...... 12.15
FA CUP 1st Rd (2pm unless stated) (-) Cambridge v Sutton Utd ....................... (-) Charlton v Truro City ............................ (-) Coventry v Maidenhead Utd ................. (-) Dartford v Swindon ............................... (-) Exeter v Heybridge Swifts .................... (-) Guiseley v Accrington Stanley .............. (-) Leatherhead v Billericay ....................... (-) Solihull Moors v Wycombe .................... (-) Woking v Bury .......................................
SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP (23) Hearts v Kilmarnock .................... 3.0 LAST NIGHT
Hyde 0, MK Dons 4; Notts County 4, Bristol Rovers 2; Port Vale 2, Oxford 0.
Wolves 2, Fulham 0. Getafe 2.
GARY RALSTON I told the lads to call me what they like because I will still be me GRAEME MURTY
Eintracht Frankfurt 2, Werder Bremen 1. Rennes 1, Bordeaux 0. Sparta Rotterdam 0, Heerenveen 0. Vitoria Setubal 0, Aves 1. Real Betis 2,