Is he has Gers believing again
IT was 16 words long but it was a genuine touch of class.
Hibs boss Neil Lennon was still poring over how his side had contrived to lose to Rangers at Easter Road on Wednesday night.
Yet in the midst of the bitter disappointment of the 2-1 defeat Lennon had this to say about his opposite number Graeme Murty.
As he left the press room Lennon said: “I saw Graeme on TV and he handled himself really well. I’m pleased for him personally.”
If ever there was a ringing endorsement of the job Murty is doing at Rangers that was surely it.
The interim boss should take Lennon’s words as the highest compliment.
After all, the Northern Irishman has been in that self-same movie – the caretaker who inherited a shambles post from Tony Mowbray’s era at Celtic.
Lenny endured a Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Ross County in 2010 but grew into the manager’s role – and then some.
Two years later Lennon would take Celtic into the last 16 of the Champions League.
He even masterminded a memorable victory over Barcelona which still ranks as his greatest career highlight to date.
Now Murty ain’t no Jose Mourinho – although one cannot simply dismiss or underestimate the job he has done at Rangers.
Wednesday’s win over Hibs saw Rangers become only the third top-flight team this season to win four league games on the spin, the others are Aberdeen and Lennon’s Hibs.
Murty may well be keeping the seat warm for the next Rangers managerial incumbent but he has picked this club up off the canvas.
The caretaker boss deals with the media with great aplomb for a start.
He comes across as a genuinely affable guy. He has also proved himself to be tactically astute.
In March, Murty gleaned a precious point off Brendan Rodgers Invincibles when he somehow organised a ropey Rangers side to a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park.
Bear in mind this was sandwiched between Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha suffering 5-1 hammerings in the same season.
That stalemate prevented Celtic from completing a green and white wash of their rivals during Rodgers’ first campaign at the helm.
Murty has also shown he can cope with setbacks that come his way. Four Premiership victories on the spin is not to be sniffed at – especially when those wins came hot on the heels of crushing defeats to Hamilton and Dundee when Murty was written off as total no-hoper for the top job at Ibrox.
So these recent results will have given the Rangers board much food for thought. Is the man they are after really right under their noses?
But perhaps the
Dare we say it, come Hogmanay we could have a title race on our hands
greatest service Murty has done for Rangers is the fact he has given the team their pride and belief back.
He has shown Rangers how to win games again.
The Light Blues are due to come calling at Celtic Park on December 30 – that’s just four games away.
If all goes to plan Rangers could be heading to Celtic Park just eight points behind their rivals. If they could somehow defeat Celtic the gap at the top would be reduced to just five.
Sure there is some amount of ifs, buts and maybes in there but dare we say it, come Hogmanay we may well have a Premiership title race on our hands.
If that scenario does transpire Murty will have performed the equivalent of a managerial miracle. OUR TOP WRITERS GIVE THEIR FEARLESS VERDICTS EVERY DAY IN RECORD SPORT