You must be man enough to front it up
What am I going to do.. hide under a rock?
I’m giving Andy a bit of space at the moment. He looks a little bit raw GRAEME MURTY
GRAEME MURTY suffered a heavy Old Firm defeat at Hampden a year ago as boss of the Rangers Under-20s side in the Youth Cup Final. Twelve months on and another Celtic loss at the National Stadium sparked a week from hell for the Ibrox boss who has come in for fierce criticsm. Skipper Lee Wallace and vice-captain Kenny Miller were suspended for an alleged dressing-room bust-up with the boss afterAndy Halliday reacted furiously to being subbed just five minutes before half-time and Daniel Candeias stormed down the tunnel when he was hooked. Murty faced the media for the first time yesterday ahead of what is now a massive game against Hearts tomorrow. Our man Gavin Berry heard what the Gers boss had to say in his Q&A...
Q. How much of a world away does this feel from life as Under-20s coach? A.
This time last year I was getting ready to take a team into a Youth Cup Final at Hampden so it’s not even close to being the same world.
We went to Hampden on Sunday in front of that crowd, against our biggest rivals, and put in the performance that we did. It has brought a marked difference and a marked change to my life. Q. What has it been like out in the street? A. It has been OK. What am I going to do, hide under a rock? I’ve walked around when we’ve done really well and people have been patting me on the back. We have to take the good times and the bad times. You have to be man enough to front up to it. Q. Was the call taken over Lee Wallace and Kenny Miller your decision? A. I won’t discuss that. It’s an internal matter. Q. Wallace wasn’t mentioned as being injured on the Friday. At what point was he unavailable for selection? A. Saturday. He was in the squad. Q. Did he say that he wasn’t fit to play?
A. It was a conversation we had. Lee’s had a long time out. You have to trust the athlete. If he says he’s not good to go, he’s not good to go. Q. There are players who are friendly with Lee and Kenny. Are you confident there will be no impact on the team as a consequence of what has happened? A. The club is and always will be the most important thing. You have to make sure you go and have prepared yourself properly throughout the week regardless of personal attachments or friendships. I’m sure Kyle Lafferty and Steven Naismith will be on the phone to Russell Martin (whom the Hearts stars played with Norwich). But our players have to make sure that come Sunday they are ready to go and put in a performance. Q. Are you convinced the rest of the players are behind you? A. Yes. We had a meeting and I said to the guys, ‘This is what is going to happen moving forward, we need to make sure everyone is going in the right direction, now is the time to choose. Do we want to be getting second? Do we want to pull together? Because there is nothing stronger than this club when everyone is pulling in the same direction’.
When everyone is pulling in the right direction this place will take some stopping. Q. Have you felt that has not been the case up until now?
A. I believe that we hit a significant speed bump on Sunday. That’s going to be a headline now isn’t it? Q. We appreciate you saying you can’t go into the Miller/ Wallace situation but what can you say about the reaction of Daniel Candeias and Andy Halliday? A.
Andy and Daniel are both human beings. Andy is desperately disappointed to be coming off the pitch early. He didn’t direct any dissent towards me to my face but I don’t expect him to be happy coming off the pitching having been substituted that early.
I have spoken with Daniel. He plainly wasn’t happy to come off. He said that he didn’t believe he had done himself justice. He wanted to stay on. Q. Do you regret the timing of the Halliday substitution? A.
As a human being, I regret the impact that it is going to have on Andy as a person. As a professional decision I needed to change the shape of the team and I needed to impact the way the game was going. It might have been someone else, it was unfortunate it was Andy. I made a decision purely for footballing reasons. Q. Did you make the substitution at that time to be seen to be making it?
A. Not at all. I thought I needed to make it early. If I thought I could have waited to half-time I would have waited. Q. Was there not always going to be a chance that it could create an issue with a player?
A. If I based every decision on the fact that it might create an issue with a player I would never do anything. When I first came and sat in this chair I was told by some very senior people to trust my gut and go with the decision. I made a decision and I went with it. It has had some repercussions. The player is not happy. I accept that. We have to move forward. Q. Have you spoken with Andy yet? A. We will. Q. It’s surprising that hasn’t happened yet. You’ve had four days since the game. Is there an issue there? A.
I am giving Andy a bit of space at the moment. He looks a little bit raw. As a human being I respect his space. But, before Sunday, Andy and I will have a sit down and have a chat. Quite candidly, I have had quite a lot on my plate.
It is an issue. If I had an issue with Andy in training we would bring it to a head. I don’t have an issue with Andy in training. Andy has focused in to training really well. I commend his attitude. I commend what he’s doing. I will address an issue with a player, as a person, at a time I consider appropriate. Q. Most people thought that pressing Celtic would be the game plan. Was that the game plan? Did the players just not carry it out?
A. The shape of the team was there to inhibit Celtic and be aggressive – and I didn’t think we were. Q. Against Motherwell you said the players hadn’t followed your instructions in the first half. Same thing against Celtic at Hampden. Is it not a worry?
A. In previous games they have done and we have had success. Their capacity is to go and press. We have good legs in the team. I have said to the players, ‘We need to go and get in people’s faces’. They need to go and be aggressive on the pitch. Q. When that doesn’t happen, do you question yourself? A.
Of course I do but I question myself if we win. I question myself for everything that goes wrong. So naturally and humanly, I questioned myself. Absolutely. I questioned everything I did in the week. Q. Do you feel you still have the authority required to be the Rangers manager between now and the end of the season?
A. Yes. It would have been really easy to let things outside our control and outside our gates dominate. And they haven’t. They’ve focused on the training and trained really well.