HILL SAYS NEW BOSS HAS PLENTY TO WORK WITH AT IBROX:
Clint hails team spirit and insists Caixinha has now got plenty to work with at Rangers
PURELY in arithmetical terms, a share of the spoils officially ended Rangers’ title challenge. In so many other ways, though, this felt like it might just be the start of something.
After three successive Old Firm defeats, Mark Warburton’s narrative was consistent: the gap between the Glasgow giants was not as big as it seemed. Slowly but surely Rangers were closing it.
It was an observation plainly at odds with the facts. One that jarred with reality and threatened to insult the collective intelligence of the Rangers support.
Yesterday, however, in more ways than one, a point was made. A side cobbled together by interim manager Graeme Murty came together in a fashion that was simply beyond them under the previous incumbent.
A yawning 33-point gap to Celtic suggests no one of the light blue persuasion should get ahead of themselves just yet.
But in deservedly leaving Celtic Park with a 1-1 draw, incoming manager Pedro Caixinha was given not so much food for thought as to what might lie ahead as a feast of possibilities.
‘I think he’s got plenty to work with,’ said goalscoring hero Clint Hill. ‘I think we created some decent opportunities but unfortunately couldn’t take them.
‘We’ve managed to get a point at a very difficult place against a good team. So, hopefully, there are a lot of positives for him to take.’
Caixinha took his seat in the main stand seven minutes before hostilities began.
Even as Rangers fell behind, he would have admired their tenacity and their refusal to wilt in the face of overwhelming odds.
Whatever the questions marks over the squad’s ability may be, they passed a stern test of character with flying colours.
‘It probably wasn’t a case of proving a point to ourselves,’ added Hill. ‘It’s a tough game. You’ve got to dig in and show different characteristics.
‘It’s not always going to be pretty football. You have to dig in and make challenges. You have to sacrifice your own personal gain for the team and I think everyone to a man has done that today.
‘No one said this was going to be easy. It’s a difficult league and, obviously, when you pull on a Rangers shirt, teams want to beat you and raise their game by ten or 20 per cent.
‘Have we fallen short in certain games? Yes, we have and we are disappointed and frustrated. But, hopefully, we can take the positives of the past three performances and have a good push towards the end of the season.’
Caixinha is set to meet the media this afternoon and lay bare his plan for a club that badly needs one.
Without question, though, last night belonged to Murty — the man who was handed a task he never asked for six games ago but who has increasingly shown he has much to offer the club.
‘I think credit has got to go to Murts and his team,’ said Hill.
‘Maybe for two games out of the past five or six we have been poor but I think, in general, we have responded well to what he has wanted from us.
‘He gave us a structure and a platform and put belief and confidence back in us. We are very proud of him, as well. He has come in and done a great job for the club. He can hold his head up high.’ Hill’s late intervention proved to be the difference between a heroic failure and becoming just the second Scottish side in 35 matches to deny Celtic victory. For the 38-year-old, his decision to gamble at the far post with just two minutes left was handsomely rewarded.
‘To play in such a big game like the Old Firm is an achievement in itself,’ he smiled. ‘And to score such an important goal is definitely up there in my long career.’
Hill was honest enough to admit he got away with one after catching Leigh Griffiths soon after and resisted the temptation to rub the noses of those former Celtic players like Frank McAvennie and Andy Walker who predicted a cakewalk for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
‘Everyone has got a lot to say haven’t they?’ he said. ‘A lot of people have had a lot to say. I am not going to go into that.
‘I try to ignore it as much as possible and talk about Rangers as a football club. We have made a positive step getting a decent result. It is not three points but it is a positive point for us.
‘We have got to go again now on Saturday. We have got a new manager coming in. We have got to raise our standards again if we want to close the gap in the years to come.’
The title race, for what it was, may be gone but the season is by no means drifting to its conclusion.
The small matter of a rematch with Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final awaits next month. More immediately, Hill believes clawing back the eight-point gap to Aberdeen is very much within his side’s capability.
‘We’ve got to move away from this game very quickly,’ he insisted. ‘There’s no point in coming here and getting a point, and then losing at home.
‘Hopefully we can close the gap and get to second. For that to happen, we’ll need to win more than we lose. Of course, it’s still possible. It’s eight points now and there’s still a lot of games to play.
‘We’ve still to play Aberdeen twice over the next few months so it’s still on, definitely.’
It certainly seems more attainable now than in the last days of Warburton’s reign.
Caixinha’s initial meeting with his players this morning is now no longer the post-mortem many believed it would be.
‘Hopefully he will have taken a lot of positives from it,’ said Hill.