IT’S JUST A WEE FAMILY MATTER

O’Halloran has been put on naughty step by Caixinha but boss is keen to play it down

I’ve never been that strong with my kids. I just want them to learn

BY failing to show for an Under-20s game, Michael O’Halloran invoked the kind of treatment usually reserved for Pedro Caixinha’s children.

A quiet word. Followed by a spell on the naughty step.

O’Halloran’s banishment to the bottom stair is likely to cost a little more than a week’s pocket money, however.

Posted absent from the kids’ game against Hearts in Stirling on Monday night, the former St Johnstone player faces internal disciplinary proceedings.

A fine seems certain. Caixinha also met with the player on Wednesday where he told him to train separately from the first team.

Reluctant to air the club’s dirty linen in public, the Rangers manager has resolved to keep the matter in-house as much as possible, comparing it to a domestic dispute.

‘It’s something that happens with our family,’ he declared. ‘When I have some problems with my own kids in my family, I am not going to go public with them.

‘If we have some problems inside, like all teams normally have in a small situation, we solve it inside. Everything stays inside.

‘Sometimes it happens. I have my own rules in my family.

‘My kids, for example, know what I allow and they know what I don’t allow. When these sort of things happen, I need to get involved as a father.

‘I look upon my players as my sons and I am the father who has to take decisions. But, as I told you, they stay in the home.

‘I’ve never been that strong with my kids. I just want them to learn.’

A fringe player since joining the club just over a year ago, 26-year-old O’Halloran’s future at Rangers was subject to review in any case.

This week’s headlines are unlikely to improve the situation and could even precipitate the end of his Ibrox career.

The family analogies go only so far. Erring children are tied to parents by blood links.

With Caixinha already assessing the assets at his disposal, O’Halloran and others have nothing tying them to Rangers beyond a commercial contract. They are commodities and they can be cut loose if they don’t measure up.

‘I’m still assessing some of them and I will keep doing that on a daily basis to make the best decisions,’ added the Portuguese.

‘The more information I can get, the more decisions I will take.

‘I will keep going with the assessment and, as soon as that process is completed, I will make my decision.’

O’Halloran is not the only player facing an anxious future at Rangers. With limited wriggle room for shifting players still on lengthy deals, Caixinha may have to cut loose his out-of-contract players first.

Kenny Miller’s two-goal Pittodrie heroics make a strong case for the veteran’s retention. Defender Clint Hill’s performances also merit another year.

Yet Caixinha has his own mind and, frankly, nothing he says in public offers much comfort to players pondering a longer stay in Govan.

‘I will tell them one-by-one,’ he added. ‘They are human. They have families.

‘When I was working as an assistant coach, I thought the manager was not speaking to the players on a one-by-one situation when the hard decisions were coming.

‘And I thought to myself: “When I am a manager, I will make it on a one-by-one situation and the players need to hear it from me”.

‘When I had my first job as a manager at Leiria, we had a lot of players on trial and I had to make a lot of decisions.

‘Those were my first decisions as a manager and I took them on a one-by-one basis.’

There’s still time, of course, for some players to impress their manager with belated heroics.

Two games against Celtic beckon before the end of April. The post-split fixtures have also handed Rangers a home clash with Aberdeen in the penultimate game of the Premiership season on May 17.

Effectively ten points ahead — courtesy of a superior goal difference — the Pittodrie side might already have secured second place by then.

Yet a 3-0 defeat to Caixinha’s side last Sunday planted a seed of doubt.

The problem for Rangers is clear. One good win has too often been followed by a stutter in an infuriatingly inconsistent campaign. Partick Thistle — beaten just twice in their last 14 games — are unlikely to roll over on their visit to Ibrox tomorrow.

‘You cannot be judged by one match,’ added Caixinha. ‘This is our challenge now. We know that we had a good game and an important result, but it means nothing now. It belongs to the past.

‘I can speak for myself and for the club from the moment I arrived. For me, the most important word in football is consistency. Consistency of results and performances. If you are consistent with regards to performance, the outcome is that results will come more often.’

Talk of a Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Celtic next week receives little encouragement.

One of Scotland’s form teams, Thistle come first and Caixinha expects a stiff test.

He said: ‘They are an interesting challenge because we want to prove ourselves again after last Sunday and they want to prove themselves, too. I think Alan Archibald has done fantastic work and so has his team.

‘They play interesting football with interesting players and it is going to be an interesting challenge. We need to play them twice before the end of the season.

‘They don’t play long ball, they try to link up with the strikers, especially if they play Ade Azeez, who tries to explore the spaces. They have full-backs and wingers who can get released, too.

‘They are definitely a team who likes to play with the ball on the ground and they link up well. They are strong in midfield, too.’

After suffering a broken nose against the Dons, defender Danny Wilson needs surgery before the end of the season, but not quite yet.

‘He can delay it a little bit,’ added Caixinha. ‘I don’t really know when it is going to take place.’