THE BLUES HAVE BEEN LIFTED
A year after Caixinha was axed, Tavernier declares Rangers are in a better place now
THE anniversary of Pedro Caixinha’s sacking came and passed yesterday without ceremony or fuss. Twelve months ago, Rangers were bullied out of the Betfred Cup semi-finals by Motherwell.
Within 72 hours, a chaotic 1-1 draw in the Premiership match against Kilmarnock at Ibrox persuaded the Rangers board to act.
‘It could always only have got better from that night...’ observed captain James Tavernier yesterday.
Perhaps. It didn’t necessarily feel that way at the time.
When the axe descended on the hopeless, short-lived reign of the Portuguese head coach after 14 wins in 26 games, Derek McInnes swithered over the job, then said no and remained at Aberdeen.
Interim manager Graeme Murty was placed back in temporary charge and finished the season wishing he had done the same as McInnes after the loss of nine goals in two games to bitter rivals Celtic and an alleged dressing-room ruck with Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace.
A year later, Rangers can finally point to evidence of progress. Not, perhaps, in the SPFL Premiership where Caixinha left the club one place higher than their current standing of fifth.
But rather from the summit of their Europa League group, where Steven Gerrard takes heart from the disappointment which followed Thursday’s 0-0 draw with Spartak Moscow at Ibrox.
Just over 15 months ago, Caixinha’s European campaign ended with the manager in a Luxembourg bush, bandying words with supporters after a humiliating defeat to Progres Niederkorn.
How far Rangers have come in a domestic context will be gauged by how they handle another opportunity to reach a Betfred Cup final at Hampden tomorrow. Tavernier played in the harrowing 2-0 defeat to Motherwell last season when Louis Moult scored twice. The skipper and Daniel Candeias are the only two survivors in the Rangers starting line-up tomorrow.
‘It’s a blank page in terms of going back to Hampden,’ claimed Tavernier. ‘Every game is different. This is against Aberdeen and we haven’t played there (Hampden) this season as a new squad.
‘Since the gaffer has come in, the standard of everything — training, the games, the demands — has been right at the top and we’ve lacked that over the years. That’s what the team really needed.
‘That’s what we’ve been showing — apart from the first half against Celtic and Livingston — and we know where we need to be to deliver a good performance.
‘You always want to do your best but it’s whether you get a kick up the backside or it’s just a daily routine where you know the standard has to be high.’
There’s no need for Tavernier to take a hammer and chisel to the reputation of a manager who, by common consent, should never have been given the job in the first place.
Ironically, Caixinha marked the anniversary of his Rangers sacking by leading current club Cruz Azul to the final of the Mexican Cup.
Preferring to focus on the here and now rather than dwell in the past, Tavernier wants Rangers to erase the mental scars of last year at Hampden this weekend.
‘I’m mentally tough and I’ve always been able to handle the scrutiny but it can be hard when everything is getting aimed at you,’ he said. ‘Some lads can take it, while others can’t.
‘Maybe that was a bit of a factor last season, but it’s in the past and the boys we have now are more than capable of dealing with any kind of situation.’
The real gauge for Gerrard’s Rangers won’t be how they train or how they finish in a Europa League group. It will be measured in trophies.
The records show that the last time Rangers won a piece of major silverware was in 2011 when a 2-1 extra-time win over Celtic saw them capture the League Cup.
‘Before we worry about winning a trophy we need to focus on the semi-final,’ cautioned Gerrard after what has been a promising start to his managerial career.
‘It’s not straightforward, Aberdeen finished above us in the league last season. You saw that from the first game of the season at Pittodrie that it was a tough game for us, especially after we lost a man (when Alfredo Morelos was sent off after 12 minutes).
‘It was a game which could have swung either way. Given the circumstances, I thought we were excellent on the day. If we can get that level of performance, hopefully it can get us over the hurdle and into a final. But it’s premature for us to be talking about trophies.’
In 17 seasons as a Liverpool icon, Gerrard was no stranger to silverware. He won a total of two FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup, one FA Community Shield and one UEFA Super Cup.
Oddly, one thing he never did was play at Hampden. ‘I don’t have any experience of Hampden as yet, so I am really looking forward to it,’ he said. ‘I’ve been there on a couple of occasions for work-permit hearings but not to play or coach.
‘So I’m only really aware of the place from what I’ve seen on TV watching the Old Firm and Scottish Cup finals.
‘It’s a great challenge for the players and me. It’s an exciting game, a big rivalry. We can’t wait.’
With the exception of two bad days at Celtic Park and Livingston, Gerrard’s Rangers have exceeded expectation, buoyed by an impressive run of 11 successive European games without defeat.
In the physical, bruising, angry semi-final defeat by Motherwell — which sealed Caixinha’s fate — defender Fabio Cardoso sustained a broken nose after a clash with Ryan Bowman’s elbow.
If things get feisty against Aberdeen — and it has been known — the Rangers manager believes he has a team capable of standing up to any challenge.
‘I wouldn’t like to think anyone will bully us,’ he said. ‘I think we have the right profile about the team, the right characters in the dressing room now.
‘We have players who want to fight and dig deep. They have shown up to this point they are not prepared to be bullied but, if people want to mix it, we’ll mix it.
‘Hopefully now our quality will shine through.’