NO REST FOR THE WICKED
Caixinha’s happy with Gers start but orders more training sessions
Pedro Caixinha has told his Rangers players they have too much work to do to take time off during the international break.
Instead he will drill them right into a disciplined regime which will kick off tomorrow and end up with a closed-doors game at Ibrox with Graeme Murty’s Under-20 side on Saturday.
The new manager was thrilled both with the reception he got from the Ibrox crowd and the wicked display put on by his players in the 4- 0 victory over Hamilton yesterday.
But while Mark Warburton gave the squad an extended break, Caixinha wants the players straight into his working week.
He said: “I work to a pattern. They will have a day off tomorrow.
“They’ll come back on Monday to train and from there we go until Saturday when we finish playing with our squad combined with Under-20 players because we want to finish with a match situation.
“They will have one day free again and then we’ll start getting ready for the next match. I do believe that players need to have this biological pattern.
“I will be delighted to give them days off when needed and when the schedule allows it. If we played next Sunday, the next two days would be days off, so not to have a longer week than the pattern.”
With nine games left and eight points of a gap to close on Aberdeen to have any hope of second spot, though, they will be as regimented as they come.
Caixinha said: “Aberdeen winning keeps the same distance with fewer points to fight for. We still need to play them twice.
“I’m happy because we had just four days of work and we tried to work with the players on some basic principles regarding some specific moments of the game and I think they reproduced it on the pitch. We still have a lot of work in front of us, we still have a lot to work on but I’m happy with the work we did on the pitch.”
Rangers built up the drama of Caixinha’s arrival, giving him his big entrance with a solo walk up the tunnel. But he admits he regrets missing the chance to join in with their entrance music.
He said: “It was fantastic. But you know that I like Tina Turner and I would prefer to get there when they sing Simply the Best.
“Having 50,000 people backing you and the team is something you will keep inside your mind and really appreciate. I am so glad the club has these massive fans ready to support us all the time.”
Gers midfielder Jon Toral admits the manager has made an instant impact.
The Spaniard said: “He changed some things. The formation was different and the lads understood what they wanted from one another. It will get better.”