Caixinha coached on history by old Bhoy
Rangers boss had an expert teacher in the intricacies of the Glasgow derby, with lessons from Joe Miller. Graeme Macpherson reports
PEDRO Caixinha’s earliest knowledge of the Old Firm fixture came from the unlikeliest of sources. The Portuguese will face Celtic for the first time as Rangers manager this afternoon in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final, having sat in the stand as an interested spectator when the sides last met at Celtic Park a month ago.
A man with an inquisitive nature who soaks up information in the way of a sponge, Caixinha first learned about the intricacies of the Glasgow derby during a trip to Scotland a decade ago. Filling him in on the details was Joe Miller, the man who scored the winning goal for Celtic in the 1989 Scottish Cup final, as the pair took their coaching badges together.
“I did the full course with him,” recalled Miller. “He came over with a couple of other young Portuguese coaches, one of them being Helena Costa [who later worked as a scout for Celtic]. Pedro came through his A-Licence with flying colours.
“You sit on these courses and bounce ideas off each other and he was very enthusiastic, I remember that. He was curious about the Scottish game, asking what we were doing. The ex-pros who were there, he was Googling them and picking
their brains. He spoke great English and you knew he was going to get jobs and work his way into the game, from assistant up to manager. He’s done that now.
“Talking to all the Portuguese coaches, they were keen on going down the Jose Mourinho route and working their way into the game. They were keen to follow in his footsteps and break into the British game. They all had their own ideas on how to do things. You get to know them on and off the field and they were exchanging ideas and asking about things.”
Miller, though, thinks Caixinha is in for a tough afternoon as Celtic look to keep alive the dream of a first treble since 2001.
“It’s going to be a difficult game, but he knows that,” Miller said. “He’s not under any illusions. He’ll be up against a side that’s motivated a lot more than people think. Coming off the last game at Celtic Park where the Rangers players were celebrating, that’s motivation for Celtic. There’s also motivation to win a treble and to go unbeaten for the rest of the season. So there’s a lot there for the Celtic players.”
Derek Ferguson, the former Rangers midfielder, however, believes there are frailties that his old side can exploit at Hampden.
“I think [Celtic] are weak at the back,” he said. “Apart from Kieran Tierney I think the other three, [Jozo] Simunovic, [Erik] Sviatchenko and [Mikael] Lustig, can be got at. People speak about Rangers not being the best defensively, I don’t think Celtic are either.
“I think that at times, for whatever reason, the Celtic defence switch off. I don’t think they are the greatest football players in the world so maybe that’s something you could target.”
Ferguson also said that, were he in Caixinha’s shoes, he would not risk starting Joe Garner on such an occasion.
“He’s a time bomb,” Ferguson said. What I’d be looking to do with Joe Garner is bring him on for the last 20 minutes. I was going to say half-an-hour but he could get himself sent off in that time. He could get himself sent off in a minute!
“It is part of his game to put himself about but in that atmosphere I don’t think it would be the clever thing to start him. He gets too emotional and I think what you try to do when you have got massive games like this one is keep your emotions in check. That is when the good players come to the fore.”