Celtic’s curtain-raiser with Hearts switched for TV
on Caixinha’s side. King went out of his way to pay a compensation fee to Al-gharafa, rather than wait until Caixinha’s contract there expired in the summer, in order to allow the coach the last two months of last season to assess his squad and the challenges posed by his new environment of Scottish football.
During the round of media interviews he conducted a fortnight ago after announcing the termination of the Sports Direct deal, one of the many eyebrow-raising statements made by King was his assertion that the 5-1 defeat against Celtic at Ibrox in April which Caixinha presided over could ultimately prove the making of him as a successful Rangers manager.
Yet there will be many of the club’s supporters who now feel the reservations they adopted about Caixinha’s capabilities that afternoon, as they endured Rangers’ worst ever home defeat in an Old Firm fixture, have been vindicated by the result in Luxembourg.
Caixinha is a personable, engaging and infectiously enthusiastic character. So far, however, there has been no evidence in Rangers’ performances under his guidance of a discernible pattern of play or footballing strategy which can even begin to address the gulf Celtic have placed between the Glasgow clubs following Brendan Rodgers’ arrival last year.
No amount of cliched motivational slogans adorning the walls at Ibrox and the club’s training centre, or the frivolous gimmickry of banning his players from wearing green boots, will improve the tactical, technical or physical deficiencies on the pitch which should be Rangers’ priority.
The club undoubtedly have a greater sense of direction off the pitch and the appointment of former Manchester City academy chief Mark Allen as director of football – he formally starts work at Rangers tomorrow – is an indication of a more coherent plan after several years of chaotic mismanagement in the boardroom.
But the bottom line for Rangers, if they are to satisfy and sustain the appetite of more than 40,000 season ticket holders who have seen the club through the darkest period in its history, is the immediate need for more effective, entertaining and consistently winning football from the first team.
The jury is still out on whether Caixinha is the right man to deliver it. But as is the case for any Old Firm manager, the final judgment may well be swift and unforgiving.
“The bottom line for Rangers, if they are to sustain the appetite of more than 40,000 season ticket holders who have seen the club through the darkest period in its history, is the need for more effective, entertaining and consistently winning football from the first team ”
Celtic’s opening clash of the new SPFL Premiership season against Hearts has been switched to a lunchtime kick-off for TV.
The game on Saturday 5 August will now kick off at 12.30pm and will be shown live on Sky Sports.
Sky will televise two games from the first weekend of the season, with the cameras at Fir Park on Sunday 6 August to see Motherwell host Rangers (kickoff 1.30pm).
BT Sport will then show Celtic in action against Partick Thistle away on Friday 11 August (7.45pm).
Celtic are back on Sky Sports on Saturday 19 August as they travel to Kilmarnock (12.30pm).
Newly-promoted Hibernian’s trip to Dundee will also be screened live by Sky. The match has been moved back to Sunday 27 August and will kick off at 12.30pm.
BT Sport will be in Dingwall on Sunday 27 August to show Ross County v Rangers (3pm).