Pedro: No rest for Rangers

Perfect bow for new coach

PEDRO CAIXINHA last night hailed his Rangers players for serving up a 4-0 victory from his first game in charge — then revealed that they will be granted no time off during the international break.

The Portuguese’s reign got off to a comfortable start with a home win over Hamilton but, although the Ibrox side are not back in action for a fortnight, his players will be ordered to report for a full week of training tomorrow morning.

With only Scotland’s Lee Wallace and Lee Hodson of Northern Ireland heading off to partake in their country’s World Cup qualifiers, Caixinha (right) intends to use the time to transmit some more of his ideas to his squad.

‘I work to a pattern,’ said Caixinha. ‘They will have a day off then they will come back on Monday to train. From there, we go until Saturday when we finish our week by combining our squad with the Under-20 players in a match situation.

‘They will have one day free again and start preparing for the next match. I will be delighted to give them days off when needed and when the schedule allows it.’

Of the game, in which Wallace joined Emerson Hyndman, Clint Hill and Martyn Waghorn on the scoresheet, Caixinha declared himself satisfied.

He added: ‘I’m very happy because we had just four days of work in which we tried to work on some basic principles. I think they reproduced it on the pitch today.’

A LITTLE before 3pm Pedro Caixinha strode out of the Ibrox tunnel, marched to the edge of his technical area and soaked up the acclaim of the crowd.

As a former matador, the new Rangers manager knows all too well the value of staging a grand entrance but once out in the arena, he encountered opening-day opposition a long way short of bullish in their resistance.

Up against a meek Hamilton side, who played most of the match without a recognised striker, Rangers eased to a victory that made for a perfect start yet offered limited insight into what the new Portuguese figurehead will bring to the team.

At times, Rangers’ forward play was slick and quick, and there certainly seemed more urgency about the players than in the final months of Mark Warburton’s reign, but then you would expect that of a group fighting for prominence under new management.

A liberal spread of goals saw Emerson Hyndman and Clint Hill score in the first half, before a Martyn Waghorn penalty and an expertly worked goal from captain Lee Wallace added sheen to the scoreline.

Backed by the goodwill of a home crowd buoyed by a pleasing result in last weekend’s derby, these were optimum conditions in which to begin. It was also Caixinha’s good fortune to face a team bereft of confidence and with scant ambition following the concession of ten goals in their last two games.

If all eyes were on what Caixinha would do, there was also some intrigue in the Hamilton team selection.

Boss Martin Canning had been highly critical of strikers Rakish Bingham and Eamonn Brophy in the wake of last weekend’s 4-0 defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle, and he dropped them both, deploying Dougie Imrie — normally a wide midfielder — at the top of a shape designed not to concede.

It was no surprise to see Caixinha go with largely the same team that performed so spiritedly for Graeme Murty at Celtic Park last weekend but, although Lee Hodson might have felt some grievance at being the sole player to drop out, this was a day for forward thinking.

Drafted in to perform a containing job on Scott Sinclair, the defender returned to the bench as Jon Toral recovered from a knock to take his place at the base of the midfield, with James Tavernier reverting to full-back from where he wreaked havoc down the right flank.

Long before kick-off, the Rangers players had been set on the front foot by Caixinha’s newly installed support staff, a vigorous drill with coach Pedro Malta being followed by ball work with Helder Baptista, all of it conducted at a fair pelt.

Looking on was Murty, who is about to revert to his role as Under-20s coach but has been kept around the first team by Caixinha for continuity following his stint in caretaker control.

Before taking his seat in the dugout, he saluted the Broomloan Stand where a banner had been raised in his honour just before kick-off.

Once the teams had shaken hands, it was Caixinha’s turn to take a bow and, having stood arms folded in front of the cameras at the touchline, he stayed in situ for pretty much the entire game.

The odd shout here and there excluded, the 46-year-old was not particularly animated but clearly wanted to be visible, just like his imprint on the formation.

Out was Warburton’s favoured front three, with Martyn Waghorn playing centrally alongside Kenny Miller and there was even the sight of Tavernier shaping to take a long throw in the fourth minute — heresy under the old regime.

Rangers should have scored at the end of a quick counter that caught Hamilton upfield on a rare attack.

Miller was the instigator, whipping a first-time pass into the stride of Barrie McKay, whose cutback deserved a much better finish than the shot which Jason Holt hurriedly swept over the bar. The breakthrough came following a move down the other flank. Tavernier was operating with abandon and his quick onetwo with Miller took him towards the byeline from where he directed a low cross towards the near post.

Both Hyndman and Waghorn were waiting to connect, the young American getting there first to divert a simple finish low past Gary Woods.

There was flicker of threat from Hamilton in response but neither Ali Crawford’s overhead kick nor Imrie’s highly speculative shot from halfway ever looked likely to beat Wes Foderingham.

Hill grabbed the glory with the equaliser at Celtic Park a week ago and netted from a very similar position to put the game to bed.

The Englishman commenced his three-game scoring run with a goal against Hamilton and added another as he got on the end of a Toral free-kick at the back post to side-foot home.

Tavernier had a go from a free-kick before Rangers extended the lead further, his set-piece grazing the top of the net before a penalty kick award allowed Waghorn to find the net.

Hamilton disputed the decision from which the former Wigan man gave his team the lead in the cup here a fortnight previously, but this was a straightforward call for referee Don Robertson, as Massimo Donati clipped the scorer as he worked an angle for a shot.

After a simple conversion, Rangers had the three-goal cushion that allowed Caixinha to try out something different with Joe Garner joining the attack — his first appearance since scoring a hat-trick in a reckless 45 minutes against Accies in the cup.

Garner would not find the net but there was a deserved goal for skipper Wallace, who capitalised on some excellent interplay between Miller and Waghorn to cut an impressive finish beyond Woods from an angle.

Much tougher days lie in wait for Caixinha but these were sure-footed and satisfying first steps.