PEDRO’S WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY OPENED THANKS TO JOSE
NEW Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha has hailed mentor Jose Mourinho for opening a window of opportunity for a generation of Portuguese coaches.
The 46-year-old Caixinha was appointed as Mark Warburton’s successor at Ibrox last weekend, in the process becoming the first Portuguese coach to manage in Scotland’s top flight since Paulo Sergio signed off from Hearts after a solitary cup-winning season in 2012.
But while Sergio enjoyed a traditional route to the dug-out on the back of a full professional playing career, Mourinho set a precedent for a new style of coaching grounded in academia — one that has yielded a raft of disciples, Caixinha among them.
Mourinho played briefly in the lower echelons of Portuguese football before focusing on a sports science degree and subsequently ascending through various scouting and coaching roles before being taken under the wing of Bobby Robson at Barcelona.
The current Manchester United boss exploded onto the scene with Porto beating Celtic to lift the UEFA Cup in 2003 before taking the Champions League a year later, and Mourinho went on to win titles with Chelsea, Internazionale and Real Madrid.
‘Jose is a fantastic guy who is always available to talk to you,’ said Caixinha. ‘He will always discuss football and is friendly — not as he seems.
‘The last time I saw him was in Lisbon at a post-graduation event. He inspired all of the coaches from my generation.
‘It was like Mourinho said ‘let’s open the window’ and when he opened the window we all jumped through it. He was the first and we are the ones that came behind. He gave us the chance to do that.’
Caixinha’s comparatively modest CV has included spells assisting at Panathinaikos and Sporting Lisbon before he made his name with Santos Laguna in Mexico, where he won three honours as manager.
He has already spoken of his desire to win a European trophy with Rangers — a huge ambition, but one of which Mourinho would doubtless approve.
‘Mourinho is unique but we share the same philosophy,’ continued Caixinha. ‘You just have to look at the success of Portuguese coaches. Manchester City were knocked out of the Champions League by Monaco, who have Leonardo Jardim in charge.
‘We have many coaches who come from the academic side, like Carlos Carvalhal at Sheffield Wednesday. Vitor Pereira (boss of 1860 Munich) is the same and also Rui Vitoria at Benfica. And Jose Peseiro (manager of Al Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates), who I worked with for many years, is also from the academic side.
‘So you have a lot of coaches coming from that background. It’s about how you apply it and deal with situations. Maybe Scottish football needs its own Mourinho.’
There were mutters about the fact that, in their current impecunious state, Rangers chose to pay compensation in the region of £300,000 to extricate their man from his contract with Qatari club Al-Gharafa when it only had a few weeks to run.
Caixinha insists there was a pressing need to start his work with Rangers immediately.
He spent his first week brightening up training sessions but he also commenced a rigorous assessment programme of the squad he has inherited.
‘That was the reason I started now and not in the summer,’ he explained. ‘If we had arrived at the start of next season we would have needed to assess from afar.
‘So now we are assessing on the ground, getting to know the players, the training facilities, the competition and Scottish football.’
Although Rangers remain adamant that the appointment of a director of football is a priority, Caixinha has his own thoughts on how the club’s recruitment process for next season should be conducted.
‘I have the luck to know different markets where I have contacts,’ he said. ‘I know where there are very good players who can help us but we need to make the assessments first, identify the main needs then make a shortlist and attack those needs.
‘I don’t want to overload a position we are strong in, so that’s what I want to assess. I know there are some things that are different in Scotland in that players need to have European passports if they need to be internationals.
‘I’m happy to work with a sporting director on this because it will help me. I will be able to focus more on the coaching and preparing the players for each match.’
Caixinha has set the players the dual target of overhauling Aberdeen to finish second in the league and also winning the Scottish Cup, where Celtic lie in wait in next month’s semi-final.
Regardless, it looks highly likely that Rangers will be competing in Europe next season, albeit from an entry point of the Europa League qualifiers.
Over time, Caixinha wants to restore the club’s European reputation but sees a common interest with their league rivals.
He said: ‘A big club like Rangers needs to be in Europe all the time but we need all of the Scottish clubs to be strong in Europe — Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts.
‘If that happens then maybe the champion will get straight to the group stage of the Champions League. Maybe the cup winners or second place only has to play one qualifier for the Europa League.’