Pedro won’t Caix his pants in Glasgow
HIS name is Caixinha. Pedro Caixinha. He’s the bullfighting boss nicknamed the Portuguese Bond who Rangers are looking to hand a licence to thrill. Hold on a second here. Bullfighting? Yeah. It would seem the man Gers are considering for the Ibrox hotseat is unlikely to blink in the thick of an Old Firm battle. Not when he’s a trained bullfighter, who’s stared into the eyes of a ton of pure aggression on legs that is hellbent on handing out a horned headbutt. The Portuguese manager of Al-Gharafa in Qatar is not your ordinary bibs and cones gaffer. A former goalkeeper with a low-key playing career, he threw himself into coaching, following countryman Jose Mourinho down the academic side of the game and also treading the same path as the Special One all the way through the SFA courses at Largs. But folk shouldn’t be fooled in to thinking this 46-year-old is some kind of professor with patches on his elbows in the
MICHAEL GANNON
dugout. Caixinha is more comfortable with holding a sword.
Former Sky Sports man Rhodri Williams covers the Qatar Stars League for English-speaking channel Alkass Television and has got to know the Portuguese gaffer as well as anyone.
The Welshman reckons Gers are targeting a top boss – and in an incredible tale explained just why Caixinha is not a man to be messed with.
Williams said: “We call Pedro the Portuguese James Bond. He looks the part, he is absolutely immaculate and he really is an action man.
“When he is not on the training pitch he is out on his jet ski and all kinds of stuff.
“But there is one story that stands out for me that sums him up and shows why players would never want to cross him...” Best sitting down for this one. Williams went on: “Pedro’s father is a Portuguese bullfighter. There is a difference from the matadors in Spain because they have one man who stands in front of the bull with a kind of bag on his head, and he has to guess when the bull is going to hit him.
“His father was the man at the front and he used to fight along with his father. One particular fight the ball charged his father. I’m talking about a full-sized bull here, if it comes in on you, you’re a goner.
“His father slipped and the bull went in to kill him – but Pedro Caixinha dived on top of his old man to take the hit!
“I’ve seen the footage, it’s incredible, but it gets better. Having done that, Pedro then became the main guy fighting the bull. Not just that, he then made a career out of it.
“I only saw the clip a few weeks ago and couldn’t believe it, my jaw was on the floor. I was just thinking, ‘this guy is an absolute animal’. He has a reputation for being an academic but there is so much more to him.” No bull. Caixinha has the colourful back