GIVE NEW GERS BOSS WEEK OFF
Celtic Park bullring’s just too risky for a shiny new gaffer
IT’S not a magic hat they’ll need in the away dugout at Celtic Park on Sunday. It’s a crash helmet.
Because if the bullfighting Pedro Caixinha really is brave enough to walk into Glasgow’s east end for a baptism of fire this weekend – and put himself at risk of some serious Bren damage – then he might not be quite as smart as the Rangers board suspect.
On the one hand there’s a great deal to admire about Caixinha’s faith in his own ability, that this 46-year-old thinks so much of himself he would jump on the next flight from Doha in order to begin rebuilding Rangers at the home of their all-conquering rivals.
On the other perhaps it might be more diligent for him to be spared from himself for a few more days, never mind placed straight into harm’s way.
Caixinha is in such a rush to get started that he began working on his travel itinerary last week with the aim of landing in Scotland today or tomorrow by the very latest.
If that’s still his plan this morning then it’s not too late for him to be talked out of it and persuaded to spend a few more days soaking up the Middle Eastern sunshine. He’d be safer in Syria than in the spotlight at Celtic Park right now.
If he is already on his way he should be taken aside and told to sit this one out in the stand while leaving Graeme Murty in the hotseat one last time.
There will be another derby day around any minute – last night’s Scottish Cup draw made sure of it – so Caixinha would be wise to take a bit of time before he looks the champions and their manager in the eye.
Forget yesterday’s sticky firsthalf slog against St Mirren. The Celtic side that runs out against Rangers may be made up of many of the same faces but they will be unrecognisable to the team that needed 45 minutes to come to life before romping into the semi-finals of the Cup.
As, for that matter, will their surroundings. It may have been a lazy Sunday lunchtime yesterday but by the time Rangers arrive Celtic Park will be smouldering like a giant green volcano. The atmosphere, as it always is on derby day, will be toxic and hazardous.
With the likes of Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele operating at the peak of their powers there is not a more dangerous or hostile place on the planet into which any new Rangers manager could be plunged, let alone one as unsuspecting and unfamiliar as Caixinha.
It seems like an enormous and unnecessary gamble to shoehorn the Portuguese coach