PRESSLEY SAYS GERS’ CUP PREP WILL SUFFER
Elvis slams Rangers chief for statement he insists pulls the rug from under Murty’s feet just days before Celtic showdown
AS with most things Dave King it’s all about decoding the message.
It’s an annual call to rally round the flag and to do so in blind faith while reading between the lines.
The Ibrox chairman’s statement has raised more questions than answers as Graeme Murty goes limbo dancing into Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic with his future clear as mud.
It’s a season-ticket shifter of promises wrapped up in the usual positive sound bites while disenfranchising Murty who now knows a piece of silverware and a second-place finish won’t be good enough.
Former Rangers defender Steven Pressley took time from managing Cypriot side Pafos to try to make sense of the clues.
And he insists King’s timing could have already killed any chance of an Old Firm success.
Elvis said: “It’s the timing of such a statement that does most damage.
“I don’t think there was any need for King to come out and make these comments, especially in a week leading up to game of this magnitude.
“All he has achieved is to highlight a situation that doesn’t need highlighting. It’s only made things worse for Graeme.
“If you ask any person involved in football, a player, manager or a member of the backroom staff what is the worst thing in the game they’ll tell you it’s uncertainty.
“That’s exactly what Graeme is working under at the moment and it’s horrible having to read a statement that has only brought more uncertainty.
“You can deal with the disappointments and you can deal with the good news but the uncertainty is the worst and it’s not a good situation for Graeme to be in.
“I’m sure he’d probably want to know what his future holds one way or another so STEVEN PRESSLEY BY GORDON PARKS he can prepare accordingly. Even if he is told he’s not going to be the manager there is certainty over the future and the players will know that.
“Maybe then the players will start playing not only for him but for a manager who at some point will be brought in.”
The 44-year-old former Scotland centre-back is convinced King’s refusal to bring definitive clarity to the managerial situation has only served to play into Celtic’s hands on Sunday as they try to get the better of Brendan Rodgers who is the commander in chief at his club.
Pressley said: “A manager does his best work when he has real strength and power and that only comes when you have that from above. It’s a board’s role to give the manager that, whoever it may be.
“This is where Celtic hold so much over Rangers in this department.
“If there are players who don’t perform for Brendan then they’ll be the ones leaving, not him. “We all work in an environment where there’s constant pressure to get results and if you don’t get them you are sacked.
“It’s difficult enough for a head coach like Graeme to work under the pressure he is without someone coming out and making statements like King has.
“Graeme will just go about his work in the same manner as he always has. But a statement that is out of his control has swung the pendulum in a direction that’s not in his favour.
“If he’s not that popular with the players they won’t feel a pressure to play for him as the reality is he’ll be the one to go and not them.
“That’s what I feel is the most challenging aspect of the job now for Graeme.”
Pressley believes a new normal in football management now exists where job security is reviewed on a weekto-week basis. And he admits he has every sympathy for Murty who continues to manage in the knowledge his next game could be his last.
Elvis said: “The vast amount of us managers, with the exception of Brendan Rodgers at Celtic and one or two scattered about the English leagues, we all operate with virtually no stability.
“That is just the nature of football now. The head coach or manager doesn’t carry enough power.
“And it’s a huge problem as the greatest success stories are when the manager does carry a great deal of power.
“Look at Manchester United, when the players didn’t perform it wasn’t Sir Alex Ferguson who would be leaving, it was the player. Now we have a role reversal so it’s now about the instability that Graeme is working under as we all have that.
“What compounds it all is he is fighting against a Celtic manager on Sunday who does have that strength within his managerial powers – and that’s a huge problem.”