HIBS CHALLENGE DOES NOT FAZE HALLIDAY
ANDY HALLIDAY insists Rangers have no fears over Hibernian intensifying the pressure in the Championship title race. Victory over Livingston this evening would move the Easter Road club to within two points of their Ibrox rivals, albeit having played a game more. Alan Stubbs’ side inflicted a first league defeat on Rangers earlier this month and will hope to further alter the psychology of the promotion contest. Halliday, though, believes the squad assembled by Mark Warburton has shown the mentality required to stay the course. ‘At Rangers, you need to have that character and bottle every game,’ said the Ibrox midfielder. ‘Maybe that is different to the demands Hibs have. They’ve not got that same amount of pressure that Rangers have on them to win every single game. ‘For teams that are going to play Hibs, it’s not as big an occasion as when the likes of Alloa come to Ibrox and play in front of 50,000. ‘But Hibs are doing their job and picking up results, so all credit to them. ‘One thing you maybe do worry about is whether the players can deal with the pressure of playing for the Old Firm. Rangers have had World Cup and Champions League winners who have come here and maybe not lived up to the expectations. ‘But I think the boys who have come in this season have handled the weight of the jersey very well. Long may that continue.’ Halliday claimed it was too
FIVE months into his job at Rangers, Mark Warburton has already found his name linked with vacancies in his old manor. A fortnight ago it was Queens Park Rangers reportedly considering an attempt to bring the 53-year-old back to London.
More recently, Fulham pondered him as a potential replacement for Kit Symons. Neither was given any encouragement.
These are two clubs with good pedigree and resources in an English Championship environment Warburton knows well from his time in charge of Brentford.
In some ways, the speculation made sense. But Andy Halliday was not fretting. Nor does he predict the exit of the man who brought him to Ibrox any time soon.
The 24-year-old midfielder believes Warburton has fully embraced the sheer scale of the challenge that confronts him at Rangers.
Indeed, Halliday feels this attempt to drag a giant of the Scottish game back onto its feet will ensure any interest from England remains irrelevant.
‘I don’t think there will be a bigger club,’ argued Halliday. ‘I’ve seen a few clubs mentioned but the demands and status of those clubs don’t compare to here.
‘I think the gaffer is thriving on that. When he came here, he made multiple changes and they’ve all gone pretty well so far. I don’t think he’d want to move on when he still has so much he wants to achieve.
‘He came in with not much of a budget, with a broken squad which was low on confidence, and he brought in players who have done well for him.
‘Not just that, he’s changed the style of play from last year and he’s changed the results on the park.
‘When a manager is doing so well, it’s only natural that people will be looking at him, but the gaffer is really enjoying it here.’
As a born-and-bred fan of the Ibrox club, Halliday perhaps cannot be regarded as impartial when it comes to assessing alternative options. But he does not need any face-to-face assurance from Warburton to be confident of his manager’s commitment as Rangers seek to hold off Hibernian to secure their primary aim of promotion. ‘I think when he addresses us about clubs he has been linked with in the paper then that is the time when you can start to panic because maybe he is reading a bit too much into it,’ smiled Halliday. ‘No, he is getting on with his job day to day, just like we are. ‘That proves to me that he is set on what we are trying to do here. We have got a long way to go with the plan we have set ourselves, not just this season, beyond that as well. It is part of the ride we are on just now, but we are enjoying it so far.’
Halliday has primarily operated in a holding midfield role since coming through a successful trial period at Murray Park during pre-season.
Formerly with Livingston, Middlesbrough and Bradford, he feels he is now a more rounded player for working under Warburton.
‘Without a doubt, yeah,’ he said. ‘He has a similar style to Aitor Karanka at Middlesbrough, who has obviously done very well in his managerial position.
‘I have come here and I see a lot of that same philosophy.
‘It is very enjoyable to work under the manager. Just getting game time has also made me a better player.
‘He has a lot of strengths; man management, youth policy, style of play, results. Man management is key because he has talked about making the squad lean, trimming it down.
‘Even then, it is still hard to keep every single player happy, because everyone wants to play. I think he has done that very well.
‘We’ve gone from strength to strength. But there are so many games to go. We need to maintain that standard.’
Halliday was speaking at Murray Park to publicise the addition of the Rangers Youth Development Company logo to all academy strips at Under-17 level and below.
How we can produce better, more effective footballers has again become the source of intense debate after Scotland manager Gordon Strachan revealed he was working on a blueprint for change.
Halliday was actually released by Rangers as a 14-year-old before returning to the club, but still sees merit in the current system.
He also believes Warburton’s outlook will be beneficial in driving more young talent into the first team.
‘If I hadn’t been in the Rangers youth system, maybe I wouldn’t have developed as I did,’ he argued.
‘Unfortunately, I was released and had to move on, but it still gave me that basic foundation to progress and the situation arose that I could come back here.
‘Maybe it’s disappointing that younger boys don’t get as much of a chance as they should do but, with the manager we have here, that’s something he prides himself on. He was a youth development coach at Watford, so it’s close to his philosophy.
‘There have been more than 10 young boys training with the first team since the start of the season.
‘A few of them have got on the bench and Jordan Thompson made his debut last week.
‘I think you’ll see a lot more young boys coming through.’