WRONG CALL
Caixinha should not have made Brown angry, says Strachan
GORDON STRACHAN believes Pedro Caixinha’s big blunder on Saturday was making Scott Brown angry.
Rangers boss Caixinha squared up to the Celtic captain at half-time during the 2-0 Premiership win for the champions at Ibrox, claiming to have been furious over an alleged elbow on striker Alfredo Morelos.
But Sportsmail understands that, having viewed video footage of the incident, SFA disciplinary chiefs don’t believe Brown even committed a foul — never mind one worthy of a card from referee Craig Thomson.
And Scotland boss Strachan laughed yesterday as he was asked what he thought about Caixinha’s actions.
‘There are some players who, if you make them angry, they get better. Seriously,’ he said.
‘There are some players, and I’m not just talking about Broony, making them angry just makes
them better. They become more focused.’ The former Celtic manager, who paid £4.5million to take Brown from Hibs to Glasgow ten years ago, says the 32-year-old had nothing to prove in the weekend win over Rangers — having shown himself capable of handling the Old Firm occasion with aplomb over the years. ‘He wouldn’t be still here if he didn’t have that ability,’ said Strachan of a player coaxed out of international retirement a year ago. ‘He’s got big games all the time at Celtic, that’s one thing you can guarantee — whether it’s in the league, European games, Old Firm games or whatever. ‘You don’t last that long unless you can deal with big games. ‘Some players go to Celtic and can’t deal with big games. He never had that problem.’
Sportsmail understands Caixinha will not be pulled up by the SFA compliance officer for instigating the touchline confrontation with Brown. Leigh Griffiths will also escape sanction for appearing to wind up Rangers supporters, with a change to rules made last year — after consultation with clubs — removing automatic retrospective action for gestures to the crowd. Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers yesterday broke his silence on Caixinha’s touchline confrontation with Brown — expressing surprise that his opposite number wasn’t already in the dressing room. Initially, Rodgers said he hadn’t been aware of the incident but, having subsequently seen it on television, admitted he was dismayed at the images. ‘I didn’t see it until afterwards to be honest,’ he said. ‘Obviously I was surprised when I saw it because at half-time, as a manager, you want to get in as quickly as you can as it’s a vital period for you as you want to get your message to your players and get ready for that. ‘I think that Broony has been absolutely outstanding since I’ve been here in all of the seven Rangers games. ‘He’s a big-game player and, particularly at Ibrox, he’s been outstanding. I only saw it afterwards and it’s not something you really want to see, to be honest.’