You can’t blame Pedro for everything that has gone wrong at Rangers
FROM a fellow professional, someone who knows how it feels to be kicked around the block a few times, there is obvious empathy. Even a degree of sympathy.
Craig Levein understands the rules. He could hardly be shocked by yesterday’s announcement from Ibrox.
Yet the former Scotland boss is clear on one point. Nobody with an ounce of common sense can blame Pedro Caixinha for absolutely everything that has left Rangers so far off the demanding pace set by Celtic.
Hearts head coach Levein, who says the Tynecastle side have ‘problems of our own’ ahead of tomorrow’s clash with a Graeme Murty-led Rangers at Murrayfield, insisted: ‘There’s a big focus on them because they are not doing as well as Celtic.
‘There is a continual comparison. But I don’t think Rangers are at the level of Celtic just now.
‘I don’t think anybody else in Scottish football would disagree with that.
‘That’s not Pedro’s fault. It’s more about the clubs. Celtic are stable, they are well financed.
‘Rangers have had turmoil, they have been up through the divisions. They have had a lot of things to contend with so they are not quite at that level yet. I think everybody accepts that.’
Unanimity in the Scottish game being as rare as an undisputed disciplinary decision, Levein would find plenty willing to argue the case against Caixinha. Including, as it transpired, the entire Rangers board.
Reluctantly dipping into the continued struggles of his Portuguese colleague, the coaching veteran replied to a question about Rangers’ inability to cope with even a mild on-field crisis by explaining: ‘There are times, as a coach and manager, when everything seems to work quite well.
‘Then you are just doing the same thing again two weeks later, doing the same stuff in training — and sometimes it doesn’t work.
‘At that point, it’s about imagination and trying to find ways of turning form back your way. It’s normal stuff that’s happening.’
Levein was at Ibrox for Wednesday night’s final straw, a dismal draw between Rangers and Kilmarnock. But he left just before the end, listening to the late dramatics on his car radio.
‘It was bizarre, a weird game,’ he confessed. ‘Rangers could have had the game dead and buried.
‘A couple of things went against them. But, listen, I still thought they were going to win.
‘Kilmarnock had a couple of counter-attacks and they were good, well organised, and they had that new manager bounce you often get.
‘Steve Clarke had them in a 4-4-2 but very compact, with the strikers dropping back in. And things didn’t go for Rangers.’
Hearts are, of course, fully intent on making sure that the 15,000 visiting fans at Scotland’s national rugby stadium continue to feel as if the world is against them tomorrow.
On the back of a derby defeat at Easter Road, and with injuries continuing to knock a hole in the middle of the team, the home side will hardly be in a generous mood.
Levein said: ‘We’ve got our own problems, which is the first thing to say. We’ve got midfield dilemmas. Or I’ve got a midfield dilemma.
‘Then again, maybe I don’t have a midfield dilemma — I just play the midfielders in midfield.
‘So we won’t be at our best. And I would say the same about Rangers. They can’t be at their best.
‘Because they’ve got injuries, they have a suspension with Bruno Alves, Ryan Jack will be out because he received a red card, Graham Dorrans went off with an ankle knock.
‘I’m in a similar position in that neither of us will have our best teams available.
‘It’s always difficult but it’s a situation you face very often as a coach.’
Levein is considering handing 16-year-old midfielder Harry Cochrane a start in front of a bumper crowd.
‘I wish I had started him on Tuesday,’ revealed the director of football, who stepped back into the technical area following Ian Cathro’s dismissal earlier this season.
‘Harry did make a difference. But it’s bad when we are relying on a 16-year-old to change things and come on to make a contribution.
‘Sometimes the younger you are, the less fear you have. He has handled any situation I have put him in so far. He can’t physically handle it, but he tries.’
Hearts versus Rangers will always be a big draw on the Scottish fixture calendar, regardless of circumstances surrounding the match.
There is a general agreement, even among fans of other clubs, that having these two teams in the top flight has helped raise the profile of the game — and the fact that well over 30,000 will be at Murrayfield backs up that view.
As for this week’s declaration by former Ibrox great Graeme Souness that ‘Scottish football needs a strong Rangers’ or risks dying, Levein grinned as he replied: ‘Scottish football really needs a weak Celtic and a weak Rangers.
‘It would be more competitive. Let’s go back to sharing the money through the turnstiles. That was when Scottish football was at its most competitive.
‘There’s an idea. I wonder if they would vote for that.’