Good pointers for Caixinha as Dorrans delivers win he wanted
● Coach delighted with ‘passion’ of debutant but critical of Windass errors
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha admitted the result outshone the performance for his team as they made a winning start to their Premiership campaign.
Graham Dorrans scored twice on his debut for the Ibrox club as they defeated a spirited Motherwell side 2-1 at Fir Park.
It was an afternoon which saw Rangers produce some high tempo and eye-catching attacking football but also look vulnerable and uncertain in defence during spells which Motherwell could not fully exploit.
“The only goal, the only objective that we had coming here was to win,” said Caixinha. “So I need to be happy with that. Now we just need to play 37 more finals.
“It’s about winning. You might speak about the performance after you draw the game and say ‘great performance, bad result’. But we are result-orientated. Sometimes we need to be humble and understand what is needed for us to keep the result. So that’s what we did.
“If you ask me a different way and say ‘Could we have a different history from this game?’ – if we take our chances, if we control more of the game, I totally agree. We focus on the key points we need to improve.”
Josh Windass was another of Rangers’ brighter performers going forward but he left Ca ix in had is satisfied with his work at the other end of the pitch.
“Did you see who didn’t get in the wall and we conceded the equaliser?” said the Portuguese coach. “Did you see who lost one ball in the second half and we almost got on transition? You see things, I need to see others. He is a player that needs to have my confidence, and all of them have my confidence. But he needs to learn with the process. This not only about the bright things. Sometimes you need to be switched on all the time.
“The [Motherwell] goal came from a free cross, this is the origin and what I need to point out. If that ball was pressured, the cross will come? I don’t think so. Or it comes a different way. We get to the origin.”
Caixinha’s glass may only have appeared to be half-full after the match but he did hail the contribution of matchwinner Dorrans.
“I’m really happy for him,” he said. “At 29, he is playing for his lifetime club. He is really a Rangers supporter, he is really passionate about the club. So I’m happy he could give us the two goals which allowed us to take three points back home.”
Boyhood Rangers fan Dorrans, who required a new jersey to be prepared before kickoff after initially being handed one which mis-spelled his name ‘Doorans’, savoured the moment.
“The shirt I had on was lucky for me in the end,” he smiled. “It feels good. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of since I was a kid. But I’ve been a professional a long time now and knew I had to be focused out there as well. I hope I can add goals to the team from midfield this season.”