Pedro Caixinha lacks familiarity with Scottish football but understands the scepticism regarding his sudden prominence within it. On his unveiling as the head coach of Rangers on Monday the Portuguese asked for time from those who harbour doubts before identifying European glory as a legitimate target. With Rangers in their current state, that goal will trigger further scorn from elsewhere.
“I faced the same situation when I went to Mexico,” Caixinha said of external negativity. “I would just say one thing: at least give us the benefit of the doubt. Let us work. Then they can evaluate our work. We are exposed to it, not just here but all the football coaches in the world – they’re all in this situation. It’s even bigger here because we’re at Rangers.”
Mexico is one of six countries the 46-year-old had worked in as an assistant or manager before arriving in Scotland. While admitting British football had been in his mind for a while – Caixinha studied for coaching badges under the watch of the Scottish Football Association – he offered aspirations further afield.
“I want to make this club even bigger than it is,” he said. “To try and achieve something that maybe we haven’t achieved. To try and give a stability to the club in all levels, in all structures. And to get it on the way in order to be unstoppable. We are talking about European trophies. It will take time, for sure, but at this level you need to set goals up high. If you set them low, it’s not enough.
“They need to be realistic at the same time. It’s going to take time to arrive there but it’s important to know you are following those goals. At this time, I agree, it’s not realistic. But we need to set targets which are realistic and ambitious at the same time. This is for sure the biggest club in Scotland. I want to help them come back in this situation and go from there.”
For “this situation”, read eight points adrift of the second-placed Aberdeen in the top flight with Celtic swaggering towards a sixth title in a row. “I do believe that Celtic wants Rangers to be strong,” Caixinha said. “I believe that Scottish football wants Rangers to be strong.
“You don’t want to fight all the time and the champion is always in the pre‑qualifier for the Champions League. You don’t want a team to have four knockout games in order to arrive at the group stage. Do you want that working in football here in Scotland? So definitely we need a strong Rangers.”
On his itinerant career Caixinha was defensive. “The long-term job that I had was the one when my philosophy and the club’s philosophy were matching; I spent three years in Santos Laguna,” he said. “If you go there, you know that the coaches are moving around after three match days. I spent three years.”
Caixinha smartly sidestepped the question as to whether the league title next season was a sensible target. “I’m not a magician,” he said. “I’m a football coach. I need to implement things and maybe to work more than in a normal situation but I have no problem with that because I love my work and I’m passionate about it. I cannot promise that things are going to change like that. But I can promise you that the gap is going to be reduced.”
Off-field issues remain a key part of the Rangers narrative. As Caixinha was unveiled, the Rangers chairman, Dave King, was subject to a ruling from the Takeover Appeal Board which said he acted in concert with others when taking control of the club in 2015 despite his claims to the contrary. King has therefore been ordered to offer 20 pence for every remaining share in the holding company, a situation which in theory could cost him upwards of £10m. King was found to have worked in tandem with a group called the Three Bears when leading a much-heralded overthrow of the previous board. Between them they own more than the 30% threshold which triggers an obligation to make an offer for the remaining shares.
“I do not agree with TAB’s much delayed ruling nor follow its logic,” King said in a statement. “I do not believe that there is any substantial group of shareholders that would be willing to sell its shares at the price at which the TAB has determined I should make an offer; 20p is not a price that I personally believe represents a fair price, nor is it the price at which shares are currently trading.”
Caixinha admitted he is yet to hold any discussions with King, a matter which will raise eyebrows given the chairman’s previously grand claims of Ibrox investment. Stewart Robertson, the Rangers managing director, insisted there was nothing amiss regarding that scenario.
“The way we’ve worked it is to have a team of three who were appointed to select the manager,” Robertson said. “That’s the way we agreed to do it and that’s the way we worked it. There is an executive management team appointed to take it forward. The chairman has delegated that responsibility to us.”
Robertson added that Caixinha had sought assurances regarding finance for new players. “You would question any potential manager coming into the club who didn’t ask you that,” said the managing director. “You are looking for them to ask you quite searching questions to test your mettle and see what you are made of.
“There will be investment there. We always said we would try and win the Championship, which we did, then strengthen the squad. Then we wanted to try and get into Europe and strengthen the squad again. That is still the process.”
