GRAEME SOUNESS reckons Pedro Caixinha has gone down “a dangerous road”...

[ian1964 10,819]

...by publicly slaughtering his Rangers players.

 

In the wake of the Betfred Cup semi-final loss to Motherwell, Caixinha questioned the mentality of his squad.

 

He blasted: “I told them you are embarrassing me, you are embarrassing our club and our fans.”

 

Ex-Gers gaffer Souness-**who recently released autobiography Football: My Life, My Passion*–*says he understands why the under-fire Ibrox boss hit out but admits it’s a risky approach.

 

He told the Daily Mail: “I think it’s a dangerous road to go down but I fully understand it.“You get to a point where you’re nice, nice, nice – you’re not getting the response you want so you go down a different route.

 

“But it can be a dangerous route.“I know there will be great disappointment at this time, but there’s no quick fix there.“That will take a long time to get right unfortunately, unless there’s someone who comes along with a big cheque.

 

“I’m like every Rangers supporter – it’s not a great time, but you’ve got to believe it will get better, sooner rather than later.

 

“They’ll be hurting but they’ve got to believe and they do believe because they show up – 50,000 turn out for every home game.“One way or another, I hope it turns a corner and sooner rather than later.”

[ian1964 10,819]

Graeme Souness: 'Strong Rangers needed to stop Scottish football from dying'

 

Scottish football could die if Rangers fail to again challenge Celtic for the title, former Ibrox manager Graeme Souness has warned.

 

Celtic have won the league six years in a row while their city rivals have suffered financial problems.

 

"Scottish football needs a strong Rangers and a strong Celtic to create interest outside of Scotland," Souness told BBC Scotland."If that's not the case, Scottish football would die."

 

Rangers' financial woes forced them to work their way back up from Scotland's bottom tier and they are in their second season back in the top division.

 

Souness, who won the title three times with Rangers, believes worldwide interest in the Scottish game has waned during that period.

 

"As much as Celtic supporters and other supporters of clubs in Scotland have enjoyed the moment, it has damaged football in Scotland beyond belief," he said.

"I live in England and there was always an interest in Scottish football from football fans in England. That's no longer the case."So everyone who rejoiced at Rangers' problems, I hope they've had a rethink and they now see the consequences of that."

 

Rangers lie third in the Scottish Premiership, already six points behind Celtic and Aberdeen, and Sunday's League Cup semi-final defeat by Motherwell has led to further media speculation about the future of Ibrox manager Pedro Caixinha.

 

"I've been a manager and I know how difficult it is and I know how difficult that job is," said Souness, who also lifted the League Cup four times with Rangers. "His job now is 1,000 times more difficult than the job I had, and the expectation is still the same.

 

"It is a difficult time and it's been a very difficult time."I don't think there's a quick fix to it other than someone coming along and writing a big cheque."

 

Souness pointed out that he took over in 1986 at a time when Rangers had greater resources."My job compared to the current manager's job, it couldn't be any further away," he said.

 

"I was so lucky and in football management you need a lot of luck."My luck was that, at the time, the English clubs were having to rebuild their stadiums post-Hillsborough."We had had our disaster at Ibrox and our stadium was finished, more or less paid for, and I could outbid English teams in the transfer market."I signed the England captain, Terry Butcher, and what a statement that was."

 

Caixinha is in his first full season as Rangers manager after taking over from Mark Warburton in March and a poor result against Kilmarnock on Wednesday would put more pressure on the Portuguese.

 

"My take on life at Glasgow Rangers when I was manager - we could be playing the best football, but because we had drawn a couple of games and were second to Celtic, we were getting all the flak although we might have been the best football team - and the same would apply to Celtic," he explained."To avoid any criticism, you have to be sitting top of the league here."But the vast majority of Rangers supporters are realistic."