Alastair Johnston: Incoming Ibrox boss can bring out the best in Rangers...

[ian1964 10,724]

...like Brendan Rodgers did at Celtic.

 

Christopher Jack

 

Group Senior Sports Writer

 

ALASTAIR JOHNSTON hopes the next manager of Rangers can follow the example set by Brendan Rodgers at Celtic and transform the fortunes of the misfiring Ibrox squad.

 

The Light Blues board have started their search for Pedro Caixinha’s replacement after his seven month tenure was brought to an end on Thursday afternoon.

 

Caixinha was heavily backed by the Gers hierarchy in the summer as he overhauled his squad by signing the likes of Bruno Alves, Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera.

 

And Johnston is eager to see the next man at the helm make an immediate impact and get more out of the current crop than Caixinha was able to in recent weeks.

 

He said: “There are financial implications but in the circumstances they had to be seconded, if you will, to the best interests of the club. "My own view is that we have a better squad than people think and perhaps a new management team will get more out of them.

 

"A lot of Rangers fans thought the players we brought in during the summer were actually positive. "I don't think we have seen the best of them and I would like to think that the new management team will be able to get more out of them.

 

"In many ways that's what Celtic did when they brought in Brendan Rodgers. "They had good players but they brought in a guy who got more out of their players. "They didn't add too many players to their club but they got whole lot better results once they brought in Rodgers."

 

Rangers are eight points off the pace being set by their Old Firm rivals in the Premiership and five adrift of Aberdeen after they slipped to fourth in the standings on Wednesday night.

 

The 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock came just days after Caixinha’s side were beaten in the semi-finals of the Betfred Cup by Motherwell.

 

It has been a poor start to the campaign from the Gers and Johnston believes the right call has been made to sack Caixinha.

 

He said: "We had a board teleconference [on Thursday] morning and the decision was made. "I don't think it was a fait accompli, there was a lot of sharing of opinions and viewpoints and lots of questions asked and answered. "It wasn't a quick three minute call, let's put it that way.

 

"But the decision was obviously something that was under consideration for a while, we are not deaf and blind. "I think the events of the last couple of weeks demonstrated institutional failure, if you will.

 

"It was a systemic problem and not just one we thought could be corrected easily with the current personnel. "You can't not be disappointed after losing a manger after seven months but the board had to reach a decision which was in the best interests of the club in the long run and if a decision was going to be made it was better being made sooner rather than later."

 

Rangers return to Premiership action with a trip to Murrayfield to face Hearts on Saturday afternoon as they attempt to get back to winning ways.

 

And the search for Caixinha’s replacement is already underway as the Ibrox board look to ensure they get the right man for the job this time around.

 

Johnston said: "Since we appointed Pedro we have got a director of football in place and he will obviously have a responsibility that we didn't have before. "The immediate plan is to go back to Graeme Murty which is the obvious thing to do at this stage while we evaluate the candidates and needless to say there will be a lot of people contacting us and there will be some people we will contact.

 

"Obviously you want to do this as soon as possible but obviously you want to get it right so I wouldn't want to have any conjecture about the time frame."

 

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/15622667.Alastair_Johnston__Incoming_Ibrox_boss_can_bring_out_the_best_in_Rangers___like_Brendan_Rodgers_did_at_Celtic/?ref=twtrec

[jhunter 0]

I think the events of the last couple of weeks demonstrated institutional failure

 

what is he getting at here?

[boabie 230]

what is he getting at here?

 

Pedro should have been handed his P45 after our exit from Europe. Imo, too much time was given after that despite the obvious division that must have been in place.

[barca72 440]

what is he getting at here?

 

Since the first 5-1 defeat from the scum, Pedro was on a short leash and the board did f*ck all about it.

[pete 2,499]

Mutry now has a completely different assignment as he had the last time. The last time he just had to stop the rot. Now he has to get us winning and fight for second place. We will see what he has in his locker as a manager.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

Pedro should have been handed his P45 after our exit from Europe. Imo, too much time was given after that despite the obvious division that must have been in place.

Absolutely this. It was obvious to anyone with a modicum of sense that Pedro was clueless after our European debacle and we've wasted months with nothing but regression. If a manager is clearly failing then get rid of him. Foreign teams have no problem doing it and we should be no different. We've had various woeful managers in recent times who lasted far, far longer than they should have. We've actually been much quicker than usual with Pedro.

[union 0]

the irony and brass neck of johnston citing institutional failure is sublime.

[craig 5,199]

the irony and brass neck of johnston citing institutional failure is sublime.

 

How is it irony or a brass neck ?

 

Nowhere does he absolve himself of blame in the failure - it can only be irony or a brass neck if he is distancing himself from said failure. He doesn't do that, though he leaves it open to interpretation.

Edited October 27, 2017 by craig

[Uilleam 5,940]

How is it irony or a brass neck ?

 

Nowhere does he absolve himself of blame in the failure - it can only be irony or a brass neck if he is distancing himself from said failure. He doesn't do that, though he leaves it open to interpretation.

 

Yeah, as usual I struggle to make sense of this guy's gnomic pronouncements.

 

Still, the ship of state may turn, even if that manoevre is exceeding slow.

[RANGERRAB 3,674]

Absolutely this. It was obvious to anyone with a modicum of sense that Pedro was clueless after our European debacle and we've wasted months with nothing but regression. If a manager is clearly failing then get rid of him. Foreign teams have no problem doing it and we should be no different. We've had various woeful managers in recent times who lasted far, far longer than they should have. We've actually been much quicker than usual with Pedro.

 

In Pedro's defence he did inherit an absolute car crash from both McCoist & MW. Bringing in an entirely new starting XI was always going to have its pitfalls

 

However question marks remain about some of his summer signings. Maybe the new boss will get the best out of the likes of both Pena and Herrera. Who knows?