Pedro Caixinha reflects on Rangers: Going 'man to man' with Miller, Pena addiction issues and signing Morelos

First up is our long-read interview with former Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha.

Our project editor Jonny McFarlane remains the only Scottish journalist to sit down with the Portuguese to discuss his dramatic spell at Ibrox in a detailed access all areas interview.

His tenure may have ended in acrimony and the sack, but Pedro Caixinha’s passion for Rangers remains undimmed. 

“Once Rangers, you are always Rangers,” the animated Portuguese exclaims. “You will remain a Rangers fan no matter what.” 

The 51-year-old has been away from Ibrox for nearly four years since his 229 day spell was ended amid a bruising League cup semi-final defeat to Motherwell, capricious league results and a dressing room riven by internal factions. 

He watched his old team in the flesh for the first time since his departure as they progressed to the last 16 of the 19/20 Europa League against Braga and was suitably impressed by both the team’s obvious identity and the way Steven Gerrard and his management team has reshaped the side. 

“They have done great. I was at the game in Braga so I was looking to see the main ideas Steven was implementing on the team,” he said. 

“I tried to look and analyse the first match and see how they would reproduce it in the second game. 

“I saw that they played exactly the same way.  

“They played more according to their style, their idea, rather than the opponent. 

“It was very nice to observe. I think they did a great, great job. As they did to get the league.” 

The Ibrox club’s ascent to the pinnacle of Scottish football has been spectacular, an unbeaten season and four victories over rivals Celtic cementing their dominance. It’s a situation that seems light years from the problems of 2017 when he was trying to bridge the gap with not just a Brendan Rodgers inspired city rival but also Derek McInnes’ Aberdeen who had become an established second force. 

“In that moment you need to look to Celtic because Scottish football is about the Old Firm,” he admitted. “But I would remind you that Aberdeen was far away from Rangers also. 

“The first step was Aberdeen. We wanted to take their place because this would mean we are on our way in the right direction.” 

At the time, the notion that Rangers would have to slug it out with Aberdeen was a painful medicine that few had the appetite to swallow – but it was accurate. 

And yet the cold facts remain that by the time of his dismissal after 10 games of the 2017/18 season, his side were already struggling five points behind the Dons in fourth place. 

Caixinha’s was a spell that will go on to live in infamy as the shortest managerial reign in the club’s history, beating Frenchman Paul Le Guen to the dubious distinction. 

And like the former Lyon manager’s reign, the root of the disfunction that engulfed the club was a clash of cultures. 

Tactics 

The Pedro Caixinha story starts with a methodology. 

An academic coach with an MA in Sports Science from the university of Lisbon, he retired at just 28 to move into coaching. 

A long spell as assistant to José Peseiro at clubs like Sporting and Panathinaikos allowed him to build the knowledge required to break out on his own at Portuguese sides União de Leiria and Nacional. 

He moved to Mexico in 2013 and won three major pieces of silverware at Santos Laguna during a two-year spell before being lured to the riches of Qatar by Al Gharafa. 

Over these spells Caixinha built his unique training program with ideas from academia and experiences at the sharp end of coaching. 

A big influence was Vitor Frade, the Oporto academic who is the father of the tactical periodisation methodology attributed to many Portuguese coaches including Caixinha and most famously, Jose Mourinho. 

An extremely complex and detailed theory, it looks to ensure that training replicates the key scenarios that players face in a game.

Caixinha on the training pitch

And while the coaching concept lies at the heart of Caixinha’s ideas about how football should be trained, he is keen to stress he’s not a rigid advocate in the purest way. 

“I’m a person who likes to have the knowledge. I’m always looking at what different coaches do and what different methodologies can add to your idea because you are trying to get better day by day. 

“That’s the main idea. I’m not a reproducer. I’m not a guy who catches an idea and tries to copy it. 

“I want to understand and then add something. 

“So if you ask me if I’m a follower of tactical periodisation itself? No. I’m not. 

“I’m someone that really believes in the main concepts you can take from it which go directly to the behaviors of the team.” 

So what is his philosophy?  

Caixinha is delighted to expound his theories. He walks me through his concepts for training in a head-spinning 14 minute monologue that takes in everything from concerted attacking aggression in the opening stages of each 45 minutes to the increasing importance of scoring first in modern football.  

It’s both impressive and challenging at the same time.  

A tactical layman can only fully grasp little fragments, but there are many interesting points raised. 

Perhaps sensing the question that’s coming, he jumps in ahead of me. 

“You may ask me: ‘why didn’t you do all that at Rangers?’ 

“There is one simple answer which is the most important thing, which is the players need to be convinced. 

“We didn’t impose, but when we presented and worked this methodology they were not ready to receive it.” 

An example is coming but a quick lesson first. 

Tactical Periodisation names each day’s training around its distance to the next game.  

If a match is on Wednesday then Monday would be –2 and Tuesday would be –1, going all the way back to the previous day off. 

He continues: “You have long weeks or short weeks. Nowadays, due to the number of games you are going to have more short weeks than longer ones.  

“From -5 to -1 is difficult to get, the competitive density is too high. So it’s more likely to be -3 or -4 to -1. 

“When you are using this methodology and one match is on Saturday and the other match is on Sunday, they were not understanding how to fill this regime. 

“It’s very simple, it’s about the relation between stimulation and adaptation.  

“What you want to create from day one is the right stimulus to get the right adaptations. But you need to follow the plan on a regular basis.  

“They couldn’t understand why they might have two days off because in this methodology you don’t have -6 because it might overload your players and that’s the last thing you want to happen to them. 

“So we finished the Wednesday off that they were having in the British weekly planning.” 

A pained look falls over Caixinha’s face, his memories triggering frustration even several years later. 

“It was difficult,” he sighs. “To work only in the direction of the way we wanted to play and the way we are going to face one specific opponent who will face us differently on a weekly basis - they weren’t understanding it.” 

Scottish football can be a notoriously thrawn environment, and there’s a trail of fallen foreign coaches who arrived with big ideas but were quickly thwarted by belligerent local refusniks. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Caixinha feels his methods would have been accepted more readily by our cousins south of the border. 

“This is the way we see the game and work the game but unfortunately in Scotland we didn’t have the time or the chance to explain this to the people.  

“I think that if you compare England to Scotland with regard to openness, I think they are much more open to these sort of different approaches and at least give the benefit of the doubt rather than just being critical and not understanding it.” 

Kenny 

One player who could be described as unconvinced was Kenny Miller. 

A striker of industry, pace and no little ruthlessness in front of goal in his heyday, he was now 37 and moving into the dwindling twighlight of his career. 

After three spells at Ibrox he knew better than anyone the pressures and standards associated with being successful in Govan and it seemed at first he had found common cause with his new manager. 

Arriving in March meant Caixinha had time to assess the squad and he soon handed the veteran a new deal, impressed with his qualities. 

But things would turn sour and Miller hasn't been readily complimentary of Caixinha in the years since, criticising his pre-season preparation and branding his appointment “strange” while questioning the way the manager handled him personally.  

Caixinha admits he was impressed by the veteran initially but claims that tensions between them ultimately led to dressing room unrest.

He said: “I would say to you that some players in the squad need to be like an extension of the technical staff and one of those players was definitely Kenny Miller.

“He deserved a new contract in the first season we arrived. And we gave him a new contract but we told him, ‘look, you completely deserve this new deal, I am very happy to give it to you but now I want to count on you in a different way because we are not going to have the same squad and it will be much more competitive, so I need you to be able to play or not to play.’  

By the end Caixinha says the friction was causing divisions between Scottish players, British players and foreign players. 

He claimed: “When you came in for breakfast they sat separated in these groups. 

“We tried a lot of things to unite the dressing room but it was really difficult.

“And when you choose guys that need to be part of you and make this sort of connection in this league, maybe they had different goals in that moment. 

“That’s what really happened and that’s what really shocked me. 

“I’m not going to hide from my responsibilities, not at all, but I want others to also assume theirs. 

“Let me tell you, Kenny, when I met with him in one single room just man to man, he was not the man I expected. 

Miller and Caixinha

“Because he was the only player that I needed to go on top of. The only one. 

“And now he comes on interviews and he says this and says that, he can say whatever, but when we were man to man he could not say nothing to me.  

“This is the situation. Of course, I committed mistakes and I accept my responsibility but others that were expected to be important in the project stepped aside at the first moment. 

“I’m not a guy who thinks leadership is the guy who cries more in a training session, or goes to the media.  

“The good leader to me is the guy who is linked to the project. When the squad or dressing room needs something he is able to be a part of the technical staff. He is able to stand side by side with the manager. That’s the real leader, not having an agenda. 

“One guy that has a different agenda it’s totally impossible to have that .” 

Caixinha is far more complimentary about his former captain Lee Wallace who was another key figure in the dressing room at the time and a close friend of Miller. 

He said: “Lee Wallace was a different guy. Lee was a really, really nice guy. I think he was a little bit managed by Kenny. 

“Unfortunately he got injured and he couldn’t contribute but he was a different guy.  

“He was thinking differently. For example, he was asking about the methodology and things like that. 

“And of course, Graham Dorrans, Bruno Alves and Niko Kranjcar were guys we also wanted to make a part of it. 

“In that moment we didn’t want to have a single captain but a strong group of individuals that said: ‘Okay, we are here, we are going to help the manager and help the club. We know we are here and our opponent might be above us but we want to keep improving and we just need to do it together.’” 

Footballers talking to sports reporters is nothing new but a constant source of frustration for Caixinha was the stream of inside information leaking from inside the Ibrox dressing room and into the media.  

He said: “Everything exploded when we see the leaks.  

“It was incredible. It is incredible when you are working inside your home and then on the day after everything is in the newspapers. 

“You would say something to the wall and the wall had ears.” 

Kenny Miller has strongly refuted any insinuations he was behind any dressing room leaks through his agent Dave Baldwin, who said at the time: "The problem I have is when the player is the only player dropped the day after a big rant about the club having a dressing room 'leak' and then it is not clarified why he is being left out. 

"It leaves it open to insinuation, and endless newspaper stories and social media speculation that he was possibly or clearly the leak. When clearly he wasn't.” 

You can find part one of our in-depth interview with the former Rangers manager, where he talks about his philosophy and fractured relationship with Kenny Miller here.

Alfredo

Caixinha’s tumultuous reign did offer the occasional shaft of bright light, including a 3-0 away win at Pittodrie but the acquirement of Alfredo Morelos remains the most obviously luminous.

Taking expert advice from his “local coach” Jonatan Johansson, he sanctioned a deal of £1m for the Colombian striker that brought him from the relative obscurity of Finnish football.

The livewire was to make a huge impact, quickly usurping Eduardo Herrera who had been brought in as the senior striker and making the number nine position his own.

From his debut season he has been outstanding, especially in Europe and attracted significant transfer attention from the continent’s top five leagues.

With the player now conservatively valued at north of £15m, he looks the best signing in the Ibrox club’s recent history and one that played an instrumental part in their 55th title under Gerrard.

Caixinha recalls him fondly.

“With Morelos the first thing was to put him on the right weight,” he smiled.

“Something that he was doing was trying to shoot from everywhere. He was receiving and shooting, receiving and shooting.

“That is something you need in a striker but we tried to work with him on details and definition – not only shooting power but shooting with precision. Those things.

“The rest he had. You don’t need him to pressure the keeper or place the centre-backs in trouble when they are building up.

“We identified in him the desire and passion, the will to improve.

“Of course, you need to educate him in a lot of situations to let him know where he was exactly in this moment in time. To establish with him a timetable to establish his own goals.

“How many goals he wants to score next season? Where are his goals regarding the league he wants to play in? We placed these goals on him and he was one guy who was looking to achieve it on a daily basis. “The other thing we had to control was his anger. For example, how many times did he clash with Scott Brown?

“You have to remember, in those days Scott was doing whatever he wanted in on the pitch and I had to face him down at half-time in one game and Morelos, just by arriving, after six months he was doing that, he was playing, knowing what an Old Firm match represented. “With an Old Firm, the first thing you need to understand is they can’t beat us in attitude. Never.

“They can beat us - but not in attitude. And Morelos was the guy that was representing that and facing Celtic’s captain.”

Carlos

The arrival of Mexican international Carlos Pena for a reported £2.5m was, on the face of it, the most exciting transfer move in the summer of 2017.

Nicknamed ‘Gullit’ due to his similarities to Holland and AC Milan phenom Ruud, the 27-year-old had once been a star performer in his native country and widely tipped for bigger things.

But at its apex, his career quickly imploded. Drinking problems were whispered about in hushed tones.

Caixinha openly admits he was aware of the player’s alcohol issues and the gamble he was taking with the signing.

He said: “When I arrived in Mexico at the end of 2012, Carlos was the most incredible midfielder. He was a goalscorer, up and down, defending and attacking.

“He was a massive player with a lot of technique and physicality.

“After that he passed through some problems. He couldn’t deal with what he achieved.

“He passed through one stage where he was having drinking problems. It was totally known.

Carlos Pena

“And when we contacted the previous teams and coaches in Mexico they told us he still had a little bit of the problem but it’s much better and he has a will to change everything.

“I’m not going to lie to you that he came totally clean. No, he didn’t arrive totally clean for us, but we cleaned him.

“If you remember one of the last games we played against St Johnstone, which we won 3-0, he scored twice.

“That was the Carlos, the real Carlos we were looking for.”

Pena was the subject of criticism for his performances with some pundits feeling he looked laboured and slack, but he was also showing an impressive habit of being in the right place at the right time, scoring a respectable five times in 14 appearances.

Knowing the extent of his fitness battle, Caixinha had devised a system where his star man could have the impact of his glory days without the graft.

He said: “When I first met Carlos playing as an opponent, they were playing in a 4-4-2.

“Carlos was playing as a number 8 because, in those days, he was a box-to-box player.

“Because of these problems, what we tried to do with Carlos was to create a short range.

“So let’s place him in a position he can make the runs up and down but he’s near the box where he can solve games and give us his very best.”

While it seemed to be a plan with potential, the rails were to quickly come off after an anonymous performance in the 2-0 defeat to Motherwell in the League Cup semi-final.

“Suddenly, after we worked for two months or two and a half months to reach that level, we had the semi-final and Carlos was down again,” he lamented.

“So this was a problem. We needed to keep him extremely close.

“He’s a very kind guy, too kind, and he needs to have you close to him.

“He made a tremendous effort to get to that level but after that he came down again so you need to track him and follow him on a daily basis.

“He’s definitely a great player, but this is the history of Carlos.”

Bush

Pedro Caixinha likes to communicate, that much is clear.

He talks expansively about most subjects but when it comes to his side’s infamous Europa League defeat by Progres Niederkorn, he is uncharacteristically clipped.

Having lived through the white hot furnace that is being Rangers boss, the Portuguese clearly understands the pressure of the job and is fully aware there is no sugar coating such a cataclysmic loss.

He turns understandably solemn on the mere mention of the game, and even more so when he’s taken back to a picture taken of him debating the result with angry fans while standing in a bush.

It was a question of optics more than anything else, with the bizarre sight of the Rangers manager remonstrating with his own while balancing on a flower bed adding to the farcical nature of the evening.

Caixinha in Luxembourg

For Caixinha, it isn’t about the picture, which was an irrelevance. Rather, as the leader of the team he had to face up to criticism head on.

“What happened was I went to take responsibility and assume it. I understand you are mad about me, that you are angry, and like us you didn’t want that to happen,” he grimaced. “But this is the reality, we need to face up and you need to go. You need to go in front.

“So I went there to show my face. Even in those conditions and in a very difficult moment I think the leader needs to be present and that’s what I did.

“And of course after I arrived there some guys are much more worried or concerned and have different ideas about that and some words might come but it’s natural.

“The main thing was to assume responsibility and say 'Okay, we are going to move forward.'”

The end

Any chance for Caixinha to set things right were doomed by Progres.

A result of such gargantuanly bad proportions would not be easily forgotten and league form did nothing to dispel growing disquiet.

Defeat to Hibs at Ibrox on the second day of the season was a poor start to the league and while Rangers did bounce back with wins, they were often followed by a stutter step.

Rumors of dressing room unrest had grown to become accepted as fact. But while there were factions, not everyone was desperate to see the manger go.

Against Hamilton, a flu-addled Caixinha took the decisive decision to drop Kenny Miller and watched his team win comfortably 4-1.

After the crucial third goal, scorer Daniel Candeias made the point of running to the manager and embracing him as a show of solidarity.

Caixinha recalled: “When you take decisions in your life and you take them because you believe in what you are going to do.

“I was totally believing that we were identifying that moment some of the players were leaking information.

“Choosing or picking the team, it’s my job. And that’s what I did. If I need to die, I will die with my own ideas.

“Because I have no problems to die.

“What I want is that, those guys at least, when I die, if I die, the guys will give me a proper funeral. That’s all."

Any joy in victory was to be short lived.

Defeat in the aforementioned semi-final left Caixinha’s coat hanging on a shoogly peg before a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock sealed his fate. He was dismissed the following day.

When the axe fell, nobody was really surprised, least of all the Portuguese.

And while his time in Govan won’t be a career highlight on a CV that holds five managerial trophies from his spells in Mexico, Caixinha still feels his contribution helped the Ibrox club on their journey back to the top. He said: “I think that we could raise a little bit the level of Rangers in those days and allowed others who came to receive the club in a totally different way to how we received it.”

And while he is glowing in his praise about the job done in the four years since his departure, the extent to which the tables have turned in Glasgow is something he has clearly found surprising.

“Naturally, I think life is a cycle. Football is also a cycle,” he said wistfully.

“But there remains the question of why Celtic decreased so dramatically. I don’t know … but something happened. Bad management, bad vision...

“If you look to my time in charge and now, everything is reversed. Everything.”

A smiles breaks across his face and he adds: “I’m happy of course, I’m happy for Rangers.”