Ex-Rangers ace Clint Hill says Pedro Caixinha was ‘too blinkered’ as he gives insight to bizarre pre-match presentation

[BlueMeanie]

FORMER Rangers man Clint Hill has given an insight into Pedro Caixinha's Ibrox tenure.

Hill played the last few months of his Gers career under the Portuguese who had replaced Mark Warburton in March 2017.


Caixinha lasted just seven months in the job after a disastrous spell in the Light Blues hot seat.

And Hill says he was 'too blinkered' as he revealed one bizarre presentation which had players questioning the manager almost immediately.

Speaking on Open Goal, Hill said: "He put this presentation on one game and to this day I still think it's the presentation he did for the job that he'd given to the board.

"It's all fireworks, it's all gleaming, there's shots of the stadium, players, trophies, Rangers history. I'm thinking he's definitely given this to the board.

Open Goal

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"Then he's gone into his style of play from Qatar. So he's got these lads playing football, saying 'lads this is how I want us to play football for Glasgow Rangers'.

"It's 90 odd degrees out there, it's walking football. Nobody's putting any pressure on you. We could still play at that level now.

"We're sat there thinking he doesn't know what it means to put that blue top on, to go to an away ground. You're not going to get it that easy.

"It was just too blinkered. Too blinkered."



Hill left in the summer of 2017 after Caixinha decided to bring in some of his own players including the likes of Fabio Cardoso and Bruno Alves.

And speaking previously, the QPR legend says he has no complaints over the way his exit was handled.

He said: "The way Pedro handled me at the end, I can’t complain. We had a discussion and he said his bit and I said mine.

“He wanted to go down a different route and I have a lot of respect for that. It did hurt me for a month or so after I left Ibrox.


“I didn’t think I could go anywhere else, because after you have played for such a big club, you think to yourself ‘Where can I go from here?’.

“It was like there was a void left in me and it took me a long while to decide to join Carlisle.”

 

[Hap Hapablap]

Respectful comments at the end there, as expected from big Clint.

I think we all realise the Caixinha experiment was doomed to failure from the very beginning.

 

[PT98]

A mind boggling appointment.

 

[Laudrup11Cooper]

Nothing but respect for the man.
On the park and off.

 

[archimedes]

Having just watched that 'Take the ball, pass the ball' documentary about Barcelona, it sounds as though Caixinha was basically a poor man's Guardiola, with his video presentation and his rigidity in his footballing philosophy.
The difference being of course that Guardiola's philosophy worked.

 

[Amo6591]

Cult hero for me is our Clint

 

[Deleted Account]

The whole episode was mental. Looking back, it's surprising it took until October to implode, it was already on fire in April

 

[PT98]

Having just watched that 'Take the ball, pass the ball' documentary about Barcelona, it sounds as though Caixinha was basically a poor man's Guardiola, with his video presentation and his rigidity in his footballing philosophy.
The difference being of course that Guardiola's philosophy worked.

To be fair it's more likely to work when you've got Iniesta and Messi compared to a Mexican alcoholic and a striker in his late 30s.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

Having just watched that 'Take the ball, pass the ball' documentary about Barcelona, it sounds as though Caixinha was basically a poor man's Guardiola, with his video presentation and his rigidity in his footballing philosophy.
The difference being of course that Guardiola's philosophy worked.

And had world class footballers at his disposal to carry out his philosophy of course.

 

[Danger Zone]

Having just watched that 'Take the ball, pass the ball' documentary about Barcelona, it sounds as though Caixinha was basically a poor man's Guardiola, with his video presentation and his rigidity in his footballing philosophy.
The difference being of course that Guardiola's philosophy worked.

Waburton was the same. These guys want to play this style of play thinking you can do it with subpar players who haven’t been trained from a young age to play that way.

Okay you can do it with players who haven’t been brought up in this system, Guardiola has proven that at Bayern and City, but you still need exceptional quality and more importantly, a coach who really knows how to train the players that way too.

 

[The Union Flag]

Big Clint was a class act at a time of very little class. Always welcome back

 

[SuperGers07]

Remember Clint saying this at the Heart and Hand show a year or two back. Baffling appointment

 

[ThorntonMM]

It was an experiment that clearly didn't work however it was nowhere near the disaster that McCoist was as manager.
I also reckon we should have kept him until we had a replacement in mind rather than bringing in Murty.

 

[mikeymols_10]

Clint Hill always speaks well of the club. Comes across as a got who ‘got it’ even though he wasn’t here for that long

 

[Danger Zone]

Clint Hill really did well in his time here. I remember after his first few games most of our experts were offering to drive him back down south.

 

[rangersno.1]

one of the few positives a gent is the big man

 

[TwoBadMice]

Clint is an absolute gentleman

 

[KGR98]

I look back to the money that Caixinha spent in his transfer window and can't help but thinking that if we just Stuck with Warburton or even Murty we would have been in a much better position today

 

[CaptainCourageous]

Too many people just don't get or understand Scottish football.

Warburton told us he knew the size of Rangers yet came away with this nonsense;

"When we walked out to that Going for 55 in that first game against Hamilton, my heart sank.

That wasn't the message. The fans were rocking, they lit the blue touch paper there, We're going to win the league".

That above just sums up Mark Warburton. A loser. Not only that but he was tactically clueless, weak, naive and far too stubborn whilst his dealings in the transfer market were dodgy.

Caixinha got Rangers, at times he was the only one sticking up for the club. Passion, fight, aggression and desire was clearly there. Sadly he was a terrible football manager.

You can't just rock up to Scottish football and think you know it all. A Warburton or Caixinha don't understand the game up here, the intensity or hatred for all things Rangers. They don't understand the need to win every match. It's the same with Gerrard and his backroom staff at times - it's Scottish football, it doesn't have to be over complicated or fancy.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

I look back to the money that Caixinha spent in his transfer window and can't help but thinking that if we just Stuck with Warburton or even Murty we would have been in a much better position today

It's a hypothetically impossible scenario to think about.

I dont mind out of the box thinking or taking a risk, see Gerrard for reference.

Appointing Caixinha was just baffling and bewildering on a huge scale. The chances of that risk working was no better than 10%.

I think he lost the players very early on, once that happens you're done.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

Too many people just don't get or understand Scottish football.

Warburton told us he knew the size of Rangers yet came away with this nonsense;

"When we walked out to that Going for 55 in that first game against Hamilton, my heart sank.

That wasn't the message. The fans were rocking, they lit the blue touch paper there, We're going to win the league".

That above just sums up Mark Warburton. A loser. Not only that but he was tactically clueless, weak, naive and far too stubborn whilst his dealings in the transfer market were dodgy.

Caixinha got Rangers, at times he was the only one sticking up for the club. Passion, fight, aggression and desire was clearly there. Sadly he was a terrible football manager.

You can't just rock up to Scottish football and think you know it all. A Warburton or Caixinha don't understand the game up here, the intensity or hatred for all things Rangers. They don't understand the need to win every match. It's the same with Gerrard and his backroom staff at times - it's Scottish football, it doesn't have to be over complicated or fancy.

Agree with most apart from the bit about Gerrard. He knew the score very early on with his comments after pittodrie last season. And Michael Beale etc certainly know what's going on.

 

[CaptainCourageous]

Agree with most apart from the bit about Gerrard. He knew the score very early on with his comments after pittodrie last season. And Michael Beale etc certainly know what's going on.

I never said they didn't. Gerrard gets it. It's the park about over complicating things that was aimed at the current managerial team.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

I never said they didn't. Gerrard gets it. It's the park about over complicating things that was aimed at the current managerial team.

Ah, got you.

 

[Disraeli]

Pedro is a good man and I was desperate for him to succeed. Sadly it was clear very early on to the support that it was never going to work. Judging from Clint’s comments the players were of the same mindset.

 

[Brian Laudrup]

The more you hear about Pedro the more baffling his appointment becomes,he is obviously a fraud and somehow our then board fell for his patter.

 

[The Moon on Mars is Blue]

The more you hear about Pedro the more baffling his appointment becomes,he is obviously a fraud and somehow our then board fell for his patter.

The down side of a good Power Point presentation.

 

[BobbyShearer]

That day we played Motherwell(?) with something resembling a 1-1-8 formation was one of the most bizarre experiences I’ve ever had at Ibrox

 

[nelster]

Aaron Nemane at right wing as sub whilst Rangers are getting thudded with blood spilled and 1 down

 

[BobbyShearer55-65]

Caixinha got the job because he flattered to deceive.

He turned up at the interview and seduced everyone with his tactical orientation, controlled momentum, character rhythm, tactical domination, identity adaptation, competitive modifications, transitional phasing, tactical periodisation, collective personality formation ..........

He made the mistake of thinking he was going to La Liga to manage Xavi, Messi and Iniesta, et al.

We made the mistake of being suckered by his bullshit.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

The down side of a good Power Point presentation.

True in most industries.

In my work if you're going for a managers position part of the interview is a presentation. Putting it together and presenting it is one thing, implementing it is quite another.

 

[Earl of Leven]

Respectful comments at the end there, as expected from big Clint.

I think we all realise the Caixinha experiment was doomed to failure from the very beginning.

I said so. A fair few wanted to believe he was deliberately shit to loosen purse strings, but...

 

[Earl of Leven]

Agree with most apart from the bit about Gerrard. He knew the score very early on with his comments after pittodrie last season. And Michael Beale etc certainly know what's going on.

They 'get it' but they haven't conquered it yet. They're losing on points.

 

[Hap Hapablap]

They 'get it' but they haven't conquered it yet. They're losing on points.

Only because of corrupt judges though.

Pushing water up a hill.

 

[JDC]

My mind might be playing tricks on me, but did Caixinha not have a pretty good away record? It was at home we seemed to struggle.

 

[Deleted Account]

Waburton was the same. These guys want to play this style of play thinking you can do it with subpar players who haven’t been trained from a young age to play that way.

Okay you can do it with players who haven’t been brought up in this system, Guardiola has proven that at Bayern and City, but you still need exceptional quality and more importantly, a coach who really knows how to train the players that way too.

In effect, it's Falkirk under Hughes & Rice.

Nice to watch, until the opposition get the ball

 

[Coplandbear]

He was a just a Portuguese Warburton a total fraud and a very poor manager.

 

[The Predator]

Have alot of time for Clint. Class act

 

[ClockworkOrange]

Got a lot of time for the players who sussed he was a clown from day one and engineered to get him out the door.

 

[giogaddi]

A mind boggling appointment.

Knew he was a fraud almost immediately. Still can't wrap my head around it. Some of his biggest backers on here are fierce in their criticism of the current manager. It's a funny old game.

 

[Danger Zone]

Knew he was a fraud almost immediately. Still can't wrap my head around it. Some of his biggest backers on here are fierce in their criticism of the current manager. It's a funny old game.

I don’t even think he has any backers on here mate

 

[Coplandbear]

Knew he was a fraud almost immediately. Still can't wrap my head around it. Some of his biggest backers on here are fierce in their criticism of the current manager. It's a funny old game.

Writing was on the wall when he set us up like lambs to the slaughter in the game v the mentally challengeds at Ibrox you just knew we had made a monumental %^*& up with him.

His treatment of certain players and throwing the youth players under the bus was unforgivable then you had his recruitment that summer which was a total shambles. To this day how he was allowed to sign Pena and Herrera without checks was further damning clarity that he would be gone sooner rather than later.

Hate even thinking about it now.

 

[PT98]

Knew he was a fraud almost immediately. Still can't wrap my head around it. Some of his biggest backers on here are fierce in their criticism of the current manager. It's a funny old game.

I was of the opinion he should have went immediately after the Progres result. Not necessarily for the result itself, but it was totally inevitable how it was going to pan out after that.

 

[ClockworkOrange]

Too many people just don't get or understand Scottish football.

Warburton told us he knew the size of Rangers yet came away with this nonsense;

"When we walked out to that Going for 55 in that first game against Hamilton, my heart sank.

That wasn't the message. The fans were rocking, they lit the blue touch paper there, We're going to win the league".

That above just sums up Mark Warburton. A loser. Not only that but he was tactically clueless, weak, naive and far too stubborn whilst his dealings in the transfer market were dodgy.

Warburton deserves a lot of criticism but knowing the size of a club is different from a dim view of the same kind of unrealistic expectations that are currently being derided in the Gerrard thread and which the Rangers support routinely take part in when a new manager is appointed.

 

[evo14]

The only bad thing about Clint Hill is that he wasn’t a few years younger when he signed for us. One of the few good players we had in that period.

 

[Coplandbear]

The only bad thing about Clint Hill is that he wasn’t a few years younger when he signed for us. One of the few good players we had in that period.

He was a very mediocre defender who looked good amongst the shite we had at the time.

 

[AlfiesBarnet]

Pedro was a gamble much like Le Guen years back you can see what they were trying to do but certain styles just don’t cut it in the country. Even pep would struggle in this league he’d be sitting watching livi in their plastic pitch doing a hatchet job on our players and thinking wtf is this !
I’m sure like every manager we have had and will in the future will give it their best shot and he won’t be the last to fail either.

The old "but could Messi cut it on a Monday night in the rain at Cowdenbeath?" lol. He'd be off on a stretcher after 4 minutes with a fractured pelvis after a fairly reasonable tackle, according to Michael Stewart

 

[RFC_Champions]

A mind boggling appointment.

100%! Didn’t make one bit of sense and there was nowt on his CV to suggest he should even have been shortlisted.

Some of us called it for what it was but many posters shot us down and assured us that it was exactly the breath of fresh air we needed. Some posters simply don’t want to hear or acknowledge anything that isn’t staunchly positive.

Even had some posters saying he’ll be great cause he looked sharp in a suit FFS!

I’m sure Pedro is a nice guy but he was an absolute car crash of an appointment.

 

[Japandroid]

Pedro showed his presentation to the board and it wowed them enough for him to get the job.

He then showed it to the coaches and they hadn't a clue what it was all about.

 

[The Lonely Loyal]

Also talks about how Warburton & Weir never worked on defending set pieces, you think they would have learned a lesson after the Scottish cup final vs hibs !

 

[Brother Moses]

Big Clint is cool as f*ck.