Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha is under pressure at Ibrox – but pundit Davie Provan has defended him.
Pundit Davie Provan has told The Scottish Sun that he feels Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha has been given unfair criticism over his summer spending.
The Gers moved to appoint Caixinha as Mark Warburton’s replacement back in March, and having given him until the end of the season to assess his squad, he was then given the summer to overhaul his squad.
11 signings came in, as Caixinha moved for the likes of Bruno Alves, Fabio Cardoso, Graham Dorrans and Alfredo Morelos, whilst 11 also went out, with Joe Garner, Barrie McKay and Martyn Waghorn among those to be given the axe.
The old adage suggests that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and that has been the case for Rangers this season, as they continue to lie some way short of Old Firm rivals Celtic.
Caixinha oversaw another Old Firm defeat last month, losing 2-0 at home to Celtic, which has sparked major criticism of the Portuguese boss, just months into his Ibrox reign.
Caixinha spent £8million on improving his squad over the summer, spending on players who have yet to make an impact such as Carlos Pena and Eduardo Herrera, with some claiming that he shouldn’t be given any more money to spend.
However, pundit Davie Provan – formerly of Celtic – has actually defended Caixinha, suggesting to The Scottish Sun that he needed £80million not £8million to get close to Celtic, pointing out that Bhoys boss Brendan Rodgers only needed to spend £4.5million on a player like Olivier Ntcham, whereas Caixinha needed a full-scale overhaul of his squad.
Provan added that Caixinha is accused of wasting £2million on midfielder Pena, but nobody bats an eyelid at Rodgers’ ‘£3million punt’ on Ivorian midfielder Eboue Kouassi, who has barely featured since joining Celtic from Krasnodar in January.
“His £8million summer spend has been used as a rod for his back. That money might get you an average full-back in the English Championship. Rangers would have needed £80m to give Celtic a run for their money,” said Provan. Critics remind Caixinha he spent more than Brendan Rodgers in the last window.”
“But the Celtic boss spent £4.5m on Olivier Ntcham because he only needed to tweak a team that romped to the title. In contrast, Caixinha had a rebuild on his hands. While he’d have loved to have brought in two £4m players, he needed numbers. His summer trolley dash has been hit and miss. For every Alfredo Morelos there’s a Carlos Pena. Pena’s failure to make an impact has seen Caixinha’s judgement ridiculed. He is accused of wasting the £2m fee.”
“Meanwhile, across town, nobody questions Brendan’s £3m punt on Eboue Kouassi. That’s how it is for Caixinha at the moment. Rangers’ poor start to the season has cost him every ounce of slack,” he added.
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