Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha made sweeping changes at the break – and, to his credit, they seemed to work.
Caixinha will have known all too well the challenge that awaited him at Ibrox. Yet, after Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw with Motherwell on Saturday afternoon, the Portuguese coach could be forgiven for feeling a little taken aback.
A goal down at half-time thanks to Louis Moult’s second half strike, Daily Record reports that Rangers were booed off by their own supporters. Just to put things into perspective, this was Caixinha’s second game at the helm. Consider the Honeymoon over.
Although Joe Garner struck after the interval, a draw doesn’t do Rangers too many favours. It didn’t help that, while Caixinha’s side were toiling, Aberdeen were racking up the goals at Dundee. Aberdeen netted seven in the end, extending their lead in second place to ten points.
Yet, while Caixinha himself admitted that ‘no Rangers manager can be happy if we draw’, the supporters can at least reflect on a few positives. That’s when they’ve finished booing.
Rangers were well off the boil in the first half, their performance well below the standards set in the recent 4-0 thrashing of Hamilton. Stuart Robinson’s well-drilled side proved impossible to open up.
Yet, to his credit, Caixinha changed things at the break. Making an unheard of triple substitution. Removing defensive trio Lee Wallace, Lee Hodson and Clint Hill for a winger, a midfielder and a striker, the Portuguese showcased his tactical flexibility by switching to an unfamiliar 3-1-4-2 formation with midfielder Jon Toral dropping back between the centre-halves.
Ranking somewhere equidistant between madness and a masterstroke, Caixinha’s bold alterations at least encouraged a far more coherent second half display. And, from a long-term perspective, he has already shown that he has a Plan B – and he’s not afraid to make big decisions when required. Indeed, Caixinha appears to have a one up on predecessor Mark Warburton, whose stubborn insistence to that 4-3-3 was frequently criticised by fans.
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