Rangers striker Eduardo Herrera has leapt to the defence of Ibrox boss Pedro Caixinha.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
Rangers striker Eduardo Herrera has told The Scottish Sun that he thinks the criticism for manager Pedro Caixinha is unfair, as it’s the players who should be slammed.
The Gers had picked up two impressive results over Hamilton Academical and St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership, as manager Pedro Caixinha showed signs of recovering from the disappointing 2-0 Old Firm defeat to Celtic at Ibrox.
However, any brief shoots of recovery were dismantled on Sunday, as Rangers lost 2-0 to Motherwell in the Scottish League Cup semi-final, as two Louis Moult goals at Hampden Park scuppered and Rangers dreams of a place in the final.
Many have since called for Caixinha’s head, given that the Portuguese boss was expected to take Rangers into the final, but he once again came up short in a big game – as has been the case throughout his time with the club.
The 46-year-old only became Rangers manager in March, replacing Mark Warburton, but having been seen as a major risk at the time, it currently seems that the Gers’ gamble on the former bullfighter is backfiring.
Caixinha was given the summer transfer window to overhaul his squad, spending £8million on new signings, but many of those new faces still have much to prove, whilst Caixinha’s big game record is of major concern.
Not only has Caixinha failed to even really get close to beating Celtic, but he also oversaw Rangers’ humiliating Europa League exit at the hands of Progres Niederkorn over the summer, and has now missed out on a place in the Scottish League Cup final.
Caixinha has the chance to get back on track in the Scottish Premiership clash with Kilmarnock this evening, and ahead of that game, striker Eduardo Herrera – who reunited with Caixinha over the summer having worked with him at Santos Laguna – has offered his defence of the beleaguered boss.
Herrera, speaking to The Scottish Sun, has suggested that the criticism of Caixinha isn’t fair as it’s the players who aren’t performing right now, and the Mexican praised Caixinha as a ‘really good coach’ who is working hard and understands the demands at Rangers, but he understands why fans are angry after the display against Motherwell.
“It’s not fair on the manager because we are the ones performing on the pitch,” said Herrera. “We were looking for a result, and we could have got it because we had the chances but we didn’t take them. The manager is a really good coach who works very hard, he knows what it means to be at a big club. He knows what it takes to represent Rangers, and we as players have absolute confidence in him.”
“We can understand why the fans are angry, totally. They have reasons to be angry because Rangers are a big club, and we should be in the final and looking for the trophy. Everyone is mad because of the result, it’s not a result Rangers should be getting. The players are angry at ourselves with the result and the performance. We are the ones responsible for the result,” he added.
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