Rangers lost 2-0 to Progres Niederkorn this evening.
Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha has told The Scottish Sun that he is still the man for the job despite an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Progres Niederkorn this evening.
The Gers were matched up with the Luxembourg-based outfit in the Europa League qualifiers, and were widely expected to coast through to the next round.
An unconvincing 1-0 win at Ibrox in the first leg last week gave Rangers a slim advantage heading into tonight’s second leg – but they endured a nightmare this evening.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha
Rangers contrived to lose this evening’s second leg 2-0, as goals from Emmanuel Francoise and Sebastian Thill handed Progres a remarkable victory – the greatest in their history.
For Rangers, the feeling tonight is one of pure embarrassment. Losing 2-0 to a team of part-time players who finished fourth in the top flight of Luxembourg last season is not how the new era was supposed to start for Rangers, and that defeat has piled pressure on manager Pedro Caixinha.
Lured from Al-Gharafa in Qatar back in March following Mark Warburton’s abrupt exit, Caixinha endured a mixed end to the season, and presided over a dismal 5-1 home defeat to Celtic in April.
Caixinha has been backed with eight new signings this summer, but the new additions didn’t make much of a difference tonight as Rangers slumped to arguably their most humiliating defeat.
Pedro Caixinha
With some fans calling for Caixinha to go already, the Portuguese boss told The Scottish Sun after the final whistle that his future is at Ibrox and he is still the man for the job, he will continue to work hard in the face of intense scrutiny following tonight’s defeat, and added that he still believes in his players.
“If I’m not showing strength to move the things forward then I couldn’t be in this chair, so I’m strongly convinced I can do it,” said Caixinha. “I’m strongly convinced I have the group to do it and I believe I need to be here to take the group forward. One thing I’m totally sure of and I strongly believe and even more now because I’m a guy that always sees things forward. On bad moments you see the right people and I know the group of players I have. I know I can count on them.”
“I assume all the responsibility not to pass this qualifier and to miss out on the group stages that was our main goal. But I know this group is going to be on the top again and is going to build very good things for the club. One word for the fans, they are the only ones that don’t deserve this sort of thing. They need to be angry at this moment and we understand they are angry but we ask them to keep believing in the team and have loyalty because the team will come good. I know coming to a massive club like this that, when these things happens, I am the one who is going to be on the front line. I respect that, but I will keep doing my job going forward,” he added.
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