Former Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha has opened up on the signing of Mexican Carlos Pena, insisting he was the “most incredible midfielder” when the Ibrox boss arrived in Mexico in 2012.
Pena’s time at Ibrox was nothing short of a disaster as the former international struggled with fitness and off-field issues following his £2.7million from to Rangers.
The midfielder arrived in Scotland with a lot of hype while comparisons with Ruud Gullit from his homeland left to lofty expectations from a Rangers support starved of success in previous years.
There were some highlights during his time at Ibrox, his performance in a win over St. Johnstone being a particular standout for the Light Blues – and Caixinha admits that was the Pena he wanted to see at Ibrox, telling the Rangers Review: “When I arrived in Mexico at the end of 2012, Carlos was the most incredible midfielder. He was a goalscorer, up and down, defending and attacking.
“He was a massive player with a lot of technique and physicality.
“After that he passed through some problems. He couldn’t deal with what he achieved.
“He passed through one stage where he was having drinking problems. It was totally known.
And when we contacted the previous teams and coaches in Mexico they told us he still had a little bit of the problem but it’s much better and he has a will to change everything.
“I’m not going to lie to you that he came totally clean. No, he didn’t arrive totally clean for us, but we cleaned him.
“If you remember one of the last games we played against St Johnstone, which we won 3-0, he scored twice.
“That was the Carlos, the real Carlos we were looking for.”
Pena never really stood a chance to succeed at Rangers
Pena, along with compatriot Eduardo Herrera, struggled to ever really get a run of first-team games at Ibrox but the signing of both, with hindsight, should have been a red flag for Rangers.
Pena was struggling and Herrera just wasn’t the sort of footballer typically suited to Scotland.
The signing of Pena, in particular, that will go down as one of the worst bits of transfer business Rangers have done in a long time.
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