Pedro Caixinha should include Graeme Murty in Rangers’ first-team coaching set-up

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Graeme Murty led Ibrox side Glasgow Rangers to a draw away at Celtic in his final game as interim boss before Pedro Caixinha took over.

New Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha in the stands

When Rangers confirmed on their official website that they had appointed Pedro Caixinha as their new boss, they also stated that his backroom team will be confirmed in due course. However, has a decision about the coaching set-up been pretty much made for him by the Gers’ draw with Celtic on Sunday?

According to the Daily Record‘s report before the game, Graeme Murty – who took charge on an interim basis while the Light Blues searched for Mark Warburton’s successor – will return to his previous role of under-20s once Caixinha takes the reins.

But based on Rangers’ performance against the Hoops, the Portuguese would surely be foolish not to include Murty in the coaching set-up that will work with the first-team.

The 42-year-old did a decent job in difficult circumstances following Warburton’s departure from Ibrox, winning three of his six games in charge.

And while it did not lead to a victory, it was his performance – from a Rangers perspective – that was arguably the most impressive against Celtic, as he set the team up in a way that prevented Brendan Rodgers’ side dominating in the same way that they had done in the previous meetings, as well as against all of their Scottish Premiership rivals this season.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and former Rangers caretaker manager Graeme Murty

His tactics kept the likes of Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele and James Forrest – who have scored 37 league goals between them this term – quiet for the duration of the contest, and gave them a glimmer of hope of taking something from the game heading into the final minutes.

Murty’s ability to put a game plan together that stopped such a dominant force having their own way on their ground should not go unappreciated by Caixinha, and letting him return to work with the youth team would arguably be a major mistake given how he managed to galvanise the Gers so successfully.