Pedro can learn from Paulo's success

[Rousseau 9,475]

It's interesting looking at the appointment of Rangers’ new Portuguese manager Pedro Caixinha, writes Stephen Elliott.

 

The one thing that has stood out for me other than his nice suits, is that he has changed the training schedule for his team including cancelling their day off on Wednesday.

 

This may have shocked a few but I can't say I was too surprised.

 

The situation reminds me of when I was at Hearts when another immaculately dressed Portuguese guy, Paulo Sergio, was appointed manager.

 

I remember the first day he walked in the door. He looked like something out of a Hollywood film rather than a football manager. He had a real presence with his hair slicked back, all suited and booted, not too dissimilar to Caixinha.

 

He had come in to replace Jim Jefferies, who was a very popular figure in the dressing room and probably dismissed slightly unfairly in my view.

 

With this disappointment fresh in our minds, naturally Paulo wasn't welcomed with massively open arms by the players.

 

The lads were probably looking for faults in our new boss and probably didn't give him the immediate respect that he probably warranted on his arrival.

 

One thing that did strike me about Paulo when he came in, was that he knew everyone’s name and their attributes on the pitch. It was a bit of a surprise as nobody knew of him before that, and for him to have so much information about us showed that he was more prepared for his new role than we initially thought.

 

This probably also tells you that he was tapped up for the job a long time before the club actually sacked Jefferies, which in my opinion, was poor by the club.

 

However, it was a relief to be honest, as the last thing we needed as a squad was somebody coming in who didn't know anything about us.

 

I think Paulo was taken by surprise of how we trained on his first day in charge. I remember we played some small-sided games on the indoor astro at Riccarton and there were a few hefty tackles flying in.

 

This was usually the case in these games as nobody wanted to lose, but the fact that the indoor pitch was so tight, always made it a little more dangerous.

 

When the session finished, he pulled us into a meeting and explained to us that we needed to take a bit more care in protecting each other during some of our tackling in training. I think one of the lads piped up, possibly Ian Black if I remember correctly, saying ‘that is how we always train in Scotland’.

 

Paulo was quick to point out that it wouldn't be the case any more.

 

Paulo also informed us that he was going to be changing a lot of other things around the place and it was going to ‘start in tomorrow's training’. Now bearing in mind, this was Tuesday and a day off on Wednesday was usually a given. So this piece of information definitely ruffled a few feathers.

 

You could see how a few of the lads were definitely not happy with this. Especially the guys who were travelling from a little bit further afield of Edinburgh. They were not shy in letting Paulo know this too.

 

If he thought managing Hearts would be plain sailing, then I think he thought again after his first day.

 

Paulo was very into the tactical side of the game, and by the sounds of what’s coming out of the blue side of Glasgow, it is exactly the same way Caixinha is going about his business.

 

The training that we did with Paulo was very difficult to get used to. We went from playing lots of small-sided games, to literally hours of phases of play every day of the week. Paulo’s mindset in training was to get players to know exactly where he wanted them to be on the pitch.

 

We would go through a drill from back to front sometimes 20 or 30 times, until every player involved in the drill knew exactly where they had to be. It was very time consuming and probably not the most enjoyable training when we first got stuck into it.

 

However, we soon bought into his methods and we all knew the roles expected of us on the pitch.

 

Over the first few months, a lot of the lads really didn't like Paulo as they felt the training wasn't as sharp as it had been.

 

They also probably weren’t too ecstatic about his decision to bring an end to their Tuesday nights out. Although I'm sure a few of the younger lads still did go clubbing, judging by some of their performances in training on a Wednesday.

 

Paulo even had us in on Sunday’s most weeks for warm downs and core work which certainly didn't go down well with the lads.

 

Especially the church goers! It took some time for him to win us over but once you got used to his methods, you realised he was a good guy.

 

In time, everybody grew a lot warmer to him. He was an astute hard-worker who left nothing to chance.

 

Even after a defeat, he had a great way of lifting everybody's spirits. He also enjoyed team days out and always made sure the whole squad were there.

 

We had a great team bond, which was very important, especially when you look at all the off-field problems that arose in the club during that period.

 

A lot of plaudits must go to Paulo for keeping everybody positive during a time when a lot of lads were in real financial pressure due to the lack of wages. I’m sure he might have loaned some of the lads money out of his own pocket when they were desperate.

 

We may not have been a real expansive attacking team, but when it came to the big games, he got it right more often than not. This was proven during our Scottish Cup winning run, when he got it tactically spot on most occasions.

 

If I was a Rangers supporter, I’d be very positive about what the future holds. I have a feeling that if Caxinha is anything like Paulo, they are going to win a lot more of the big games then they have been doing of late.

 

They have already seen his impact with their important win away at Aberdeen last week.

 

At times this season, Rangers didn't seem to have any identity of how they were setting up to play.

 

I have no doubt this is a big reason as to why they have gone for a Portuguese manager.

 

We will soon see a much more structured Rangers team on the pitch that know exactly what they are doing.

 

And I’m sure in time, the lads there won't mind the extra training too, if it means they start challenging for trophies again!

 

https://www.sportdec.com/app/article-single/hdzkoeqmfzck13qhhytrtdoeu

[SteveC 150]

Interestng read. Again underlines how pampered, spoiled and self centred footballers are and how divorced from a real working life. If it weren't for my inbred love of Rangers I'd have given up on the game long ago.

[ian1964 10,436]

Interestng read. Again underlines how pampered, spoiled and self centred footballers are and how divorced from a real working life. If it weren't for my inbred love of Rangers I'd have given up on the game long ago.

 

This is the same for me!

[Uilleam 5,483]

Interestng read. Again underlines how pampered, spoiled and self centred footballers are and how divorced from a real working life. If it weren't for my inbred love of Rangers I'd have given up on the game long ago.

 

Agreed.

 

However, I think it indicates, also, and very significantly, that Scottish footballers have long been divorced from real pro-football, as it is practised in Europe.

Edited April 14, 2017 by Uilleam

[craig 5,199]

Agreed.

 

However, I think it indicates, also, and very significantly, that Scottish footballers have long been divorced from real pro-football, as it is practised in Europe.

 

Absolutely.

 

I follow Barcelona on Twitter and it is very interesting to see that they don't have ANY days off at all - they train the day after a game with an afternoon/evening training session and then at 11am every day thereafter.

 

I'm sure it isn't all physical training and some days will be recovery - but better to be doing recovery work with the physios and sports scientists than sitting on your arse at home.

[SteveC 150]

Agreed.

 

However, I think it indicates, also, and very significantly, that Scottish footballers have long been divorced from real pro-football, as it is practised in Europe.

 

Yes, very true - I should have added that - thanks for doing so.