Pedro Caixinha has absolved himself and blamed the best squad in Scotland for their defeat to Celtic at Hampden.
A 3-0 win over Aberdeen had confirmed the view that the fifth best coach in Qatar was actually the long lost twin of Jose Mourinho and wholly responsible for the miracle of Pittodrie.
After being turned over by Celtic at Hampden, Caixinha told fans at the club’s Player of the Year awards night that he had been ashamed of the display against the hoops.
Rather than take a step back from the ashamed comment, yesterday Caixinha went in to detail to justify the criticism of the players he’ll have to rely on again tomorrow.
“You are not going to win an Old Firm game by tactics,” he told the Daily Record. “Did Celtic change their tactics? No. They played exactly the same, they played with their identity. Did we change our identity in the previous five matches? No.
“The lack of passion is why I said I felt ashamed at our awards on Sunday night, totally. You know what we received from our fans – passion. The one thing they should at least have been given in return was the same.
“Did the players not understand what I was looking for? No, I don’t think that. We analysed it with the players what really happened and what was supposed to happen.
“We lost the match. They were better than us. They beat us. We definitely missed that passion and commitment. The gap is quite clear. It is evident, we are quite realistic about it but we are working from inside to trim it. It is not only from one match I am going to perceive that gap.
“But do you know where this club was five years ago? Do you know any other team in the world that came from the mud and got in this position in five years?
“That needs to be valid – and all of you need to understand that Scottish football, and all of you in your life, need a strong Rangers. That is what we are working for.”
Caixinha has a number of issues to deal with as he attempts to get to grips with the depth of the problems at Ibrox.
With all but three of his first team squad contracted until next year at the earliest Caixinha needs to tread carefully as he attempts to make the best squad in Scotland even better.