After branding his players an embarrassment during his broadcast conference on Monday, Pedro Caixinha admitted that some of his stars can’t handle the pressure.
Over the course of less than a week the Sevco boss has gone from discussing his vampire like addiction to winning to virtually labelling his signings as bottlers.
Having signed eight of the starting eleven used against Motherwell Caixinha is running out of excuses- and dressing room allies.
It was the reassurances of Pedro Mendes rather than Caixinha that brought most of the players to Ibrox with managing Qatari side Al Gharafa a true reflection of the football standing of the former bull fighter.
Expecting a divided dressing room to rally behind a maverick manager is unlikely with man management just another skill that Caixinha has still to develop.
Asked by the Daily Record if his players were mentally tough enough the Sevco boss admitted: “They need to be. They are. Sometimes you have to pass through situations like this a lot of time to show you are and get used to it.
“There are guys who have it and others who need more time. And others who are not going to get it.”
The same could be said for managers. With Caixinha’s departure just a matter of timing his successor will have the nightmare task of working with the squad assembled by the fifth best coach in Qatar.