It was a dominant performance on Scottish Cup weekend from Rangers.
The Light Blues set up a semi-final against this Sunday’s league opponents Celtic after brushing aside Hamilton Accies by six goals.
A first-half Martyn Waghorn penalty, Clint Hill, Jon Toral plus a hat-trick from half-time substitute Joe Garner sent the fans home happy.
It was a clinical performance from Rangers, taking their chances whether they were gifts or not. Graeme Murty has overseen three home wins in caretaker charge. The last two performances have been an improvement on recent games. Confidence within the team has bound to have soared in the last week.
Murty may not be in charge of the team for Sunday’s Old Firm derby in the league at Celtic Park. The club are due to unveil Pedro Caixinha as the new manager this week.
The sensible option if Caixinha is to be given the job, though, would be to start next Monday. If there’s a game on the fixture list which needs proper preparation it is this derby. That’s why Murty should remain as caretaker for the weekend.
Twitter: RANGERS LATEST | Sky sources: Caixinha confident move to #Rangers will be completed this week; unlikely to be in dugout for #OldFirm game (@ScotlandSky)
The team will be settling under Murty for now. On the back of two good results under the academy coach, the more stability the better for Sunday.
The talk about Caixinha has been neither positive or negative. This time around Rangers need to make the right appointment.
He may be an unknown to the Scottish scene but if he does the job well, Caixinha deserves the chance.
Twitter: Pedro Caixinha has now been given permission to join @RangersFC from #Gharafa chairman Sheikh Al Thani. Terms (around 800k per year) agreed. (@JacobsBen)
The wait for Director of Football still rumbles on. As the speculated manager looks certain, this new role seems to have stalled. The favourite, Ross Wilson of Southampton, said no to the job last night. Paul Mitchell recently left a similar role at Tottenham and could be next in line.
Former Head of Recruitment Frank McParland has taken up the Director of Football position at Nottingham Forest. Ironically the same club which appeared to trigger the resignation of the previous management team.
Davie Weir is to have now joined Aston Villa as a scout but Mark Warburton remains without a job.
An Old Firm game is never usually an easy prediction. But the odds are stacked against Rangers on Sunday.
Why should they be? Stranger things have happened…..
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