GRAEME Murty, who oversaw a 1-1 draw with Celtic in his final game as Rangers caretaker manager yesterday, last night insisted the Ibrox club should go into the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against their city rivals next month confident of triumphing.
A Clint Hill goal with just over two minutes remaining cancelled out Stuart Armstrong’s first-half opener and earned Murty’s men a deserved point in a fiercely-contested Ladbrokes Premiership match at Parkhead.
Celtic’s players and supporters were incensed when referee Bobby Madden failed to award them a penalty kick in stoppage time after Leigh Griffiths went down in the Rangers area following a challenge by Hill.
However, Murty – who will hand over first-team responsibilities to new Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha today and return to his role with the under-20 side – believes they can be proud of their overall display away from home.
Asked how much self-belief the 1-1 draw will give the Rangers players, the former Scotland internationalist said: “It should give them loads. They stood up to the challenge of a very, very good team that moves the ball very well.
“They didn’t get rattled and they didn’t lose their discipline. They ensured that when we had an opportunity we actually got at them a little bit. We didn’t do it always the way I’d have liked. But they continued to actually cause problems.
“So I think the next game and in the game after that, this group knows that if they stick together and believe in themselves they can go and get positive outcomes.”
Murty added: “It’s been said they’re not hard to play against, that they’re weak. I also heard the word timid. But I didn’t see that today. I’m incredibly proud of the players because of all those things said about them. They put that right today.”
Murty, who joined Rangers last year, believes Caixinha, the 46-year-old Portuguese coach who signed a three-year contract at Ibrox on Saturday and watched yesterday’s match from the stand, will have been buoyed by what he witnessed at Parkhead.
“I think he saw the players deal with what is an unbelievable atmosphere,” he said. “It took a real man’s performance to go and play in that stand up against a very good team and get something from the game. I challenged them all the way through the week.
“He [Caixinha] didn’t speak to me or the players, he let the players concentrate on the game. From the moment I saw them at breakfast this morning I knew they were right where they needed to be.”
“We are in on Monday, we have a staff meeting. The players are going to be off so the coaches can meet the new manager. We’ll just go at his request and see what he wants to do. If he asks my opinion I’ll give it openly and candidly and we’ll see what happens from there.”
Murty admitted his side had been fortunate not to concede a late penalty. Asked if the match official should have given Celtic a spot kick, he said: “Possibly. Rangers TV tell me it was an outstanding tackle. But they are bound to say that.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here