Caretaker manager Graeme Murty has spoken of his delight at taking a first victory as he stepped into the first team hotseat for this weekend’s Scottish Cup tie against Greenock Morton.
With an interesting end to the week shall we say at Ibrox, football was back on the agenda on Sunday and although Rangers had to come from a goal behind in the game, they did just that with goals from Kenny Miller and Martyn Waghorn to book our place in the next round of the competition.
Speaking to the Official Site in his first post game press conference since replacing Mark Warburton the other day, Murty spoke of being pleased with the resilience and desire of the side to take victory.
‘It was a challenge, particularly going behind, but I`ve got to say, and I said to the players, I`m going to enjoy it, I`m going to enjoy my experience and for a first managerial experience, at Ibrox, with that crowd and with that challenge, it`s not something I ever anticipated doing, but I quite enjoyed the risks we had to take to try to win the game, and I quite enjoyed watching the players respond to the challenge of going behind and I thought they did that really well.’
Murty went on to say that obviously it had been a difficult couple of days but he couldn’t fault the way the players responded to him or stayed focused on the match in hand.
‘It`s been a difficult couple of days, the lads have had things thrown at them they maybe haven`t seen before, and then to go a goal behind it really could have crumbled a few people, but I didn`t think they did. We can be better, we can move the ball sharper, we can make quicker decisions, but I think the quality showed in the end, the quality in the attacking areas that we possess make us a threat against anyone.’
Experienced Miller also came in for praise for his on and off pitch efforts and conduct.
‘He`s been fantastic all year. He comes in and coaches the 20s at times and he`s a great sounding board to have. He`s a real vocal person in the changing room and I was really pleased to see the ball drop to his foot. Not as pleased as I was to see it go in the goal, but he`s been good all season long and I thought at the other end Clint again sets the standard with his talking and his organisational skills. Those are the guys that are balanced, those are the guys who are emotionally in control.’
Murty went on to say.
‘They don`t go too high and they don`t go too low, they are able to regulate that really well and some of the younger players, the 20s that I work with regularly and some of the younger players in this squad, they need to look at those guys and take that on board, how they do that and then still go and perform at a high level, because that is key in this game.’
With a quarter final tie either against Dunfermline or Hamilton at Ibrox on March 4/5, Murty added.
‘I think the home tie is key. It gets us again to play in front of our fans and we have an opportunity to progress again. So I would take just getting through the round, we could have been better but we are through to the next round and we got a home tie so pleased really.’
Speaking more about the game itself, Barrie McKay and Martyn Waghorn also came in for praise.
Of McKay he said.
‘When you see his attributes, his low centre of gravity, his acceleration, the ability to go both ways – he is a massive, massive threat. I just thought we had to get him the ball more and once we did that he really stretched the game. From there we needed a little bit of a better structure to allow us to press and get the ball back, but I thought that when we shifted the ball quickly and opened the game up Barrie became more of a threat and I just think we need to make more of the opportunities we create in the final third.’
As for Waghorn putting us in front in the game.
‘I didn`t see any heads go down to be honest, because it`s not easy out there with people shouting and screaming and questioning you all the time, as they do at Rangers because this is a big club. We need to make sure we are progressing forward and setting our stamp on the game, rather than reacting to things. But the players stuck with it, as I said the quality can go up, we can make better decisions, but Waggy popping up and getting us a goal. I`ve just given him a special thank you in there, a big hug, but he is a threat, Kenny is a threat, Michael O`Halloran is a threat and Baz, he kind of ties it all together.’
Adding.
‘So once we do that and shift the ball, give those guys a chance, they are going to give us the opportunity, possibly, to go all the way.’
