Graeme Murty may well be in charge temporarily at Rangers while the powers that be at Ibrox search for a new permanent manager, but that hasn’t stopped the caretaker boss from trying to impose his philosophy on his players.
Murty, who was thrown into the spotlight as the man to manage the team after the shock departure of Mark Warbuton, could easily have gone through the motions, taken his money and added his brief role to his managerial CV for future career advancements.
But fair play to the former Reading and Southampton defender, who was capped four times for Scotland; he has spoken of his absolute desire and will to try to improve the players and their performances while he is at the helm.
Murty took charge in time for the 2-1 William Hill Scottish Cup victory over Greenock Morton at the weekend and his assessment for the display leaves no uncertainty that he means business while the buck stops with him.
As the Light Blues prepare for a Premiership clash at Dundee on Sunday as they bid to claim runners-up spot in the division, Murty was busying himself on the training pitch, having conversations with key personal and trying to iron out certain inconsistencies he has spotted in what was a flawed yet vital win over Jim Duffy’s outfit; the win has set up a quarter-final tie against Hamilton Academicals at home early next month.
Murty concedes that he was pleased with certain aspects of the win, and said he was particularly pleased with the players’ attitude on the day in a game in which they went behind. But he has taken time out to pinpoint a few improvements that could be made.
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He said:”I thought they got past a really challenging start when we conceded the goal and I have just shown them in analysis that there were some really good bits of play, we just didn’t sustain it”.
“The difference between our good bits and where we want to improve are a bit stark at the moment, well they were on Sunday. We have talked about portioning those things up and I have come away from the analysis with a really positive outlook on it and I hope they have as well.”
And Murty admits that he is on a learning curve as he holds the fort in the wake of the conclusion of the Warburton regime; and says he is grateful to the club’s powerbrokers for the chance to help out and gain vital experience at the same time.
As and when the new head honcho arrives, Murty’s work in the interim will have dome him no harm of holding on to some form of coaching capacity at the club.