New Rangers boss eyes second place and Scottish Cup win

New Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha hopes it will take him just 75 days to lift his first trophy.

Rangers and Celtic will meet again in the Scottish Cup semi-final. Picture: John Devlin

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The 16th manager in Rangers history was at Celtic Park to watch the team earn a point in Sunday’s 1-1 Old Firm draw but now he says he is aiming to go one better when the bitter rivals clash in next month’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.

And the 46-year-old former Al-Gharafa boss wants to see the team triumph once more at Hampden by winning the May 27 final against either Hibernian or Aberdeen.

Caixinha is also refusing to give up on the race for the Ladbrokes Premiership runners-up slot, despite currently trailing the Dons by eight points.

He told RangersTV: “In a massive club like this, I would identify three points: the history, the trophies and the fans.

“Regarding the goals, at all times we must focus on the trophies, and we are in the cup semi-final, so we need to think about winning that trophy.

“We need to think also about getting as close as possible to second position in the league. I have a positive approach, but we need to be real at the same time. We need to construct everything on a daily basis, preparing the future and preparing in a solid way in order for you to achieve what you want.

“You need to be ambitious, but you need to be realistic at the same time. We are being totally ambitious and realistic in saying that we would like to end up in the second position, and why not try to get a trophy in the Scottish Cup too?”

The little-known Portuguese coach met his new squad for the first time on Monday morning. He admits he’ll only truly be able to tell what his players are made of as he continues to work with them on the training ground. But having already analysed their performances over recent weeks, he’s got a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the squad.

He added: “I’ve already watched video analysis of the last five matches, and I watched yesterday’s match. So I already have a good idea of how the players behaviour individually and collectively.

“It’s only once you get the chance to work with players on a daily basis that you really realise who they are.

“I not only want them to be fit physically, or tactically. They also have to be fit mentally. But we can see from the cup win against Hamilton and the draw against Celtic that confidence is building already.”