Ex-Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha suffers embarrassing blunder as ‘big-mouthed’ Ibrox flop forced to defend himself
FLOP Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha has managed to reinvent himself as he enjoys a career revival in Brazil.
But the former Light Blues manager's own words came back to haunt him in spectacular fashion this weekend.
Caixinha's ill-fated spell as Rangers manager lasted less than eight months back in 2017.
It featured thumping defeats to Celtic, cup woe and that infamous European elimination to Luxembourg minnows Progres Niederkorn.
Portuguese boss Caixinha, 53, had spells in Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Argentina following his exit from Glasgow.
Earlier this year he was appointed Red Bull Bragantino boss in Brazil and a dream campaign has followed.
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The club have been in title contention all season, mixing it with the country's top teams.
Things are very tight at the top of the Brazilian Serie A and there is little room for error for the teams competing for the championship.
Caixinha was known during his brief spell in Glasgow for some rather colourful statements and press conferences.
He famously once said "the dogs bark and the caravan keeps going" when explaining his team's work ethic, while in another news conference, used empty glasses on a table to explain his tactical thinking after a Scottish Cup defeat against Celtic.
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And it's a press conference that's come back to bite him this weekend.
Heading into the weekend's clash with mid-table Internacional, Caixinha GUARANTEED his team would win.
In his pre-match news conference, confident Caixinha stated: “Our victory in the game against Inter, because we are going to win, will have nothing to do with the football aspect. It will all have to do with the emotional aspect, with our ability to react.”
Perhaps predictably, Bragantino ended up losing the match 1-0 and they now trail leaders Palmeiras by four points in the race for the title with just three games to go.
Four other teams also now sit above Bragantino.
Despite the rather embarrassing situation, Caixinha defended his bullish statement following the disappointing result.
He said: "I will not lose sight of my ambition."
But fans on social media were less forgiving.
One blasted: "Pedro Caixinha's work is excellent but he spoke nonsense, big-mouthed before playing Inter."
Another shared the clip of his big pre-game declaration, simply saying: "Good evening Pedro Caixinha."
A third said: "Speak Pedro! Who was going to win the game? Speak Pedro Caixinha!"
Another, tongue in cheek, added: "Big victory for Bragantino today..."
Speaking after the game, Internactional star Mauricio admitted Caixinha's pre-match statement had made their team talky easy.
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He said the comments added extra "fuel" to the build-up.
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