NEVER let it be said Graeme Murty has not treated his temporary guardianship of the Rangers manager’s post with the utmost veneration and solemnity. It is difficult to imagine too much joy can be gleaned from being asked to fill the role of placeholder until someone deemed more suitable arrives to take over, but Murty has risen to the task of interim manager with the ferocious appetite of a man arriving at an all-you-can-eat buffet after 12 hours stuck in a lift.
Rangers as a club has never shied away from embracing the values they deem significant, clinging, somewhat crassly at times, to issues such as tradition, etiquette and knowing one’s role in society as if they were pivotal to life itself. Even an outsider like Murty – born in England to a Celtic-supporting father, and appointed by Rangers as a youth coach just seven months – has found himself caught up in it all as he prepares to round off his caretaker stint by leading Rangers out at Celtic Park tomorrow afternoon, something he expects will be a “massive watershed moment in my career”.
Murty is as eloquent, decent and well-spoken a figure as you will find anywhere in Scottish sport – Colin Firth should play him in any future film about his life - but, as he talks about the task he has filled with increasing levels of satisfaction over the past month, it becomes apparent that he has not always been entirely at ease with following in the footsteps of those figures who have gone before. It is why, for example, he won’t sit behind the manager’s desk inside Ibrox, or don the traditional matchday suit.
“It’s been subtly impactful on me how big this role is,” he said. “I always knew that this is a massive football club but to see the way the manager is held has been an eye-opening experience. When you look at a list of the people who have managed this football club you can see why it needs a special person at the helm to make sure we move forward.
“I’ve not sat in the manager’s chair yet. It’s not mine to be perfectly honest. It’s part of the reason I haven’t worn a suit as yet on the touchline. I know I’ve been getting pelters from some people for not doing that as they say the Rangers manager should wear a suit. I don’t feel as though I’ve done enough to deserve and be worthy of that so I’ve deliberately kept myself as a coach.
“I feel as though I’m still very much in the moment and coping with the demands of the job. I didn’t know there was so much stuff behind the scenes the manager had to take care of which has been great for me development.
“But the real learning from it, as I said to my wife yesterday, will be when I get a couple of days to relax and get down on paper my real thoughts I want to take forward from this, and all the stuff that hasn’t necessarily added value to me or the staff but the players. And make sure I get rid of all that extraneous stuff. If I do that then it will be really beneficial.”
Murty admits he had expected last weekend’s Scottish Cup victory over Hamilton Accies to be his last in charge. Instead, with Pedro Caixinha’s appointment taking longer to ratify – the Portuguese is expected to finally arrive in Scotland this morning – he will be given one final chance to lead the first team into action. Trying to come up with a plan that will land a first defeat of the season on the champions-elect may feel like the equivalent of being given a hospital pass, but Murty could not be more effervescent about getting torn into the challenge.
“To be honest, it was probably only [yesterday] morning that I started to envisage this,” he added. “Before that I still thought things would happen [with a new manager] but that hasn't been the case. But I think that's been to my benefit because I haven't let it become all-consuming. I've let it flow and come to me.
"But I'll be thinking about it and considering it between now and the game. If I'd have had one game in charge or two games it would still have been an epic experience. I wasn't presumptuous enough to look ahead to this game. I'm just really grateful for this opportunity from the football club to go and experience it.
“This is going to be a unique moment in my life. I can't say I'm looking forward to enjoying the game, because I won't. But when I look back on it, and reflect on it, I will have a little smile and think I'm a very, very fortunate person to get that opportunity. Because there aren't many people who can say they've stood on the sidelines at an Old Firm game. It's really going to be one stellar experience for me.”
Granted, at the venue where Rangers lost 5-1 earlier in the season, a repeat of that scoreline may have him reappraising that sentiment but he is confident his players can eke out a result when there is no pressure on them to do so.
“I’ve said to the players that no one expects you to go and win,” said Murty. “So you’ve got a fantastic opportunity to get off properly on the right foot with the new manager and make a statement about where you want to be and where you want the football club to be. The opportunity is there for them to be successful.”
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