Cercle Brugge have decided to part ways with Lars Friis. In his place, the Belgian side have brought in former Rangers head coach Pedro Caixinha. The Portuguese head coach managed Scottish giants Rangers for a brief spell in 2017 and has since managed in a variety of places, from Brazil to Saudi Arabia and most recently Mexico. Caixinha’s most recent job was with FC Juarez in Mexico, where he averaged one point per game, winning five of his 20 matches in charge.
Caixinha takes over despite Friis having picked up Cercle Brugge’s first league win of the season at the weekend when they beat Antwerp 2-1. Clearly, this was not enough to save him from being sacked, although the timing certainly does raise some eyebrows. While Caixinha did not have any real success with Rangers in Scotland, he has won trophies in Mexico. While with Cruz Azul he won the Mexican Cup during the 2018/2019 season. While Caixinha may not be remembered much by the Rangers faithful, it was on paper at least, the best period of his club coaching career, with him winning 525 of his game and averaging 1.8 points per match.
His first game in charge is a relegation six pointer away to RAAL La Louviere on Saturday evening.
