Yesterday, Bruno Alves appeared in front of a slavering Scottish press corps who hung on his every word. And there was a story in his words to them, for any who wanted to see it. Of course, none did. This is the way of the world up here.
Alves was asked about the captains armband, amidst swirling rumours that Lee Wallace is to be stripped of it. He had anticipated the question. He gave a stock answer, about being a leader whether he wears the armband or not.
He actually praised Wallace, and said that the defender “knows more about leading the club than I do.”
All of that is correct. He did well with the question.
But the answer is odd. Who’s he trying to convince here? Us or himself?
The word around the campfire is that Wallace was most definitely on his way to being dropped as captain. The media knows this. They spent the last week writing about how good Alves would be in the role, and the Sevco fan sites have been discussing it for nearly a month.
It was on the cards. It was happening. Everyone knew it was coming.
Yet it hasn’t come. It hasn’t transpired.
Alves was sent out there with a scripted answer yesterday to backtrack on the idea. His assertion that he can lead whether he’s captain or not spells trouble in more ways than one; Wallace won’t enjoy hearing that at all.
It suggests the manager will leave him in there, in name only, whilst Alves is responsible for rallying the team. It also suggests a profound, and dangerous, split in the dressing room between those who Alves was signed alongside and those there beforehand.
But it’s another moment of weakness from Caixinha, one well covered by his player yesterday.
If he really has changed his mind about appointing Alves captain it’s not because he woke up yesterday morning convinced that Wallace was still the right man; he’s backed down, under pressure, from within the dressing room itself.
There’s a lot of hyperbole surrounding Alves. Gough was talking to the media yesterday and gushed about how Alves had come up against “some of the best players in the world” during the Confederations Cup last month.
Oh yeah? Where? At the buffet? He played in matches against New Zealand, Russia and Chile.
I’ll tell you who played against some of the best players in the world in that competition; Tom Rogic, when he came up against Germany. And he scored.
Alves will certainly be an improvement on their current defenders; it wouldn’t be difficult.
But Caixinha wanted to make him captain, and still does.
And yet again, he’s reversed himself on a major decision.
The difference is, this time he’s determined to get what he wants even if it means the club now has two dressing room leaders, one loyal to the manager and one not.
What can possibly go wrong with that?