After an unassuming career as a player, Beja-born Caixinha started managing at the age of 28, his first appointment being with his last club, hometown's C.D. Beja, where he was in charge of his youth sides for four years. In 2003, he moved to the seniors with amateurs Clube de Futebol Vasco da Gama in neighbouring Vidigueira. After that sole season, Caixinha started a professional relationship with José Peseiro that would last until the end of the decade, with the former acting as assistant to the latter in several clubs – mainly Sporting CP – and the Saudi Arabianational team. In the 2010–11 season he returned to head coaching duties and made his Primeira Liga debut, leading U.D. Leiria to the tenth position. Caixinha resigned after only three games into the following campaign, amidst rumours of several months due in wages to both him and the players. He quickly signed for fellow league team C.D. Nacional, helping the Madeirans rank seventh after winning ten of his 21 games in charge. On 11 October 2012, Caixinha resigned after only picking up five points from six league games, which left the club placed second from the bottom in the league.
Santos Laguna
Late into October 2012, Caixinha accepted an offer from Mexico's Santos Laguna. In his first national tournament, he qualified the team for the ClausuraLiguilla in the Liga MX and also reached the final of the region's most important club competition, the CONCACAF Champions League. Caixinha left on 15 August2015, after winning three major titles.
Rangers
On 11 March 2017, Caixinha joined Scottish Premiership club Rangers on a three-year deal, becoming its 17th permanent manager in the process. CaretakerGraeme Murty took control of an Old Firm game played the following day, with Caixinha starting his work on 13 March. His debut came five days later, in a 4–0 home win against Hamilton Academical. On 29 April 2017, Caixinha oversaw a record home defeat for the club against Celtic, by a 1–5 scoreline. On 17 May they lost to Aberdeen at Ibroxfor the first time in 26 years, eventually finishing in third place 39 points behind champions Celtic. To kickstart 2017–18, Caixinha oversaw Rangers in the club's first European campaign since 2012, as they entered the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League and faced Luxembourg's FC Progrès Niederkorn, winning 1–0 at home but losing 2–0 away in the reverse fixture against a team that had previously never won a match, and scored only one goal, in European competition. Later that season, he led the side past both Dunfermline Athletic and Partick Thistle in the knockout stages of the Scottish League Cup, before succumbing to a 2–0 defeat at Hampden to Motherwell in the semi-final; the game saw both him and opposing manager Stephen Robinson sent to the stands for their behaviour on the touchline. On 26 October 2017, after a 1–1 home draw with last-placed Kilmarnock, Caixinha was sacked by Rangers after only 229 days in charge, becoming the shortest-serving manager in the history of the club. His reign was described as "a desperate mess from start to finish", by BBC Scotland's Tom English.
