“Concomitant” is not a word many football clubs would expect to make headlines, yet Rangers managed exactly that when they used it in a pointed and widely mocked statement about Derek McInnes.
That episode came in December 2017, during Dave King’s time as chairman. McInnes’ proposed move from Aberdeen had collapsed and Rangers responded with a petulant message insisting they had not wanted him in the first place. It was the kind of immature public posture that came to define parts of that era and, for a time, lingered beyond King’s departure as others stepped into influential roles at Ibrox.
Rangers, at least, appear to be operating differently now. Results have not improved dramatically, but the club gives the impression of being led by people with a clearer sense of direction, even if they have yet to find a convincing route back to where they want to be.
Against that backdrop, and with circumstances seemingly aligning in their favour, Derek McInnes has emerged as the obvious candidate. With Danny Rohl appearing set for a move to Red Bull Salzburg and compensation potentially softening the financial picture, the 54-year-old looks like the most realistic and sensible option available.
Rangers can ill afford another attempt at appointing a fashionable modern thinker in the mould of Russell Martin. Nor do they need to gamble on an inexperienced coach whose appeal rests more on theory and promise than on a proven ability to handle the scale and pressure of the job.
Derek McInnes looks likely to follow Lawrence Shankland in moving from Hearts to Rangers
Steven Gerrard’s name has, inevitably, remained in the conversation. But a return never looked especially convincing. He chose against taking the role last October when Rangers’ search for a manager had already begun to drift into disarray, and that decision made the prospect of going back to him difficult to justify.
If his previous spell at the club is anything to go by, he also carries the potential to be that little bit too demanding over finances. And given the way he jumped ship to Aston Villa with such rapidity — after addressing a TV interviewer quizzing him on his future with the immortal words, ‘Do I look happy? Do I look settled? Don’t ask silly questions then’ — who’s to say he wouldn’t have looked on it as an opportunity to kickstart his career and get back south again after 16 months out of the dugout following less than a year in the Midlands and an underwhelming stay in Saudi at Al-Ettifaq?
McInnes doesn’t carry those concerns. He’ll work to a budget, which will be necessary considering chairman Andrew Cavenagh has had to kick off a new share issue aimed at bringing in £16million in capital after seeing the £40m spent on the squad last term bring in no trophies.
He would most probably have won the league with Hearts were it not for them being denied a stonewall penalty at Motherwell three games from the end of the campaign — and that was on, very broadly speaking, a third of the wage bills in place at the Old Firm.
What will he be capable of with the resources available at Rangers? Particularly with Celtic, incredibly, looking like they are going to remain a comedy turn — with a fanbase still on the brink of torching the place — despite getting out of jail last term.
There are pros and cons to sticking with Martin O’Neill, who will turn 75 next March, as manager. Why it took until the other day to confirm he was staying, though, is confounding — and that’s before we even get to the inability to agree deals with his coaching staff Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham.
McInnes played for Rangers for five seasons between 1995 and 2000 before moving to WBA
Celtic got away with murder last season. They should be thanking their lucky stars and looking long-term, putting the building blocks in place to futureproof the club. There’s precious little to suggest that’s happening, though, and that should give Rangers hope where there ought to be none.
What happened last time Rangers made an approach for McInnes should have no bearing on what will happen either. The club is in the hands of new people. There are no grounds for grudges. McInnes also sought counsel from Walter Smith back then and has long stated there is a story to tell over the episode that he’ll save for another time.
The general feeling is that, when he looked under the bonnet, everything wasn’t quite as promised. With the likes of Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises, that shouldn’t be the case now. He’ll know the cards he’s working with.
Likewise, Rangers will know what they’re getting too, and that’s a big part of the appeal.
McInnes is an ex-player. He knows the place, knows the politics, understands the scene. He ‘gets it’, as the old chestnut goes.
What’s guaranteed is that he will sort out long-standing issues such as the identity and physicality of the team. He’s as safe a bet as you could hope for.
McInnes is likely to resume hostilities with Celtic boss Martin O’Neill as his new Old Firm rival
Whether he is able to make progress in European competition is something else entirely, but, like the details of why he didn’t go to Ibrox last time, that’s for another day. What the club needs right now is someone to make them properly competitive on the home front ASAP after seeing Rohl blow automatic Champions League qualification and a £40m windfall by watching last term disappear down the plughole when there was clearly a league there to be won.
McInnes has given every indication he will be able to do that. He handled last season well, much better than when he was an Aberdeen manager endeavouring to put pressure on a Ronny Deila-led Celtic.
Back then, he played things down at every opportunity. It was so overpowering that it made you feel he killed belief in his own players. That certainly wasn’t the case at Tynecastle last term.
He didn’t shout from the rooftops that he felt his team could win the league against all odds, but the messaging behind the scenes was different from an early stage and, latterly, he made his confidence in the squad clear during those closing furlongs towards the finishing line.
What’s more, after the way the final few games played out, Rangers are 100-per-cent guaranteed to be getting a guy champing at the bit to do Celtic over and get his revenge, get his justice even.
Some Hearts fans might believe there’s every reason he should stay in Gorgie, of course, but that argument has holes.
Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh is in Boston for talks with McInnes during the World Cup
Over and above the fact Rangers is his club, there is one big question to be posed: Is McInnes really a Jamestown Analytics manager?
Known for enjoying the control afforded to him by former chairman Stewart Milne at Aberdeen, he answered lots of enquiries about that when he arrived in Edinburgh. And, in fairness, he got with the programme devised with the secretive data firm set up by Tynecastle investor Tony Bloom. There were one or two glitches in the matrix, though.
The club pushed super-hard to get Rogers Mato in from Vardar Skopje in January and he barely played. Islam Chesnokov was chased vigorously over a long period, too, and ended up a bit-part operator who is now on his way out.
Bloom doesn’t run Hearts, but he has a say. Project Jamestown is only going to ramp up a gear. McInnes is a guy who knows his mind and knows the players he likes and, as well as things did go in the campaign just gone, there’s a part of you that wonders if there could be the slightest friction somewhere down the line.
At Ibrox, Cavenagh has dispensed with the idea of a sporting director. The manager is going to have a big say in signings, by the looks of it. That’s appealing for any boss asked to rebuild a team.
Danny Rohl is expected to complete his surprise switch to Salzburg in the coming days
At Hearts, meanwhile, the Jamestown model is built on everyone being expendable. If the right cash comes in, people move on and previously identified replacements arrive. It’s the rule that stands for players and it will no doubt stand for head coaches too.
In truth, McInnes moving to Rangers for handsome compensation probably suits everyone.
The other job the one-time Ibrox midfielder has coveted with the Scotland national team is now off the plot for four years with Steve Clarke having agreed a new contract, so it does feel like the stars are aligning.
It just doesn’t feel like it’s a matter related to concomitant risk this time. More like concomitant rewards.
