For many, many months and indeed years, the talk of Derek McInnes becoming Rangers manager has been a prominent and faith filled endeavour. It came to fruition at long last this summer. This was a manager that so many Rangers fans, Ibrox Noise partially included, wanted when we essentially whittled down the shortlist. We wanted either he, Kevin Muscat, Steven Gerrard or one or two others who were strong contenders. We also had a soft spot for Rino Gattuso. But by the time the managerial hunt began, he’d taken over at Lazio.
Rangers wanted an experienced manager
Essentially, we wanted a proper Rangers manager who knew the gig, who knew the job and already had experience. We were very, very happy with Derek McInnes for many reasons. We believed him to be a proper Rangers man at the very least.
Well, we seem to have got that. But in reality, the more that we look at McInnes, the less of a Rangers man he started to seem. We know fine well that when you have a gig in football, you’re devoted to that. That is fine.
But we have not forgotten, Ibrox Noise, McInnes’ conduct when he was at Pittodrie. We are sure that Rangers fans will remember how bitter and poisonous he was towards our club. Especially towards Pedro Caixinha and prior and post bosses after that.
“They should probably be embarrassed that they’ve not finished second. I think he (Caixinha) likes to do a lot of talking.”
In short, for a Rangers man, he seemed to have been swallowed up by the poison of the Granite City. And was now very bitter and acrimonious towards all things Govan.
McInnes and his Aberdeen years
We are going to be a little bit generous and say that that was his job. And that he was dedicated at that time. Dedicated that is to the fortunes and best interests of the team he was employed with. And that was Aberdeen.
However, as a true Rangers man, some of the things and tones that he used very much got Rangers fans’ backs up. Both at the Dons and then as a pundit. They did not see McInnes at this point as anything like a Rangers man anymore, if he ever even was.
He may have been a boyhood Rangers fan. But the tone and even quotes that he offered about Rangers in the press definitely did not smack of a proper Rangers man who loved our club.
Now, we cannot revise history and say that McInnes is not a Rangers man, boyhood born and bred. He is. He was a Rangers fan as a kid.
But we feel like something got lost along the way. And in managerial terms, he definitely does not seem to have had any love for our club. At least until he was appointed Rangers manager.
Essentially, from the moment he left Rangers as a player, he lost any focus on Ibrox.
Rangers fans remember McInnes’ comments
Now, of course, we do know, as we’ve said before, that you play and work for the team that employs you. And they become a priority. We get that. So we’re not going to completely slaughter him.
But we remember the tone, we remember fans’ reactions, we remember the way that we felt ourselves at some of the stuff he said. At those times, there was no way on earth that we would have wanted him anywhere near Rangers. Not a chance. Not someone who sounded as bitter and Rangers-hating as he did.
This is a problem that we have, the dichotomy that we are feeling right now. We have always had this issue with McInnes. We’ve always had this misgiving about him. This confusion over who he actually backs.
We know he is a Rangers fan, born and bred. We’ve said that a few times in this piece. But his conduct as manager, especially of Aberdeen, was not of a Rangers fan on any level. Quite the opposite.
And as we say, we recall the bitterness towards him when he came out with what he said. Especially about Pedro. We’re sure that many fans will remember the stuff he came out about Pedro.
McInnes and the Rangers job
Now, curiously enough, this was around about the time he turned down the Rangers job. Indeed, we haven’t even addressed that topic yet.
We have gone into it a little bit in detail. But we’re going to expose it a bit more in due course.
But for now, the focus is definitely on the fact that, for a Rangers man, he is not acting like one. And certainly didn’t act like one when he was Aberdeen manager.
Just one to ponder.