Rangers announce former Hearts boss Derek McInnes as new manager | OneFootball

Rangers have appointed Derek McInnes from Hearts on a three-year deal following the departure of Danny Röhl to Austrian giants RB Salzburg.Having guided Hearts to within minutes of a first SPFL title in 66 years, Derek McInnes has decided to make the move to Glasgow, following in the footsteps of his former captain Lawrence Shankland, who made the same move from Hearts to Rangers a few weeks ago.After RB Salzburg began pursuing Danny Rohl for their vacant head coach position, following a personal intervention from Red Bull Head of Global Soccer Jürgen Klopp, Ibrox officials made it clear that McInnes was the number one choice to replace the German manager who had only joined the club nine months ago.

Unlike in 2017 when McInnes was Aberdeen manager and turned down the chance to take over the reins at his boyhood club, this time he jumped at the opportunity.

“It is no secret that I grew up a Rangers supporter, and I am convinced this is the right time to take on this prestigious role” said McInnes after the announcement.

Rangers are getting a manager who knows Scottish football inside out, and who has proved over a number of years that he can consistently challenge towards the top end of the table. The next step for McInnes is turning that ability to challenge into the ability to win, because that is something which the Ibrox crowd demand of every manager.Over his managerial career in Scotland, McInnes has shown himself as one of the best this country has to offer. In his first job he guided St Johnstone back into the top flight before keeping them in the top flight for the following two seasons.Then, at Aberdeen, he had his longest spell in management, where he won the club’s first trophy in nearly 20 years. But alongside this, he built Aberdeen into a team who consistently finished at the top end of the table, finishing runners-up behind Celtic on four separate occasions, including after Rangers’ return to the top flight, as well as reaching three additional cup finals.At Kilmarnock, he again guided the club to promotion before taking them into Europe only a couple of seasons later.And now, in his only season at Hearts, he galvanised a squad that became the first since his own Aberdeen side in 2018 to finish above one of the Old Firm clubs. In doing this, he came just a few minutes away from being the first manager since Sir Alex Ferguson in 1985 to win the Scottish Premiership with a club other than Rangers or Celtic.

Tactically, McInnes always sets his team up to be difficult to score against, and therefore difficult to beat. This will be an important step in the right direction for Rangers, as last season they struggled defensively, conceding more goals than Celtic, Hearts and Motherwell and only one fewer than fifth place Hibernian.

His sides are always strong from set-pieces and tend to simplify the game in possession. His message is often – get the ball to our dangerous players and let them create and score goals.

The challenge for McInnes will be whether or not he can deal with the pressure of the crowd, and the demand to win every single game, no matter the opposition. It is something that almost every Rangers manager in recent times has failed to cope with. This is evident in the fact that there have been five different permanent managers in the last four and a half years, a turnover that highlights the instability Rangers have experienced in recent years.

But McInnes will certainly know this and will be aware of the task at hand, having grown up a Rangers fan and played for the club for five years. It remains to be seen whether McInnes will be a success at Rangers, but his experience of Scottish football can only be a positive for Rangers, who are looking to become champions of Scotland again for the first time since the 20/21 season under Steven Gerrard.

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