Rangers attempted to lure Derek McInnes to Ibrox in December.
Former Rangers defender Joachim Bjorklund has told The Scotsman that he is surprised that Derek McInnes decided to snub Rangers in favour of staying with Aberdeen.
The Gers backed Pedro Caixinha heavily last summer, but then chose to sack the Portuguese boss in October after a disappointing start to the season, which included a Europa League exit at the hands of Progres Niederkorn.
Graeme Murty was placed in caretaker charge, but Rangers finally made their move for a new permanent manager in December, as they attempted to land Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes.
A former Rangers midfielder who grew up supporting the club, everything seemed to be perfect for McInnes to make the move back to Ibrox – but he surprisingly turned the move down.
Murty was handed the reins until the end of the season as Rangers scrambled for their contingency plan, with McInnes deciding to continue his work at Pittodrie rather than head back to his former club.
Whilst Murty has fared well, losing just three times in 2018, many are still shocked that the Scot decided to snub Rangers and stay with Aberdeen, having spent nearly five years with the Dons already.
Now, former Rangers defender Joachim Bjorklund – who played alongside McInnes for Rangers – has suggested that he was surprised to see McInnes make his decision, as he knows how much Rangers mean to him.
Bjorklund also told The Scotsman that he doesn’t think that McInnes will ever be asked to manage Rangers again, but thinks it would be ‘interesting’ if the Gers did make another attempt this summer.
“I was surprised that Derek didn’t take the Rangers job because I know it’s a club close to his heart,” said Bjorklund. “It was a very big decision to take because when you get asked by a major club to become their manager you usually don’t say no. It is not all that often that an opportunity like that comes along and he will have known that it might be his one and only chance to manage Rangers. That must have been weighing heavy on him but he obviously came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the right move for him at that time.”
“I don’t know for sure but he probably decided that Aberdeen were in a better situation than Rangers. They have picked up again after some bad results and they have a fantastic chance of reaching the Scottish Cup final. The thing is, Rangers will get stronger, that’s for sure. It may take another year or two but they will be back at the very top. However, Derek decided he didn’t want to be the man that tries to get them there. Will he be asked again? You never know, but you wouldn’t think so. However, it would be interesting to see what his thoughts would be if he was approached again in the summer,” he added.
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