Will Rangers be forced into risky appointment with Derek McInnes, Michael O’Neill slipping away?

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Rangers made a huge mistake hiring Pedro Caixinha in March – but they are facing up to the prospect of having to think outside the box again.

It’s now three weeks since Pedro Caixinha was booted out of the door at Ibrox. As it stands, however, Rangers appear no closer to hiring a replacement.

In fact, you could argue that they are even further away than ever from appointing one of the reported frontrunners. It seemed only a matter of time last week before Derek McInnes swapped Aberdeen for a return to former club Rangers, especially as The Scotsman reported that the Glasgow giants were willing to pay the £800,000 compensation fee to buy-out his contract.

The Daily Record reported at the time of Caixinha’s sacking that McInnes was Rangers’ favoured option. But the prolonged delay only suggests that the club has niggling doubts about hiring the 45-year-old.

And with McInnes seemingly drawing up potential transfer targets for Aberdeen in the January transfer window, the Daily Record reporting that he wants to bring former Dons favourite Niall McGinn back to Pittodrie, you wonder whether the highly-rated coach has now slipped through Rangers’ grasp.

The same could be said of Michael O’Neill. The inspirational Northern Ireland boss now looks favourite to take the Scotland job with the Daily Record reporting that the SFA have been given permission to speak with O’Neill about replacing Gordon Strachan.

Another Caixinha?

Rangers, then, may soon find themselves in a position where they have to think outside the box – and that didn’t exactly work too well last time with the hitherto unknown Caixinha spending seven unstable months at Ibrox.

The likes of Henning Berg (above) and Michel Preud’homme, who have both expressed an interest in the job, have been met with suspicion from a Rangers fanbase who want a proven, British manager who knows the club and Scottish football.

But the longer Rangers wait, and the more managerial frontrunners that turn their back on Ibrox, the higher the chance the club will be forced to make another risky appointment.