Neil Alexander has urged Rangers to appoint Derek McInnes as their new manager.
Neil Alexander
Former Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander has told The Scottish Herald that he wants the club to appoint Derek McInnes as their new manager – no matter what it costs.
The Gers sacked manager Pedro Caixinha on Thursday after just seven months in the job, with his departure coming less than 24 hours after a 1-1 home draw with Kilmarnock.
Caixinha’s reign at Ibrox never really got going as he failed to string results together, and despite being handed around £8million to spend on new signings, he failed to really take Rangers much closer to Celtic.
Caretaker boss Graeme Murty took charge of Saturday’s 3-1 win over Hearts, but he may not be the favourite for the job, with Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes seemingly the frontrunner.
BBC Sport report that Rangers are planning to make their move for McInnes this week, despite Abredeen’s hopes that he will snub a move away – just as he did when Sunderland came calling over the summer.
McInnes, 46, has won 58% of his games in charge of Aberdeen since taking the Pittodrie job in 2013, and as a former Rangers midfielder, he has emerged as a top target for the Gers.
Now, former Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander – who played under McInnes at Aberdeen – has told The Scottish Herald that not only should Rangers appoint McInnes, but they should have done it in March when they plumped for Caixinha instead.
Alexander shared just how impressed he was with McInnes’ work, and whilst there are a number of questions over whether he would take the job right now, he thinks Rangers should pay whatever it takes it to land McInnes.
“My opinion, and this was the same opinion before Caixinha was given the job, is Derek McInnes [for Rangers], all day long,” said Alexander. “One of the reasons I went to Aberdeen was because I was wanting to work with Derek McInnes, because of what he’s done for Aberdeen, what he’s done in the past. I had a few chats with him before I signed and I was extremely impressed with what he had to say, what his beliefs were on football and his vision for the future. For me, hands down, he would be my number one target for Rangers.”
“He’s a fantastic manager, he’s done extremely well with the resources he’s had at Aberdeen and he’s been very successful in his time at Aberdeen. He’s a Rangers man, he knows the club, he knows the demands of the fans, the expectations, the pride of that badge and what it takes. Is it the time for him to leave? Is it a mess at Rangers? Does he have money? But sometimes you only get one opportunity to go to a big club – it might never happen again due to different circumstances. Rangers have got to get it right and if that means spending money to get Derek McInnes out of his Aberdeen contract they’ve got to do it. They shouldn’t rush into it, they should take their time and get the right man. Whatever it costs, they have to get this right,” he added.
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