Derek McInnes has said he “belongs” at Rangers after being revealed as the club’s new manager and expressed his intention to win the Scottish Premiership as soon as possible.
The 54-year-old admitted he was surprised by the opportunity to take over as Rangers manager this summer after being appointed as replacement for Danny Lohl, who moved to RB Salzburg last week.
McInnes returned to Ibrox minutes after leading Hearts to the Premiership title last season, where he played from 1995 to 2000, and insisted it was time for him to take the reins at the club he supported as a boy.
“It’s a very special moment for myself and my family. There are a lot of people that come to mind on days like this, but having known and supported the club for a long time, I know the responsibility that comes with being a manager,” McInnes said.
McInnes has been announced as Rangers’ new manager, alongside CEO Jim Gillespie.
“So I’m excited to get started. I feel like it’s the right time for me and I’m ready. I feel like I belong here and I’m ready to get started and I’m looking forward to getting started.
“We want to try to deliver a team that meets the requirements here. I feel like Rangers fans – we’ve won one title in 15 years – have been suffering for a long time. It’s up to us to try now and play a key role in raising standards and often putting a winning Rangers team on the pitch.
“I’ve got an idea of what our Rangers team should be like and I hope it’s similar to what Rangers fans want too.
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Kris Boyd talks about McInnes being appointed Rangers manager and why he is suited for the role.
“Being Rangers manager was something I had always wanted to do. I was surprised when the call came because the manager was here. I was on holiday and things started and I was busy for five or six days in between.
“Being Rangers manager is something I’ve always wanted to do and I’m very comfortable with the decision I’ve made and it feels right to be here.”
McInnes: This club needs to win
McInnes is Rangers’ 22nd permanent manager and the seventh to be appointed in eight years after a barren period of title and trophy success.
McInnes, who won treble titles with the club as a player, knows the expectations placed on his staff both on and off the pitch and insists he returned to the club to win.
McInnes has signed a three-year contract with Rangers.
“A lot of coaches have sat here on day one and said we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that. It’s easier said than done, but it’s much harder to get done. There’s work to be done here but we’ll get it done. The intention is to make sure the work for next season is already done in terms of player recruitment.
“Playing for Rangers and dealing with what is expected requires more than being a good player. There has to be more under the bonnet and dealing with those expectations and I think part of my job and the staff’s job is to try to get the best out of the current squad as well as add players who can help us succeed.”
“It’s no joke, I know if we don’t win a trophy it won’t be long before someone else is sitting here, but I come here with the confidence that with the resources and infrastructure we have and the support of the people above us, this should be a winning Rangers team and this club should win.”
Rangers’ title challenge fell apart after last season’s split.
“Rangers give me the best chance to win and that’s important. I know what I can bring to Rangers, but I equally know what Rangers can give me.”
MacInnes: The goal is to win the title as quickly as possible
Hearts impressed under McInnes last term with his ability to play on the front foot and his resilience to get over the line in messy games.
McInnes needed just a few minutes to lead Hearts to the league title last season.
In contrast, in recent years, some Rangers fans believe their team has been too passive and easy to play against in domestic competitions, despite their success in Europe. McInnes is aiming to put that right and while he wants Rangers to win overall, domestic success will be the priority.
“The job here is to win. I’m not going to talk philosophy,” he said. “I know how my team wants to play. I think we’ve shown that with our team for a long time. The intention is just to win. We need to win here.
“I want us to try to impose ourselves on the opposition. I don’t want teams to come here and feel comfortable and go into the game and suddenly that fear factor might not be there when playing against Rangers.
“We have to make it really difficult for teams when they play against us, make them suffer and play in a way that allows us to do that.
“We have good players now and we are looking to bring in good players. You have to have the quality to be a Rangers player, but you need much more than that. You have to have the identity and intensity needed to win domestically.
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Kris Boyd has given his thoughts on Rangers’ six-game start to the Scottish Premiership season, stressing the importance of McInnes getting off to a good start.
“We want to perform well across Europe, but we need to be more relevant domestically to win trophies and that is key for me.
“The goal is to win the title as quickly as possible.”
McInnes Summer Recruitment
Rangers have already signed Lawrence Shankland, who was Hearts captain under McInnes, and the new manager insists that whoever joins the Scotland striker must want responsibility for living up to Ibrox expectations.
“I want the players to feel that when they sign for Rangers one of the reasons they signed here is to be successful and they have to feel that responsibility,” he said.
The Rangers have won one championship in 15 years.
“A lot of players sign for clubs for a number of reasons – location, financial reasons – but we all have to have a part of us when we sign here to win trophies and be successful because otherwise you won’t be here long and it’s not a good place to be when you’re not winning. “I want to enjoy being manager of Rangers and I can only do that by winning and the players can only really enjoy being here by winning games.
“When you don’t win the heat and all the noise gets going really quickly and there have been periods where we haven’t won enough, so it’s our job to try to change that. It’s not words that will do that, it’s action, it’s every day, it’s the standard and it’s all about driving the pace, but working with good players will be a key part of that and the players will really enjoy being here and succeeding.”
He added: “We may not get everything we want (during the transfer window) and not many clubs do, but it is important that we make good use of the money we have at our disposal and the budget we have to work with.
Lawrence Shankland is set to reunite with McInnes at Rangers.
“I’d like to think we have a bit more quality players in our building. It’s up to me and the staff to get them out there. There may be changes – players leaving, players coming in – but every player that comes in will give us something. We’re working hard to get players of that caliber who can not only meet our current expectations but also provide that extra quality we clearly need.
“I think last season we showed how good Rangers are during the game. Individually they are very good, but I think it is up to us to try to make us more of a team and try to win tight games. We had too many draws last season and we are trying to find the answer in the game, but to do that you need confident players. I want a confident Rangers team, confident Rangers players.”
McInnes: Things weren’t going well in 2017.
McInnes turned down the opportunity to take over Rangers when he was at Aberdeen and is grateful to have been offered the opportunity again, although he insists the timing is not right back in 2017.
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McInnes reflects on why he previously turned down the Rangers managerial job and why he decided differently this time around.
“I think I was ready at the time, but things were different and there was a lot going on at the time,” he said.
“I left a really safe club in Aberdeen and had a great time at Aberdeen. “At the time I wanted to be Rangers manager too, but as soon as I was honest and started negotiating, the ownership was different, the situation was different and the feeling was different.
“I think today is more about becoming Rangers manager than looking back. I am delighted to have the opportunity to be asked questions again and I am very eager to move forward.”
Gillespie: We let Röhl go to hire McInnes.
Rangers’ last two appointments at Russell Martin and Röhl were as head coaches, but McInnes will become Rangers’ manager, a position usually held by the man in the club’s dugout.
CEO Jim Gillespie claimed that hiring McInnes as manager was important and that Rangers wanted to appoint McInnes, which is why they decided to let Röhl leave the club.
Rangers lost four of their last five league games under Danny Röhl last season.
“Ultimately we gave a nod to the history of this football club. It was important to Derek that we did that and that is why he is Rangers manager,” Gillespie said. “We supported Danny in May and things have developed over time. The decision for Danny to move was our decision and Rangers Football Club’s decision.
“Danny had a contract with Rangers and there was no buyout, so in the end we could have said to Salzburg that he was not for sale, but we decided we wanted to bring Derek in and that was the motivation to let Danny go and bring in Derek because he was already someone who could bring success to Rangers.”
