DEREK McINNES EXCLUSIVE
WHY I STAYED AT DONS
Derek McInnes admits he let his head rule his heart when he knocked back the Rangers job.
The Aberdeen boss stunned Scottish football by rejecting the Ibrox club’s
Just like Rangers’ hunt for a new gaffer – this wasn’t pretty at times.
But in contrast to the Ibrox board, at least Graeme Murty and his players got the job done in the end.
After a woeful first-half display which saw them trail to a Craig Curran opener for Ross County, goals from Alfredo Morelos and Danny Wilson sealed three precious points.
But in a similar fashion to the club’s search for Pedro Caixinha’s successor, boy did they make hard work of it.
County left Govan feeling aggrieved that they were going away with nothing.
And it was hard to argue with Owen Coyle, whose players were battling for a draw right up until the final whistle.
For interim Gers boss Murty, he can be del ighted with the gr it and determination his side showed.
But deep down he’ll know that if Rangers are going to move forward under his temporary stewardship, the quality has to improve.
Welsh full-back Declan John praised the players’ attitude in fighting back.
And he believes back-to-back defeats of Aberdeen – as well as the victory over County – proves they’ve turned a corner.
After nine attempts previously, they finally secured three wins on the spin for the first time this season.
John said: “It was a tough game but we managed to get the three points.
“Going a goal down made it difficult and credit to Ross County, they played some good stuff.
“But we worked hard in the second half and came through to get the win.
“That type of character has been lacking from us at times this season. In the last three we’ve brought it back and it has shown on the pitch.
“If you look at the two bad results we had against Dundee and Hamilton recently – compared to the last three – we’ve stepped up quite a lot.”
With Murty in charge until January, at least the players have a semblance of clarity.
And John said: “It hasn’t been a difficult week. Murty has come in and done a decent job. It looks as if he’ll be manager at least until the new year and I don’t think that’s problematic in any way.”
After two stellar performances against Aberdeen home and away, Rangers should have had a bit of swagger here.
But anyone who has watched this group of players for the past year or so should know better.
Their first-half display was flat, insipid and devoid of any urgency. It was littered with schoolboy errors and poor control.
Coyle and his County boys must have thought Christmas had come early, especially when they sauntered into the final third after 10 minutes and scored one of the simplest goals you’ll see.
Jason Naismith went down the right flank unopposed before firing in a cross that was nodded in by Curran who had been left alone by Bruno Alves.
It was cheap but symptomatic of Rangers’ start to the match. Without Ryan Jack, Mur ty had to f ind a replacement in their newly-discovered diamond midfield.
He opted for Portuguese winger Daniel Candeias but it didn’t work, with his natural tendency to go wide.
The shape that had worked so well for them against the Dons had no balance.
It also didn’t help that they were effectively playing with 10 men. The bitter cold Govan air had obviously frozen the bones of Carlos Pena so much that it made him unable to move.
Kenny Miller wasted two very good opportunities to equalise, firstly from Jason Holt’s cut-back and then at the back post when he fired over.
But Rangers’ play was laboured and pedestrian at best.
The crowd were growling and booed their team off at half-time.
Pena couldn’t possibly re-appear and he was hooked for Alfredo Morelos.
For County, they just had to continue what they were doing.
Rangers had to improve and Morelos missed an absolute sitter.
John whipped in a stunning cross that beat keeper Scott Fox – but the Colombian somehow managed to knock it wide.
That might have dented Morelos’ confidence that many feel has already suffered due to a goal drought.
But credit to him, he recovered to bury his next chance.
Ross County kid Davis Keillor-Dunn was loose with a pass that Miller pounced on before feeding Candeias.
For once, he produced a killer pass to Morelos who fired past Fox and prompt a mixture of joy and relief in the stands.
It eased the pressure but the game was far from won.
Ross McCrorie produced the pass of the game to put Josh Windass in but Naismith got back superbly to make a terrific last- ditch tackle.
Murty’s side struggled to break down County’s stubborn backline.
Eventually, a training ground set-piece – and Wilson’s razor-sharp reactions – won it for them. Windass attacked the near post space which had been vacated and met James Tavernier’s free-kick.
Fox parried his effort out but Wilson improvised six yards out to head home.
In stoppage time Gers almost blew it when No.1 Wes Foderingham dropped a high ball into the box and Kenny Van der Weg nearly got Coyle’s men a draw when he shot wide. And the County gaffer felt they should have had a penalty for Alves’ barge on Andrew Davies.
But in the end Rangers saw it out.