If Rangers want to talk, then McInnes should be calling all the shots
IF Derek McInnes is finally compelled to ascend the marble staircase for a Blue Room summit with the Ibrox recruitment panel, he’ll be entitled to ask more questions than those nominally charged with interviewing him for the post of manager.
And, of all the notes and queries he might have jotted down as a reminder to himself, two require definitive answers before he even
thinks about taking on the Rangers job.
First, he needs to excuse any hint of bluntness as he asks: ‘Who is really in charge? Because I need to speak to the man making the big calls — if there is such a person.’
Then, only when he’s completely satisfied on that point, he can enquire: ‘Are you really going to give me the money needed to stop Ten In A Row?’
With Celtic already on a run of six (and a half) consecutive league flags, that second point really needs to be cleared up. Quickly. Because one wrong move by Dave King and his fellow directors over the coming days, the timescale they’ve set themselves for replacing Pedro Caixinha, will effectively hand their greatest rivals a free run at a target once considered almost mythical.
Scottish football’s very own white whale, the pursuit of a double-digit run of title triumphs has the potential to consume an entire club — running roughshod over succession planning, sacrificing stable, long-term thinking for the short-term rush of getting ever closer to sporting immortality — simply by appearing within theoretical reach.
Yet Celtic could do it at a canter, if Rangers mess up their managerial appointment. Again.
Even if the Light Blues get the right man, they’ll find it tough to prevent their old rivals from claiming near-eternal bragging rights. Because, in case you haven’t worked it out, stopping Ten means being absolutely ready and well placed to challenge for the title by the summer of 2020.
That’s a little more than two-and-a-half years from now. Even someone as capable as McInnes — as natural a fit for the Rangers job as, just to pick a random example, Michael O’Neill is for the Scotland role — may not be able to coax, cajole, wheel, deal and drive his players hard enough to close the gap in such a short space of time.
Then again, at a club which not so long ago allowed itself to indulge in the most nonsensical talk of ‘going for 55’, it’s a fair bet that having the Aberdeen manager leading the charge — rather than delivering successive concussive blows to his old club from his current base of operations — gives them a better chance.
McInnes would make Rangers fitter. Not just physically; any strength and conditioning coach can do that.
No, he would improve their mental strength, their ability to cope with a crisis. He will do, in effect, what he has done at Aberdeen.
And that will result in... well, part of that depends on whether Celtic maintain their current upward trend, with Dermot Desmond backing Brendan Rodgers sufficiently to leave all domestic rivals far beneath.
But that’s not the only factor. Rangers can do more. Must do more, if they wish to become relevant in title talk. And that starts from the top.
If the chairman isn’t going to be spending a lot of time in Scotland, who does McInnes — or any other manager, for that matter — speak to about major issues? Maybe there are other board members capable of calling the shots. Or is the director of football (bet you almost forgot Rangers had one) going to be the new gaffer’s line manager?
Then, how will next summer’s transfer budget compare to the £8million squandered by Caixinha? Because a few tactical tweaks and a couple of loan signings won’t get this particular job done.
And, most importantly of all, is there unanimous agreement — no wavering, no backsliding, no whining about lack of success in the interim — that the first sniff of a league title might not arrive until the start of season 2020-21?
There are no guarantees in football. And that cuts both ways. Who is to say that Rodgers will still be at Celtic Park in two-and-a-bit years? Scott Brown won’t still be playing, surely. A couple of major assets may have moved on for record fees. Failing a sudden loss of interest on the part of major shareholder Desmond, however, the business model established at Celtic is nothing if not sturdy.
Should McInnes be sufficiently tempted to accept the phone call and take even a preliminary meeting, he’ll need to hear promises — maybe even see proof — that something similar is being built in Govan.
Because just being asked to make do and mend, to act as a convenient heat shield for directors who may or may not be united and capable of marshalling significant natural resources into a workable business plan… that would raise some very serious, possibly unanswerable, questions for a manager boasting proven ability and a burgeoning reputation.