‘I’m not happy’
● Mcinnes criticises Rangers’ handling of job hunt as speculation mounts Ibrox club will make approach for Aberdeen manager
ABERDEEN 1 RANGERS 2
Derek Mcinnes has expressed his dismay at the protracted nature of Rangers’ search for a new manager which may yet lead to him being offered the job.
The Aberdeen boss suffered his second defeat in five days against the Ibrox club yesterday as goals from Danny Wilson and Josh Windass earned a 2-1 win for the side under the interim guidance of Graeme Murty.
It lifts Rangers, who played with ten men for most of the second half after Ryan Jack was sent off, into second place in the Premiership table, ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference. The fixture was again overshadowed by renewed speculation over Mcinnes’ future.
It is now almost six weeks since Rangers sacked Pedro Caixinha and it is understood they are poised to make an approach this week for Mcinnes, who is under contract at Pittodrie until 2020.
The 46-year-old, who recently stressed s ongoing commitment to his current job, has become increasingly exasperated by the situation.
“I made my position clear a few weeks ago and this has been ongoing,” said Mcinnes. “It just feels as if it has dragged on and dragged on.
“I’m not happy with how things have been played out. It’s not been great the way it’s all been handled and I’m not particularly pleased about it. “I know you boys have a job to do and must be getting fed some sort of stuff, so there has been plenty of encouragement to run stories. Ex-players seem to know a lot more than everybody else.
“Everybody seems to be in the know and every other day there is someone giving an opinion on my future and what Rangers are doing.
“It’s not been as straightforward as it should have been the last few weeks. It’s certainly not doing us any favours.
“It’s been the elephant in the room for the last five or six weeks. The chairman came out and sai someth nglastweek I’m not going to stand here and make any assumptions about what another club wants to do.
“You can see today how passionate we are about getting a result for Aberdeen.
“It was good to get the game out of the way and play the game and try to win the game.
“The motivation was clear for everybody. My job is to try and get a winning team on the pitch – not to constantly fend off questions you guys need to ask It’s wrong for me to make a commen on speculation or assumption. I a manager of Aberdeen and my job is t get a winning team on th tch all I’ve ever done.”
Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis, pictured, admitted he and his team-mates are keen to see the saga resolved one way or another before their next match against Dundee at Dens Park on Friday night.
“You’ll have to ask the people in the know [whether he will still be in charge on Friday],” said Lewis.
“It would be a blow to lose him as he’s a good manager but it’s football and whatever happens, we are not in control of that. We just need to get on with whatever happens.
“I don’t want to get involved in things which might or might not happen. we’ ll take it as it comes. Hopefully Rangers will appoint a manager this week and we can all move on with things.”
“It just feels as if it has dragged on and on. It’s not been great the way it has been handled and I’m not particularly pleased about it”
DEREK MCINNES
If Derek Mcinnes does become the new Rangers manager, he will be grateful that the 180 minutes he has just overseen against his prospective new employers were not regarded as an audition for the job.
It is Mcinnes’ wider body of work as Aberdeen boss which could earn him a return to his former club who yesterday savoured the completion of a fully merited double against their Pittodrie rivals to climb into second place in the Premiership table.
It was another insipid display from the Dons on the back of their 3-0 defeat at Ibrox last Wednesday night. Even a red card for former Aberdeen captain Ryan Jack, reducing Rangers to ten men for most of the second half, did not prevent the visitors claiming another three points with relative comfort.
Goals by Danny Wilson and Josh Windass, before teenager Frank Ross replied with a stunning free-kick, delivered a fourth win in six games for Graeme Murty during his current stint as caretaker boss. It remains to be seen if it was Murty’s last game at the helm but he has clearly illustrated the potential for improvement by a previously underachieving group of players.
Mcinnes changed both his formation and personnel in response to the chastening midweek loss, albeit partially enforced by suspension and injury ruling out Ryan Christie and Gary Mackay-steven respectively. The three-man central defence which failed so abjectly at Ibrox was ditched in favour of a more familiar looking set-up for the hosts but it did little to improve either the dynamism or fluency of their performance.
Rangers were able to settle comfortably into the match, a low-key opening suiting the visitors. There were a couple of early bookings from referee Willie Collum who was left with little option on either occasion – Windass cautioned for a ludicrous piece of simulation as he sought a penalty after knocking the ball wide of Dons goalkeeper Joe Lewis, then home skipper Graeme Shinnie going in the book for a cynical foul on James Tavernier.
Another foul by Shinnie, this time on Jason Holt, led to Rangers making the breakthrough. As the visitors lined up to take the free-kick, Shinnie and Kennym clean argued animatedly among themselves. Whatever was said, it failed to bring the required level of organisation to Aberdeen’s defending of the situation.
They were remarkably passive as Declan John floated the set piece in from the right, picking out Wilson just inside the penalty area. The defender’s looping header soared beyond the static Lewis into the net.
Aberdeen lacked urgency and imagination in their attempts to impose themselves on the contest. For lengthy spells of possession for Rangers, it was as comfortable as they could have imagined at a venue which traditionally poses them as serious a challenge as anywhere. Stevie May, operating in the centre of an attacking midfield trio just behind sole striker Adam Rooney, managed to penetrate the Rangers defence in the 26th minute but his shot was blocked by Wilson.
Rooney then scuffed a shot wide of Wes Foderingham’s right-hand post to give the home fans at least a hint of encouragement. But it needed a fine save by Lewis – diving low to his right, to keep out a Windass shot following a positive run by Carlos Pena – to prevent Rangers doubling their advantage in the 32nd minute.
The Aberdeen support were growing increasingly restless but were so nearly celebrating an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Holt was penalised for a foul on Greg Stewart, the Rangers midfielder fortunate to escape a booking for the offence. Stewart whipped the free-kick in from the right and Andrew Considine’s powerful header thumped against the crossbar.
Rangers, already without Bruno Alves who suffered an injury in training, were forced into a central defensive change at the start of the second half with goalscorer Wilson replaced by Fabio Cardoso. The substitute made a telling early contribution for the visitors when he did well to block a May shot as Aberdeen tried to increase the tempo of their play.
Rangers continued to threaten, however, and Lewis made another fine save to deny Kenny Miller after the veteran striker had burst clear into the Aberdeen penalty area.
Jack’s contentious dismissal was acclaimed gleefully by the Dons fans, who had jeered their former player’s every touch up until that point. The midfielder had been the most accomplished performer on view, making his departure all the more frustrating for Murty. Jack appeared genuinely bemused by Collum’s decision, the referee reaching for his red card immediately after the Rangers player caught May with his follow through after winning the ball with a forceful challenge.
Rangers reorganised by withdrawing the increasingly peripheral figure of Pena, replacing him with Daniel Candeias. Before Aberdeen could make their oneman advantage count, Rangers plundered the insurance of a second goal. It was a fine counter-attacking move, led by Tavernier who set Candeias free on the right.
“Goals by wilson and wind ass delivered a fourth win in six games for Graeme Murty. It remains to be seen if it was Murty’s last game at the helm but he clearly illustrated the potential for improvement by a previously underachieving group of players”