GO FOR DEREK
Make McInnes the next manager of Rangers, Smith urges Ibrox board
WALTER SMITH wants Derek McInnes to be handed the chance to try to guide Rangers back to the top of Scottish football.
The Ibrox managerial legend took a view on his former club’s pursuit of a replacement for Mark Warburton by nominating the Aberdeen boss as his No 1 candidate.
Smith’s intervention came as the Rangers board continued their move to seal the signature of Pedro Caixinha, who is in charge of Qatari side Al-Gharafa. There is understood to be rival interest in Caixinha from Club America in Mexico, where the Portuguese coach was a success with Santos Laguna in a three-year spell.
Rangers remain confident of having their man in place by midweek but Smith, a ten-time title winner in two spells at Ibrox, sees a preferable solution in Scotland and would rather the club had targeted a player he signed in 1995.
‘I’d like someone that was going to bring a level of success to the club and I would like to see Derek take the opportunity to do that,’ said Smith.
‘I had him as a player. As a manager, he has done a good job wherever he is.
‘He had some problems at Bristol but has come back to Aberdeen and brought stability to the club.
‘He’s adapted to what he’s got and I don’t think Rangers would go far wrong in attempting to get Derek.’
Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne has said he would refuse permission for the Ibrox club to talk to McInnes if they came calling.
Rangers are also hoping to make an appointment of director of football — a role which Smith has been a vocal sceptic of throughout his career.
Ross Wilson, Southampton’s head of scouting, wants more time to ponder the prospect of moving to Ibrox.
Meanwhile, Smith, a Sky Sports pundit at Rangers’ 6-0 Scottish Cup win over Hamilton yesterday, stated that the 33-point gap to Celtic in the league table was ‘unacceptable’.
‘Everybody has to appreciate it’s the first year back in the Premiership,’ he said. ‘It’s a harder league than the Championship and everybody is experiencing it for the first time.
‘I think they’re finding it more difficult than they thought they would. It’s a year where everyone is going to have to make an assessment of where the club is and what they have to do to go forward.
‘I wasn’t particularly surprised that Rangers ended up in second or third position. What I was a wee bit surprised about is the number of points they are away from Celtic. But that’s a credit to Celtic and the way they’ve handled the season.
‘Rangers find themselves 30-odd points behind which is obviously an unacceptable circumstance for a club like Rangers.’