Barry Ferguson gives Derek McInnes verdict as Rangers eye Kilmarnock manager
The so-called ‘new manager bounce’ phenomenon is well-established in football, and how Rangers could do with one of those on Barry Ferguson’s managerial debut away to Kilmarnock?
Rangers travel to Rugby Park at the lowest of ebbs following Saturday’s stunning capitulation at home to St Mirren.
A result which cost Philippe Clement his job. A long-overdue decision, in the minds of many Gers supporters.
Kris Boyd feels Barry Ferguson can revitalise this Rangers squad – giving an underperforming group of players the proverbial rocket up the backside required – but Kilmarnock away is hardly the ideal fixture with which to begin a new, albeit interim, era.
The Glasgow giants may have obliterated Killie 6-0 back in December but they also lost 1-0 in Ayrshire only four months ago. In fact, Rangers have been defeated at Rugby Park five times since 2017.
As such, Ferguson is under no illusions about the size of the task facing him, especially with so little time at Auchenhowie in which to devise a gameplan.
Barry Ferguson praises Derek McInnes as Rangers prepare for Kilmarnock trip
“I’ve not got long because I’ve only got one training session, but I am not going to use that as an excuse ahead of the game tomorrow night against Kilmarnock,” the typically straight-talking Ferguson says, the legendary Rangers skipper joined at Ibrox by the familiar faces of Allan McGregor, Billy Dodds and Neil McCann.
“We came in last night, I’ll be brutally honest at about half past four. [Me and my coaching staff] sat down for about four or five hours. We had to go through a lot of things so we were ready and prepared for the boys coming in this morning.”
Ferguson insists that Rangers will be ready and raring to go, however. The short-term replacement for Philippe Clement is also looking forward to testing himself against a manager linked with taking the job long-term.
Rangers News understands that Derek McInnes would consider leaving Kilmarnock for Rangers, seven years after he rejected the chance to replace Mark Warburton in the Ibrox hotseat.
“I am not [overloading] them with too much information, because I think its too short notice,” Ferguson adds. “But [the Rangers players] totally understand the way we are going to go against a very good Kilmarnock team and against a very good, experienced manager.”
Ally McCoist thinks McInnes will be a candidate for Ibrox job
McInnes has spent the last 12 years coaching in the Scottish game, spending nearly a decade at Aberdeen before taking over at Kilmarnock in 2021.
He ended The Dons’ 19-year trophy drought, dragged them back into Europe, and then took Celtic right down to the wire in a thrilling title race in 2015.
McInnes’ time at Kilmarnock has also proven to be a considerable success. Killie went from Scotland’s second tier to the Europa League in the blinking of an eye, that remarkable rise earning the 53-year-old the SFWA Manager of the Year award for the second time.
And Rangers legend Ally McCoist feels McInnes ‘would come into the equation’ now as the one of the most high-pressure jobs in British football comes up for grabs again.
“He is a fine manager at Kilmarnock. He knows the league, players and club,” McCoist says. ”There are one or two options, but I don’t think there are any glaringly obvious candidates right now either.”
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