Rangers told to target 'ideal' manager candidate who's rejected them once and can spark title race vs Celtic

Kris Boyd has urged Rangers to get after a former player as their next manager if they want to hunt down Celtic this season.

The Light Blues are looking for their latest head coach after Russell Martin’s calamitous 123 day reign left the club in the bottom six, and he’s been sacked. Boyd believes Derek McInnes is the man to target after his rampant start at Hearts has the Jambos top of the Premiership pile heading into the international break, having also had success in Scotland with St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock. The ex-striker reckons McInnes, who featured as a player at Ibrox and turned down a management role while at Aberdeen, can start clawing back points on Celtic who Rangers currently trail by nine.

Boyd wrote in his Scottish Sun column: Derek McInnes has once before turned down the chance to become manager of Rangers. He wouldn't do it again. Should Ibrox chairman Andrew Cavenagh make an approach to Hearts for their boss, then I'm convinced it would happen.

Why Derek McInnes is possible next Rangers manager contender

“Del is a shrewd operator. There would be assurances he'd want before he agreed to replace Russell Martin. It's not so long ago, remember, that he turned the job down when he was offered the chance to replace Pedro Caixinha. Things have change since 2017, though. And while the club is back in crisis mode — and I'm sure he'd have various questions that would have to be answered — I'm convinced he'd want it this time.

“Hearts may be top of the Premiership and they clearly have a good thing going now Tony Bloom is involved at Tynecastle. But you don't reject Rangers twice. For me, he's the ideal man to take charge now and if I was Cavenagh he's the one I'd be going for. We're talking about someone who knows the club inside out.

“He grew up as a fan and obviously wore the jersey. More than that, Del knows Scottish football as a whole and he'd know exactly what's required there. There may be some supporters who wouldn't want him, simply because he turned them down before. But far more would recognise that he ticks so many of the boxes of what's needed.

Kris Boyd on next Rangers manager

“We're talking about someone who is respected by players as a real man-manager. Del played under Walter Smith and there's no doubt a bit of the great man rubbed off on him. However, only time will tell on whether Cavenagh and Co recognise that. This is a regime that's not just got it wrong in their appointment of a manager but there has to be some big questions asked on how things are structured behind the scenes.

“This title race isn't over. I said recently that it was but Celtic have really dropped off since then. Hearts are out in front at the moment and deserve so much praise for the start to the season they've made. But I see teams talking points off each other in the coming months and the gap at the top could be closed.

“At one point on Sunday, Rangers had moved to within four points of Celtic. Obviously that all changed when Falkirk equalised and Brendan Rodgers' side scored their late winner. But all is not well at Parkhead. If Rangers can bring in a manager who gets a spark out of the players then they can get going again.”