From Caixinha. To Murty. Asking McInnes. And then to Steven Gerrard.

Hap Hapablap

Hap Hapablap

Well-Known Member
Fine lines.

Been thinking about the appointment of Steven Gerrard, the approach to Derek McInnes and the decision makers at the heart of Rangers FC.

At this moment, the appointment of Mark Allen as DoF looks shrewd and is starting to bear fruit. I think it's safe to say when we offered the managers role to McInnes, then it looked like it this was the complete opposite.

So what prompted that decision. Who made it? As things stand now then I cannot believe it was Mark Allen. Football is of course unlike any other industry and decisions can be made from the heart instead of from the head.
At that moment in time we were a car heading for a tree, a plane heading for a mountain and somebody thought getting McInnes from Aberdeen and parting with >£1m for the privilige was the way to go.

Who ultimately was that person? Or persons? What if McInnes had said YES? The very thought.

Lets forget about the Caixinha debacle as it has been dissected on here enough. It was a massive mistake of that there is no doubt. The Directors (or perhaps Director) took a punt on Red and it came up very, very Black.

What happened afterwards was Murty. Murty got that response that is quite common in football. A new manager bounce. He adopted the arm round the shoulder I'm your best mate tactic. And for a time, it worked.

I'd say 90% of people on here believed, me included, that Murty was merely the physical presence in the dugout and Walter was managing Rangers from his Comfy chair in Helensburgh. Right up to March 11th 2018 we all thought we had a genuine shot at the title. Nobody need reminding what happened that day.

Sitting in the stands that day was of course Steven Gerrard. Gerrard had visited Ibrox prior to that in his role as Liverpool youth coach in October. I'm pretty sure that on that Sunday in March, or prior to it, Steven Gerrard had been asked the question.

As above, by whom?

Whoever it was is the type of forward thinker that our club needs. Somebody who gets the type of Person required to lead Rangers. The person or persons who thought that Caixinha>>>>Murty>>>>McInnes was the way to go should be thanked for their support but asked to leave the table.
 
It was Mark Allen.

He had the balls to front up the idea which may have sank like a lead ferry.

So good for him. We need to move away from the caixinha/murty stuff.
Rangers were largely being run by committee and to a degree still are for some things.

But when we’re getting it right on the park thankfully no-one cares.
 
BobbyShearer said:
It was Mark Allen.

He had the balls to front up the idea which may have sank like a lead ferry.

So good for him. We need to move away from the caixinha/murty stuff.
Rangers were largely being run by committee and to a degree still are for some things.

But when we’re getting it right on the park thankfully no-one cares.
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I get what you're saying. But "getting it right on the park" comes from making the decision of who to appoint as manager.
 
All praise the Stevie

That’s all I can say. :)

Derek McInnes. FFS. It doesn’t bear thinking about :(
 
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Dave King is good friends with Kenny Dalglish who is good friends with Gerrard.

I'd guess discussions have been going for some time. Yes, McInnes was offered the job but he got the distinct impression he wasn't really wanted. He wasn't.
 
I don’t think we were serious about McInnes, we had 2 matches against dolly days after the McInnes approach, I think it was a tactic to unsettle them and collect 6 points, and it did.
 
Hap Hapablap said:
I get what you're saying. But "getting it right on the park" comes from making the decision of who to appoint as manager.
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I’m not sure how that contradicts what I’ve said.
If I wasn’t clear what I meant was that, by and large, Rangers do get their calls right.

Making that one big call right covers up a lot of the squabbles and minor disagreements which lead to prolonged decision making and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

You asked who the forward thinker was and it was Mark Allen.
Handing Laurent Blanc a kings ransom that would have made the BoE blush would not have been forward thinking ;)
 
strider said:
Walter Smith was a huge advocate of Derek McInnes. I believe King went there because of that.
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Walter Smiths opinion of course should always be respected. But even he can make mistakes. If he did indeed encourage Rangers to appoint McInnes then hopefully he as well is grateful he chickened out.

What I'm trying to get across from this thread that somebody at Rangers thought outside the box and came up with a man of character capable of leading our club. If it was Allen, great.

On the flipside, I'm saying whoever floated the McInnes, McLeish etc ideas do not have the thought process or forward thinking required at Rangers and should not be decision makers at the club.
 
Hap Hapablap said:
What I'm trying to get across from this thread that somebody at Rangers thought outside the box and came up with a man of character capable of leading our club. If it was Allen, great.

On the flipside, I'm saying whoever floated the McInnes, McLeish etc ideas do not have the thought process or forward thinking required at Rangers and should not be decision makers at the club.
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These two paragraphs could provoke literally hundreds of pages of debate due to the unique nature of our club-Dave King wanted McLeish and McInnes.
Rangers historically have always stuck with what we know-there aren’t many clubs who go back so many times to ex-players. We stick with what we know because we trust what we know.

There is no co-incidence that MA was sailing close to the wind after a few months at the club-he put noses out of joint because of his approach- out with the old and no room for sentiment.
However, this is in contrast to his signing philosophy by and large: he knows that players who are successful in the Scottish league can be successful at Rangers.

Thankfully now we have a delegation of duties-those who know what’s best on the park and those who know what’s best off it.
It won’t always marry up, it won’t always be easy and it certainly won’t come without debate, argument and some disharmony.

But when the team on the park is doing the business, the sailing is going to be a lot smoother.
 
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Does it really matter who wanted mcinnes? We have Gerrard now and time to look forward and cut out all the negatives and looking back! It's time to move on, on and off the pitch.
 
Thank goodness that when McInnes fell through, the Board decided to sit tight and not appoint someone for the sake of it - as many on here were calling for them to do.

McInnes was an easy and logical appointment. I don't necessarily blame the Board for thinking of him - a degree of stability was required on the field. No one, however, was fully convinced.

I guess when McInnes faltered, the Board finally allowed Allen to get on with his job.
 
Pedro - incomprehensibly bad at his job.
Murty - not even a manager. Literally.
McInnes - Jeez, a million for that?

Gerrard - a proper football man who’s started like a proper football man with proper reasons for optimism.
 
The board's recruitment selection has, so far, not really borne fruit. Gerrard is their last roll of the dice.
 
Britannia said:
I don’t think we were serious about McInnes, we had 2 matches against dolly days after the McInnes approach, I think it was a tactic to unsettle them and collect 6 points, and it did.
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Doubt it mate, the statement from the board directly after was pretty indignant.
 
strider said:
Walter Smith was a huge advocate of Derek McInnes. I believe King went there because of that.
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Walter will always be a legend of this club and an absolute hero to me, but there’s no doubt, like Sir Alex, his judge of other managers is somewhat questionable!
 
Britannia said:
I don’t think we were serious about McInnes, we had 2 matches against dolly days after the McInnes approach, I think it was a tactic to unsettle them and collect 6 points, and it did.
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That’s wrong .

Rangers and Mcinnes talked about signings , existing players , transfer budgets , training the lot . Mcinnes was offered the job , Rangers thought he would take it .

Mcinnes shat it at the 11 th hour and didn’t bother to tell Rangers and our board slated him in a statement after believing it was a formality that he would take the job .

£1 million lighter and Mcinnes / docherty in the dug out and considine in the first 11

*shudders*
 
Remember the mhedia at the time up here to a man said Stevie Gerrard was a gamble King couldn't afford, it would backfire on him and us?

No Bear believed that shite but every mentally challenged from Timbuktu to Torbett Towers did.:D

The silence from the Scottish mhedia is golden regards SG's relative success so far.

Must admit personally, I didn't expect to be sitting here tonight dreaming of Europa League group games, I know we aren't there yet, but it's reasonable to assume our chances of doing it are a lot more realistic than say a month ago.
 
We don't know who made the decisions but they seemed logical at the time. McInnes was probably the best mid season option.
At the end of the season I thought we needed a big name to attract some decent players and I actually thought of Englands golden generation who have all recently retired. Narrowed it down to two and thought Gerrard would be a dream appointment (Frank Lampard being the other). Couldn't quite believe it when the rumours started about a week or so later.
So whoever it was had a similar mindset to myself, just that they are a respected football person and employed by RFC and I'm not but I'm open to offers.
 
Discophrenia said:
I coming round to the view that Mark Allen might turn out to be the best signing we've made made in recent history.
It's still early days, but the footballing side seems to have improved massively.
Credit must go to the board after years of incompetence.
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My question is though, should credit go to the board? For appointing Allen then yes. If Allen is the man who mentioned Gerrard then of course that decision is looking like a good one.

However, who on that board pitched the McInnes idea?
 
Ever Ready said:
We don't know who made the decisions but they seemed logical at the time. McInnes was probably the best mid season option.
At the end of the season I thought we needed a big name to attract some decent players and I actually thought of Englands golden generation who have all recently retired. Narrowed it down to two and thought Gerrard would be a dream appointment (Frank Lampard being the other). Couldn't quite believe it when the rumours started about a week or so later.
So whoever it was had a similar mindset to myself, just that they are a respected football person and employed by RFC and I'm not but I'm open to offers.
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Sorry mate, but come on that's bollocks :D
 
EKblue said:
Walter a bit like Fergie whilst a great manager couldn’t spot a good manger we need look no further than McCoist
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Jobs for the boys is all well and good when you're handing over the reigns at Kwik-Fit.

Pulling the wool over an old dears eyes is one thing.
 
McInnes knocking us back is this generations Sliding Doors moment.

As embarrassing as it was, it was totally worth it now.
 
Hap Hapablap said:
Sorry mate, but come on that's bollocks :D
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I know sounds it but as Murty was never going to be our manager surely we were all wondering who would be next. McLeish, ' Arry someone with some loose 'gers connection?? I did think of Beckham but knew there was no chance of that same as Rio, Owen, Mad David James FFS, Weird I know but I just thought Gerrard would fit don't know why but just seemed right. And here he is.
 
Coda said:
Walter will always be a legend of this club and an absolute hero to me, but there’s no doubt, like Sir Alex, his judge of other managers is somewhat questionable!
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They tend to pick people they think are a little bit like themselves. People from similar backgrounds.

In reality their choices are a pale shadow of what they were themselves.
 
Ever Ready said:
I know sounds it but as Murty was never going to be our manager surely we were all wondering who would be next. McLeish, ' Arry someone with some loose 'gers connection?? I did think of Beckham but knew there was no chance of that same as Rio, Owen, Mad David James FFS, Weird I know but I just thought Gerrard would fit don't know why but just seemed right. And here he is.
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I'd like to see the 300 page manager thread but I don't know how to look for it but I'd wager that no one mentions Gerrard in it.
 
Paul Murray and Walter Smith were huge advocates of McInnes. King was never comfy with him, hence the six week delay in offering him it.

Mark Allen, to his eternal credit, was ambitious. He approached Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Thomas Tuchel. Now, we got kb’d but at least he got the level we should be thinking at!

He floated Gerrard, Dave King was excited in a way he clearly wasn’t by McInnes and here we are. Thankfully!
 
If you look at the series of administrative gaffes concocted by this board, they pretty much all took place before Allen had a chance to effect any meaningful influence on proceedings.

Warburton’s departure; Caixinha’s appointment and dismissal; McInnes’s disastrous courting and even Murty getting the nod - Allen hadn’t really had an opportunity to grab the bull by the horns until all of that had taken place.

He was rumoured to have been against McInnes’s appointment urging the board to look at alternatives, but the story goes that King was persuaded by Walter to make McInnes an offer and the DoF was forced to bite his tongue.

Perhaps his opposition was one of the reasons McInnes decided against it, but when he did it left the club in limbo and it could be at that point a decision was made to refrain from anymore hasty decisions giving Murty the job in the interim so Allen could work on a more far reaching replacement.

I still have my doubts that Gerrard was the plan from Xmas onwards because there’s always been a big question mark concerning the period from then until March when Gerrard attended the last Old Firm game at Ibrox.

He claimed no approach was made until after that match so it does beg the question: exactly what were we doing about a new manager until then?

I still believe Murty was the preferred option of the board until it started to drastically unravel in the wake of that defeat and I think it was only that point Allen came up with the idea of the ex Liverpool skipper.

Regardless of how and when it transpired, it seems logical to me that Allen was the inspiration behind it - it was his remit after all - and right now, it’s beginning to look inspired.
 
Davidsmith1 said:
I'd like to see the 300 page manager thread but I don't know how to look for it but I'd wager that no one mentions Gerrard in it.
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Haha luckily for you, the rest of FF and my own sanity I don't post my every thought on Rangers as theres not enough time in the day plus I'd be slaughtered mercilessly for it, and rightly so as I'm usually wrong.
Heres a couple to keep you amused.
Morelos isn't an out and out striker, he is a great player though and he could be our Kenny Dalglish.
I still think we will sign a big name striker, maybe Defoe but this very morning the Geordie chap from West Ham came into my head, y'know the one that was at Liverpool Andy summat. Absolute bollox and no reason behind any of it so I normally keep it to myself but in case any of it ever happens, you read it here first!!:D
 
David Edgar said:
Paul Murray and Walter Smith were huge advocates of McInnes. King was never comfy with him, hence the six week delay in offering him it.

Mark Allen, to his eternal credit, was ambitious. He approached Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Thomas Tuchel. Now, we got kb’d but at least he got the level we should be thinking at!

He floated Gerrard, Dave King was excited in a way he clearly wasn’t by McInnes and here we are. Thankfully!
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Did we actualy approach tuchel?! Was never going to happen but I like the fact we were willing to aim high
 
David Edgar said:
Paul Murray and Walter Smith were huge advocates of McInnes. King was never comfy with him, hence the six week delay in offering him it.

Mark Allen, to his eternal credit, was ambitious. He approached Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Thomas Tuchel. Now, we got kb’d but at least he got the level we should be thinking at!

He floated Gerrard, Dave King was excited in a way he clearly wasn’t by McInnes and here we are. Thankfully!
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I am also certain that the reason McInnes knocked it back was because he knew King and a few others were less than totally convinced by his appointment.

McInnes wanted the job but felt that he would not have the Board’s full backing. A couple of dodgy results would have seen him in trouble particularly from those that never really wanted him in the first place.

To say he simply shat it is a bit lazy.
 
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