Kevin Thomson: Plenty candidates for a club of Rangers' size

Iwrote in a column last month that I had some doubts Derek McInnes was the right man for Rangers. For whatever reason, he has decided not to speak to the club.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes spurned Rangers' advances. Picture: Rob Casey/SNS

I respect his decision. He has done well so far at Aberdeen. He did well at St Johnstone but not so well at Bristol City. He has come back up the road and done well at Aberdeen – but I do think he has done well in circumstances that have helped him to do well at Aberdeen. He did not have Rangers, Hearts or Hibs in the league for a period of time.

I don’t know if a feeling in his gut told him the circumstances are not quite right for him to go back to the club. But in my view there is never a wrong time to take the reins at Rangers if you really believe in yourself.

You can only go with what Dave King said at the agm about how they backed Pedro Caixinha and the new manager will be backed like any other Rangers manager. The chairman seemed to be saying that regardless what was spent in the summer, the new manager will be backed as well.

To me it looked as through he was insinuating there would be at least £10 million to spend on new players because that is what Pedro spent.

Rangers should have a list as long as their arm of managerial candidates – they are one of the biggest clubs in the world, it’s one of the best jobs in the country. I understand those down south with big reputations demand big bucks, the same as players. But I do think there are candidates out there who would not cost Rangers an arm and a leg in compensation and who would be as good as anyone when trying to get Rangers back where they should be.

Three weeks ago you looked at the Rangers team and thought ‘oh dear, they are a bit of a mess’. They had been beaten by Hamilton Accies and also beaten by Dundee live on television. But then they go and twice beat the so-called second best team in Scotland comfortably, albeit that they had to defend well at Pittodrie when down to ten men. But the game at Ibrox it was three going on four or five.

They looked half like a Rangers team should. Young Ross McCrorie was exceptional. He’s a really good asset to have for club and country – he could potentially be that centre-half who can also play in the middle of the pitch as an extra midfielder. Apart from Scott Brown, Scotland does not have a defensive midfielder that has that nasty streak and likes to put their foot in and plays behind he ball. The next step for any manager coming in is to get that sort of performance 
consistently.

I see the club have confirmed Graeme Murty will continue in the caretaker role until at least the end of the year. The end of the year is only three weeks away. Reading between the lines, if the club is not as strong financially as people might have thought, then appointing Murty on a longer term basis might be a suitable arrangement. Bar those two disappointing results he has done well again. Every club has disappointing results. It is how you bounce back, like they did against Aberdeen.

I am not sure if all the fans would be happy if Murty was appointed until the end of the season. But, having spoken to plenty, I do know they will be content to have a team that fights and shows determination – as they did against Aberdeen.

But it’s about winning games such as today’s against Ross County. The club are not going to be in any worse state if they can build momentum under Murty.

That might be preferable to installing a new manager who they have to back and spend money on. The budget is better spent in the summer than it is in January – even though I was a January signing, and I’d like to think a good one for Rangers!