Derek McInnes Edges Closer to Rangers Return

While Scotland basks in the glow of a World Cup summer, another storyline is quietly building that could reshape the domestic landscape. Derek McInnes, the man who dragged Hearts to within minutes of a first title in 66 years, is edging towards a return to Rangers – the club he once patrolled as a combative midfielder.

If it happens, it would be a seismic twist in a Scottish football year already heavy with drama.

From nearly-men to the other side of the divide

Barely a month has passed since Hearts’ agonising title near-miss, when Martin O'Neill’s Celtic snatched glory at the death. McInnes had taken a squad many expected to fade and turned them into the most relentless Hearts side of the modern era, delivering a record points tally and pushing Celtic to the last, breathless minutes.

Now, he could be heading to Ibrox – to the very team he finished above last season.

The path is clearing. Danny Rohl, who spoke of "five cup finals" after the split and then watched his Rangers side lose four of them to slump to third, is set to leave for RB Salzburg. That exit would open the door for McInnes to walk back into Govan, where he played between 1995 and 2000 and forged a bond that has never really gone away.

Tony Docherty, his long-time assistant and one of the few who truly understands McInnes’ inner wiring, sees the move as almost tailor-made.

"It's a brilliant opportunity - if it presents itself," Docherty told the Scottish Football Podcast. "If it goes the way it looks as though it's going to go, I think it's the perfect fit for Rangers to be totally honest."

The edge Rangers have been missing

Rangers’ problems have been dissected for years. Tactics, recruitment, structure – all under scrutiny. But one accusation has lingered stubbornly: mentality.

Season after season, questions about Rangers’ resolve have resurfaced, none louder than after last term’s collapse. They reached the split one point behind Hearts and ahead of Celtic, with everything to play for. Rohl framed the run-in as five cup finals. His team shrank under the pressure.

Docherty is convinced McInnes is built for exactly that kind of storm.

"Derek is a hugely competitive person," he said. "You saw that last year, when people thought his team were going to disappear. Purely through him and the recruitment he did they were competitive right the way through."

That has been the story of his career. At Aberdeen, he repeatedly took the fight to Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, stacking up second-place finishes while operating miles behind in budget and resources. At Kilmarnock, he turned a club often fighting at the wrong end of the table into a side capable of bloodying Old Firm noses and reaching Europe in his second season.

At Hearts, he did it again. Written off, then written off again, his team just refused to vanish.

"I've got no doubt having that edge and having played at Rangers and having that affinity with the club, it will be a fantastic appointment," Docherty added. "It is that mentality, you saw it in abundance last year. You've seen it all through his career."

Perfect storm at Ibrox?

Rory Loy, who knows the demands of Ibrox from his own time as a Rangers striker, believes the club could hardly have scripted the situation better: compensation for Rohl, and the chance to reinvest in a manager who understands the league, the club, and the pressure.

"To think three or four weeks ago, some Rangers fans - given the decline after the split - were looking to move him [Rohl] on," Loy said. "To get money for him and to use that money to recruit Derek McInnes, I don't think it could have fallen more favourably for Rangers."

For Loy, the key word is the same one that has haunted Rangers for the last decade.

"The one thing Derek McInnes will bring above all else is the one thing that's been levelled at Rangers for the last decade - that's what is between the ears, that's mentality."

Loy goes further. He is adamant last season’s title race would have looked very different had McInnes already been in the Ibrox dugout.

"I genuinely believe that if Derek McInnes was the Rangers manager going into the split, they don't collapse," he said. "They might not have won it - but I don't think they collapse. They take it to the last day at the very least."

O’Neill, McInnes and a looming duel

Across the city, Celtic are not standing still. Martin O'Neill, fresh from delivering a league and Scottish Cup double, has been installed as manager and already looks every inch the modern-day powerhouse at Parkhead. Seven straight wins to snatch last season’s title underlined his capacity to drive a team through the most intense pressure.

That is the level McInnes would be walking into. His managerial honours list is modest by comparison – a League Cup with Aberdeen in 2014 and a Championship title with Kilmarnock. But the raw medal count barely scratches at the job he has done.

At Pittodrie, he ran into Rodgers’ juggernaut and still kept Aberdeen consistently punching above their financial weight, reaching finals and finishing best of the rest. At Kilmarnock, he engineered Old Firm scalps and European qualification. At Hearts, he built a side that refused to bow to expectation and came within minutes of tearing up the script entirely.

Loy knows what that clash of styles and personalities could mean for the league.

"His one issue may be is he's coming up against a powerhouse when it comes to these things in Martin O'Neill," he said. "He has a proven track record. To win seven on the bounce last year to win the title was unbelievable.

"And with Martin O'Neill in charge, he has a proven track record, I think it has all the ingredients for nip-and-tuck, last game of the season stuff."

Docherty shares that sense of anticipation.

"If it does happen and Martin O'Neill is in place at Celtic and Derek McInnes is in place at Rangers it's going to be one hell of a title race this year," he said. "Derek's strength is his longevity. He's been a manager for 18 years. For 15 years I was assistant to him. It's incredible to have that longevity and that amount of success."

The deal is not done yet. But if McInnes does walk back through the doors at Ibrox, Scottish football will not just be getting another managerial appointment. It will be getting a straight fight: O’Neill’s proven power against McInnes’ relentless edge, with a title race that threatens to go right to the wire.