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Dereck McInnes is set to join Rangers from Hearts, what does he bring to the Glasgow side?

Why is he going to Rangers?

    With the incoming departure of Danny Röhl to RB Leipzig,  Rangers need a new replacement in order to challenge for the title next season. McInnes led Hearts to a second placed finish and nearly won a historic Scottish Title, but fell on the last day of the season against Celtic. At Rangers, he will have more money to play around with, which results in a better calibre of players in his squad. Alongside that he is managing a massive club with a huge, passionate fan base and is a former Rangers player with him enjoying a 5 year stint there so he knows what Rangers are about and their high expectations.

Why Might Rangers Have Picked Him?

   Rangers will have preferred McInnes to other contenders as he is a homegrown Scottish Manager from Paisley, Glasgow who also has vast experience in managing in Scotland and knows how the game is played. Also, his stint at Hearts last year when the challenged for the title proves he can go far and can try and win trophies and with that extra bit of experience now and the bigger budget at Rangers, he and Rangers should be looking forward to the next campaign, where they should be challenging for everything.

Image: Brian Aitkenhead, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Style of play

    At Hearts, McInnes was known for playing an organised, efficient 4-4-2 formation that is hard to break down. The central players stay extra tight, meaning that play is forced wide and is easier to win back as the byline is there. Despite being defensively solid, they also like to keep the ball with them averaging about 60% of the ball. However, against the old firm, they averaged only 35% possessionbut seen as he is to join the one of the old firm, that stat should remain on about 60% possession per game. When advancing forward, his teams rely heavily on wing play,which accounts for 3/4 of their attacks, and cross it into the box for their 2 forwards to get on the end of. McInnes utilises 2 strikers who alternate positions to confuse their opponents and have contributed massively to their 67 goals scored this season. He also confuses opponents by changing formation mid game, he typically changes to a 3-4-1-2 or a 3-5-2 depending on how his opponents set out. At the back, he likes his teams to be defensively solid and he has only let in 37 goals this season which is just shy of a goal a game (0.97). He has a high tackle volume and average 17.1 tackles per game and 8.5 interceptions per match. In front of the defence is his midfielders, who play in a central pivot, they have a pressing player who wins the ball back and quickly gets it forward, they also have a player who sits deeper and plugs passing routes and delays counter attacks to enable the team to get back. There is  also another midfielder who collects the ball from little pockets of space and hits passes to the final third of the pitch.

Can he put up with the pressure?

    Managing Rangers means you have to step up and take on the pressure from the fans, the media and most importantly, the board. At Hearts, he was massively overachieving and was very popular among the supporters and the board. If he doesn't start well at Rangers, he will be under immediate scrutiny and his image as a top manager in Scotland will be severely impacted and could affect his career later on. We've seen so many times on managers stepping up to big clubs and struggling like Thomas Frank at Tottenham and Liam Rosenior at Chelsea. His pedigree at Hears especially but also Aberdeen and Kilmarnock proves he can compete with the big guns and if he can do it without the big budgets and higher quality players that the big clubs have, he will find managing one easy. 

Impact on Hearts

   The departure of Dereck McInnes is devastating for Hearts. He was crucial behind their unbelievable season and is a humongous loss for the Jam Tarts. The result of his departure means that the Edinburgh side will have to find a new head coach and with a high achieving season late time out, the fans and board are expecting the new boss to hit the ground running and pick up where they left off. It will also have a huge impact on the players as they had a great relationship with their gaffer and he really got the best of them. Hearts will have to find a manager who implements a similar style to their predecessor Dereck McInnes.

Final Words