DEREK McINNES last night criticised Rangers for their handling of the search for a new manager and admitted the constant speculation about himself had negatively affected Aberdeen.
Rangers have now entered their sixth week since sacking Pedro Caixinha and while no official move has been made towards Aberdeen or their manager, McInnes remains a leading candidate and the Pittodrie club are stealing themselves for an approach to come from Glasgow this week.
He has spent the past month and more dodging questions about a possible return to Ibrox and had to do so again in the wake of Rangers’ 2-1 win at Pittodrie.
Read more: Aberdeen 1, Rangers 2: Dire day for Dons as 10 men hold on for victory
And the manner in which the 46-year-old responded to a question about his position came as a surprise given where his near future might lie.
McInnes said: “I made my position clear a few weeks ago and this has been ongoing. It just feels as if it has dragged on and dragged on. I’m not happy with how things have been played out.
“I know you boys have a job to do and must be getting fed some sort of stuff, so there has been plenty of encouragement to run stories. Ex-players seem to know a lot more than everybody else.
“Everybody seems to be in the know and every other day there is someone giving an opinion on my future and what Rangers are doing. It’s not been as straightforward as it should have been the last few weeks.
“It’s certainly not doing us any favours It’s been the elephant in the room for the last five or six weeks. The chairman came out and said something last week. I’m not going to stand here and make any assumptions about what another club wants to do."
It was only last week when McInnes insisted he was going nowhere but when asked if he still stood by his comments in the wake of fresh links with him and Rangers, McInnes added: “It’s wrong for me to make a comment on speculation or assumption. I am manager of Aberdeen and my job is to get a winning team on the pitch. That’s all I’ve ever done.”
What can be taken from this is that McInnes believes that if he is indeed the man Rangers wants then he is bemused and frustrated as to why nothing has happen so long after Caixinha was removed from his post.
And if Sunday’s defeat were to be his last game in charge, then it was a bad way to say goodbye to Aberdeen after five-and-a-half mostly successful years.
Read more: Aberdeen 1, Rangers 2: Dire day for Dons as 10 men hold on for victory
Rangers, who played the last 25 minutes with ten men after Ryan Jack was sent off, deservedly won and the result sent them to second in the table.
Graeme Murty, the interim manager, heaped praise on Jack for the way he handled himself at Pittodrie despite the former Aberdeen captain being sent off for the fourth time of the season.
The midfielder was red carded by referee Willie Collum for a challenge on Stevie May early in the second-half.
Until that moment, Jack has been easily the most impressive player on the park and while there is every chance Rangers will appeal – the midfielder has incredibly had two red cards rescinded - his tackle was crude at best.
When asked about the red card, Murty said: “I don’t actually want to talk about it. I’m not trying to be boring but I’d rather talk about the positives for the team and the character they showed. I’m not going shout about the referee.
“I feel for Ryan. I know he’s gutted. We’ll have a look at it again and we’ll decide what to do as a football club but I thought he handled the occasion up to that point remarkably well.
"He showed a degree of composure I’m not sure I would have been capable of in his shoes. I’m very disappointed for him."
And as for whether Murty would be in charge for next weekend’s home game against Ross County, he said: “You know as much as me. I’m just here until I’m told otherwise. As soon as you guys hear, give me a bell.”
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