WHAT an absolute embarrassment for Rangers Football Club.

For them to take the length of time they have taken to identify their No.1 target to become their next manager in Derek McInnes and then to not get it across the line, is a shambles. It’s been an absolute disaster.

The problem they have now is the next person to be offered the job knows they weren’t the first choice. They know they’re not the preferred option. If it’s taken them six weeks to come up with a list that had Derek McInnes on the top of it, how long is it going to be before they find someone else?

Read more: Stewart Fisher: Never mind what’s next for Rangers, what’s next for Derek McInnes?

In my opinion, to make him the manager of Rangers was the most obvious decision. It should have taken six seconds, not six weeks. For them to wait this long to carry out the process and then to knock them back, it’s the biggest slap in the face.

Derek had spoken out at the weekend about not being happy at the way the whole saga has been played out and dragged on. It’s clearly annoyed him.

The indecision and the way the whole saga has been left hanging certainly hasn’t helped. It’s been a circus.

In my opinion, if Rangers had acted swiftly and gone straight for him as they should have done and approached Aberdeen weeks ago, he may very well have been in the home dug out at Ibrox this weekend. Instead, indecision and pondering from Rangers has left them now looking silly.

It was clear when Pedro Caixinha was still in the job that things weren’t going well. At that point you’d expect a board to start drawing up a Plan B just in case, but it’s hard to see that now given how long this whole fiasco has taken to still not come to a conclusion.

It’s embarrassing for them and unprecedented that a manager within Scotland would knock back the Rangers job.

Read more: Rangers 'endorse' Derek McInnes' decision to remain as Aberdeen boss​

This farce throws the club back into complete disarray. As if things weren’t bad enough with the Caixinha situation, this just compounds it and makes it 10 times worse.

The question for Rangers isn’t why Derek turned them down, it really doesn’t matter. The big thing the supporters should be asking of their board is what do they do now?

I feel sorry for Graeme Murty that for effectively the third time now he has to step in and sweep up after the board. The fact of the matter is he’s done quite well as interim manager, he’s got the respect of the players so therefore it would make sense to just keep him there until the end of the season unless Rangers have a short list. But I very much doubt that.

If they at least do that, you could say it would give some time for whoever the Rangers board go for feel as if they are first choice at that given time rather than second best.

However, now is the time for strong leadership at Rangers, and for me strong leadership isn’t leaving your under 20s head coach in charge until May.

Read more: Stewart Fisher: Never mind what’s next for Rangers, what’s next for Derek McInnes?

What message will that send to supporters, no matter how well he’s been doing?

Would the fans accept Graeme Murty until the end of the season given the board have taken over a month to get this far? I’m not sure.

You also have to say that there should be an element of sympathy for both sets of players who have been left hanging on throughout all of this.

If they do leave him in until the end of the season, for me that’s not looking long term. Over the last few weeks very little has come out, but they supporters deserve answers. There needs to be leadership from the board, down to the manager and on to the field.

They need strength throughout the club and a lead to be taken, but fans will be even less convinced that will happen now than they were six weeks ago when this all kicked off.

You have to give credit to Derek. It takes guts to not just say ‘I’ll go jump on this job’ given he’s an ex-Rangers player. Between this and the Sunderland job, that’s two massive positions he’s knocked back to stay with them.

He’s taken some flak from their support, but there’s no doubt he’s shown incredible loyalty to stay at in the North East. He obviously feels there is something worth holding on to at Aberdeen, something yet to prove.

For those left picking the new Rangers manager, there’s surely even more to prove.