Derek McInnes has seen his fair share of Rangers managers of the years but the Kilmarnock boss has never faced off against Barry Ferguson.
The Kilmarnock manager finds himself cast into the limelight as Rangers look to face off against the Ayrshire side in what will be Barry Ferguson’s first match as interim Ibrox boss.
Derek McInnes has masterminded a number of positive results against Rangers in recent seasons and will be hoping to add insult to injury at Rugby Park.
But before the two former Rangers teammates butt heads in Kilmarnock, Derek McInnes has paid tribute to the outgoing Philippe Clement.
Derek McInnes hails ‘class’ act Philippe Clement
In glowing comments, Derek McInnes hailed Philippe Clement’s contribution to Rangers and claims the Belgian ‘acted with a lot of class and dignity’ in a tumultuous spell at Ibrox.
”I think it’s not unusual in the sense that throughout my career as manager you come up against teams that have just made a change,” McInnes told Sky Sports.
”Always disappointed to see a manager lose his job and Philippe Clement, obviously the decision to remove him.
“I think it’s always sad to see a manager lose his job as I say. I thought he handled the job well, I thought he acted with a lot of class and dignity.
”It’s always as I say a shame to see a manager go but such is the context of our jobs that sometimes if the demand isn’t met then changes come.”
Derek McInnes on ‘fiercely competitive’ Barry Ferguson
And what about the man who has just replaced Philippe Clement in the shape of Barry Ferguson?
Derek McInnes knows all about Barry Ferguson from their time together at Rangers, where a young Baz came through the ranks into a competitive squad in Glasgow.
McInnes claims Ferguson is ‘fiercely competitive’ and reckons that is going to wash off on this timid Ibrox squad.
That’s even if the Kilmarnock manager has little clue what system the former Ibrox midfielder is going to pick.
”When you’re up against someone who is just in position then it’s difficult to gauge what team they’ll pick and what system they’ll play,” said McInnes.
”But knowing Barry and having played with Barry he’s fiercely competitive. I think he’ll instil that in the team with the staff he’s got round about him.
”As a young player coming through at Rangers he was a talented player, we could all see that.
”We’d all heard about him at first-team level when he came through and then he became a teammate.
”I think at Rangers talent gets you in the door and Barry was that coming through the youths but without a fiercely competitive nature, you’re not going to get the job done at Rangers.
”Barry will be instilling a lot of that into the current team.
“It certainly makes it different in terms of the build up (but) it’s still the same group of players on the pitch.”
Derek McInnes on Rangers manager’s job
Derek McInnes has also been named amongst the frontrunners for the permanent role of Rangers manager.
Barry Ferguson has signed up for a three-month interim stint and the current Rangers manager wouldn’t be drawn on potentially taking the job full-time.
Rangers News exclusively revealed that McInnes is interested in the Rangers job, as he has been numerous times previously, with the Kilmarnock manager facing questions on the gig.
Refusing to be drawn on any speculation, McInnes predictably told reporters that his focus is fully on Kilmarnock.
”I’m just dealing with the game tomorrow night,” McInnes said.
”I’ve got try and make sure we’re looking after Kilmarnock and doing what we need to do here.
”I think from our point of view we still have so many ambitions and targets for this season, we still want to be a top six team.
”Ultimately that’s my only concern at the minute, is just to try and make sure we get a winning performance tomorrow night.”
