Derek McInnes has taken over as Rangers manager on a three-year contract after the club agreed compensation with Hearts on Wednesday. The move gives Rangers a third boss inside a year and hands the 54-year-old a squad that finished third in the 2025-26 Scottish Premiership without silverware.
McInnes replaces Danny Rohl at Ibrox after Rohl’s move to Austrian side RB Salzburg was confirmed earlier on Wednesday. Rangers lost four of their final five league games under Rohl, a late slide that left the club behind Celtic and Hearts.
Rangers Turn to McInnes
McInnes arrives with a long Scottish track record and more than 800 games in management. He began his coaching career at St Johnstone in 2007, joined Aberdeen in 2013 and spent eight years at Pittodrie, where he lifted the League Cup in his first full season and finished second behind Celtic in four successive Premiership campaigns.
He later returned to Kilmarnock after a 10-month break in January 2022 and steered them back to the top flight before finishes of 10th, fourth and ninth in three Premiership terms at Rugby Park. Last summer he moved to Hearts, where the club ended second and missed out on the title to Celtic on the final day.
Hearts And The Old Snub
Rangers and Hearts crossed paths again this season, with Hearts edging Rangers out of the Champions League qualifiers. McInnes had also turned down an approach from Rangers in December 2017 to stay at Aberdeen, making this appointment a second chance for a club that has now changed managers three times in less than a year.
Andrew Cavenagh said McInnes is “someone we have always rated highly” and “exactly what this club needs at this moment in time.” He also thanked Rohl for his “service and commitment to Rangers” and said he and his staff had put in “a significant amount of hard work” during their time in charge.
What McInnes Inherits
Alan Archibald, Paul Sheerin and Craig Clark will assist him. McInnes said, “It is a real honour,” and added that “The demands here are clear and our supporters rightfully have high expectations. It is up to me, my staff and my players to meet those expectations, and have this club performing as it should.”
He also said, “There is a lot of hard work ahead, but already the preparations have begun and I am looking forward to meeting the current squad in the coming weeks and welcoming some new faces.” That leaves Rangers with a new manager, a fresh staff and the same immediate demand that has shadowed the season’s end: turn a third-place finish into something closer to the standards the club says it expects.
