Derek McInnes makes 'stable' Hearts comparison with Rangers woe as former Jambos boss takes defiant stance

Former Hearts boss Derek McInnes claims he left a ‘stable and comfortable environment’ last season at Tynecastle for his new challenge at Rangers.

The 55-year old left Gorgie for Govan in June after being minutes away from securing Hearts a historic SPFL Premiership title. In his first and only season at Tynecastle, the Jambos got off to a flyer, winning nine and drawing three of their opening 12 fixtures - however his fortunes at Ibrox have been very different thus far.

McInnes has failed to win five of his first seven games in charge of Rangers in all competitions. A midweek defeat to Czech minnows Jablonec in the UEFA Conference League play-off meant for the first time in nine years, there’ll be no European football at Ibrox. On the domestic front things aren’t much better, as they kicked off the season with a draw away to Dundee United followed by defeat at home to Hibs.

McInnes was minutes away from writing his name in Gorgie folklore last season. | SNS Group

McInnes left ‘stable’ Hearts environment for Rangers challenge

The Light Blues finished below their Edinburgh rivals in the league last season for the first time since 2015 as McInnes is now tasked with bridging the gap he helped create. The Rangers boss claims he knew there was ‘work to be done’ at Ibrox this season and that he left a ‘stable and comfortable environment’ at Hearts.

He told Sky Sports: “I left a really stable and comfortable environment last season and I knew there was work to be done here but I was ready to take it on and I still feel the work here can be done and can be done successfully. But obviously, we wanted to get off to a better start.”

Rangers have brought in 12 new players this summer - including former Jambos Lawrence Shankland, Cammy Devlin and James Penrice - but very few of which have hit the ground running. Despite this, McInnes remains confident he can change the clubs fortunes, starting with Sunday’s trip to Pittodrie where they’ll face Premiership rivals Aberdeen.

The Light Blues have won just two of their first seven. | SNS Group

Former Hearts boss confident he can change Ibrox fortunes

He continued: “If you get off to a better start, you get that buy-in, you get the trust and everything else. So I think from our point of view, we've got work to do to convince everyone - the supporters especially, that this team is worth getting behind.

“It's my job and the players' job to improve performances and get better results as we go along. Hopefully, a win on Sunday would certainly help matters. It's not going to fix everything but a win helps build confidence and hopefully we can maintain that as we go along.”

“There's a lot of young players here - there's a lot of good players here but we have to try and find that real consistency and strength in our performance. We're a long way away from the Rangers team that I want us to be and the Rangers team that I intend us to be.”