Rangers Appoint the ‘Title Winner Without the Medal’ as New Manager

Well, it’s official.

Rangers have appointed Derek McInnes after agreeing a compensation deal for the head coach with Scottish Premiership rivals Heart of Midlothian.#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/OWUaPNuWCF

— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) June 17, 2026

Rangers have appointed Derek McInnes as their new manager after agreeing a compensation package with Hearts following Danny Röhl’s departure to RB Salzburg.

The 54-year-old now heads to Ibrox after overseeing Hearts’ remarkable title challenge last season, one that ultimately fell agonisingly short on the final day.

Or, as one journalist rather creatively described it recently, Rangers have appointed the “A title-winning manager without the medal”.

A phrase that still deserves a moment of appreciation.

Because if you don’t win the title and don’t receive a winner’s medal, there is normally a fairly straightforward explanation.

You didn’t win the league.

That honour, of course, went to Celtic.

For a while, it looked as though McInnes would pull off one of the biggest shocks in Scottish football history.

Hearts led at Celtic Park on the final day through Lawrence Shankland and were within touching distance of the championship.

But football has a habit of being cruel.

Arne Engels levelled from the penalty spot before Daizen Maeda struck late to turn the title race on its head. Callum Osmand then added a stoppage-time third to spark celebrations that will live long in the memory of Celtic supporters.

As a result, McInnes finished with neither the title nor the medal.

Now he arrives at Rangers with the task of ending Celtic’s domestic dominance.

McInnes deserves credit for the work he did at Hearts. Taking the title race to the final day was a remarkable achievement and few would have predicted the position they found themselves in.

At the same time, Rangers supporters will inevitably ask whether appointing a manager whose side won one away game in their final seven league matches is the ambitious move they were hoping for.

It’s also fair to say that Hearts were in such a position because of how poor Celtic had been without Martin O’Neill and in a normal season wouldn’t have taken the race to the last game.

And after the drama of the last campaign, there is every chance the rivalry between Martin O’Neill and Derek McInnes will become one of the major storylines of the new season.

Rangers have their man. The title winner without the title has officially arrived at Ibrox.