Reduced Rangers ban still leaves me ‘unable’ to carry out my job

Derek McInnes admits being unable to lead Rangers from the touchline is “the worst thing” about his reduced suspension.

The Rangers manager will serve a two-match touchline ban, beginning with Wednesday night’s meeting with Falkirk, after the club successfully reduced his original punishment on appeal.

McInnes was initially given a three-game suspension for comments made during his time as Hearts boss last season. The appeal saw the ban cut to two matches, with a further two games suspended until the end of the 2026-27 campaign.

Although McInnes remains unhappy with the decision, he accepts the outcome of the appeal process.

“You’ve got to respect the appeal process. I don’t agree with the ban, but I’ve got to accept it,” he said.

“I’m thankful that I got at least one game off, so to speak. But I just feel as though being denied to do my job is the worst thing. I want to do my job, and I want to be in the dugout, but I’ve got to deal with the decision and move on.”

McInnes will also miss Saturday’s match against Motherwell, leaving him unable to take his place in the Rangers technical area for the next two fixtures.

The Rangers boss is confident, however, that his coaching staff can ensure his absence causes minimal disruption to the team’s preparations.

He explained that the biggest frustration will be not being able to enter the dressing room before the game and have those final discussions with his players.

“It’s just obviously the preparation up until when the team line comes in, which obviously is different because I won’t be able to be in the dressing room, which is a bit of a frustration,” McInnes said.

“But I’ve got good staff to help with all these things. It goes quite slick, what we want to do anyway. The team we’ve got is picked; the predicted Falkirk team will be in our heads anyway.

“The messaging and everything will be done ahead of the game, so it will just be fine-tuning things.”

Once the match gets underway, McInnes will have to watch from the stands and leave his coaching team to manage events from the technical area.

“I’ll be watching the game from the stand and trust my staff to help the players do their jobs,” he added.