Hearts Scoop September Accolades after Impressive Showings
Derek McInnes has been named Manager of the Month for September as his positive tenure continues at Tynecastle. Victories over Rangers and Falkirk consolidated The Jambos’ position at the top of the league, remaining unbeaten in the Scottish Premiership. They recently edged the first Edinburgh Derby of the season to move onto 19 points, two ahead of nearest challengers Celtic. McInnes said, “I love it here, it been a long time for me coming here, I always thought this was a job that I wanted to be at, I’m working with some good people, Graeme Jones and the board, but the players have been first class, in terms of their efforts day in day out, and I think for us we feel that we can be successful here,”. Lawrence Shankland and Alexandros Kyziridis picked up personal accolades, as Hearts swept all of the September awards. Shankland won the player of the month, scoring three goals in two games, including a crucial brace against Rangers. The captain scored in each half, firing Hearts to their first victory over Rangers in 19 attempts, and their first Ibrox triumph since 2014. He also drilled a low strike under Scott Bain two weeks later, as part of a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Falkirk. Kyziridis is turning into a fan favourite in Gorgie and has started Hearts’ last three league matches since his injury-time winner over Livingston. He scooped up the September goal of the month award for a stunning strike against Falkirk. The Greek winger cut in off the left, beating several Falkirk bodies before unleashing an arrowing right-footed strike into the top corner. It was a strike worthy of winning goal of the season, and opened the scoring for McInnes’ men. The Jambos return to league action on Saturday evening, travelling to East Ayrshire to face Kilmarnock. Eight days later, Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic visit Tynecastle in a potential top-of-the-table clash.
Former Rangers icon accuses Rangers of ‘snobbery’ towards Scottish managers
Rangers are still on the hunt for a new manager following the sacking of Russell Martin after only 123 days in charge. The Ibrox club were left stunned over the weekend as Steven Gerrard rejected them for a second time. The bombshell news left the Gers board scrambling as they’ve spoken to Kevin Muscat and Danny Rohl. One manager that’s always been linked with the Light Blues is Hearts boss Derek McInnes, who currently has his side top of the Scottish Premiership and just won Manager of the Month for September. Former Rangers star Kris Boyd has always been a huge admirer of the Scottish manager and believes he would be the perfect fit for the Govan club. He told Sky Sports News: “Every appointment is a risk. There’s appointments that are less of a risk and that’s why I keep going back to Derek McInnes. “He’s showing for a number of years, what he done at Aberdeen. He went in and took a Kilmarnock team out of the Championship and was playing European football within a couple years, and he’s went to Hearts and you look at the job he’s done there, so far. “Sometimes, I’ve said it before regarding players in Scotland, Rangers have had a snobbery towards signing Scottish players recently and it seems to be the same with managers.” Boyd maintains that the Ibrox job is still an attractive role, despite the position they find themselves in. He added: “I know it doesn’t look great because they’ve struggled to get a manager in right now but it’s still a fantastic football club. “It’s still a huge institution that will continue to thrive. But it just seems if right now somebody needs to get a grip of it, and for me Derek McInnes would be that person to do that.”
Kevin Muscat is now odds on favourite to become the next Rangers boss
Kevin Muscat has emerged as the odds on favourite to become the next Rangers boss following Russell Martin’s sacking. It looked set in stone that Steven Gerrard was going to make a return to Ibrox but rejected the offer for the second as the timing wasn’t right. The former Australian international currently has Shanghai Port top of the Chinese Super League and are on course for a second successive title. It’s been reported that Neil McCann could be part of the the 52-year-old’s backroom team, and could take charge of the team this Saturday against Dundee United as Muscat plans to finish the season out in China. The Crawley-born manager has won the J1 League and the A-League Premiership, picking up a total of seven trophies throughout his coaching career in Australia, Japan and China. A deal between Muscat and the Light Blues could be finalised in the next 48 hours if all goes to plan. Muscat played for the Govan club 26 times and was part of the treble winning squad in 2002.
