John Hartson believes Derek McInnes should be counting himself lucky to have a club as supportive of him as he has at Aberdeen.
The Dons boss has turned down approaches from Sunderland and Rangers in the last six months to stay at Pittodrie but former Celtic striker Hartson believes the Aberdeen manager is lucky his club has been willing to welcome back with open arms twice.
Hartson said: “That’s twice now Derek has gone to speak to other clubs so what does that tell you? Does he want to stay at Aberdeen or does he want to leave Aberdeen?
“I thought he was very fortunate to stay after going to speak to Sunderland in the summer. He wasn’t happy with what Sunderland was going to offer him and he was fortunate Aberdeen kept the door open for him.
“He is also very fortunate to have a fantastic owner, backer and supporter of his at Aberdeen because they could have lost their manager last week as Derek spoke to Rangers then decided he wanted to go back to Aberdeen.
“He is in a very privileged position to have a fantastic chairman and a group of supporters who are willing to welcome him back with open arms but as a player if I went and spoke to another club or the manager spoke to another club, it was with a view to leaving the club. The fans have stuck with him and the chairman is obviously a big fan of his.
“I don’t know what the players will feel but it seems they have welcomed him back and are happy to have him back. He is very fortunate to be able to do that and go and speak to other clubs then come back to Aberdeen.
“A lot of other clubs might not welcome you back as much as Aberdeen welcomed Derek back.”
McInnes’ decision to snub Rangers and remain at Aberdeen has left the Gers still searching for a new manager.
Graeme Murty has guided the Ibrox side to four wins in a row to alleviate some of the strain but Hartson believes the problems at the Light Blues runs much deeper than the manager’s office.
When asked if McInnes could have made an impact at Ibrox Hartson replied: “Jose Mourinho would struggle to do something special with Rangers.
“I don’t think they are a fantastic set of players, I think Pedro Caixinha wasted a lot of money on a lot of duds so it’s going to take someone more than Derek McInnes to go in there.
“They need a sort of transition as they need better players, they need a board that trusts the right person to bring in the right manager.
“Whoever appointed Caixinha and Mark Warburton are the people who should be held accountable, not the players. The players just go out and try to do their best.
“But if Rangers are just going to keep appointing managers who are nowhere near good enough or stable enough to manage that massive club then why aren’t the people making those decisions being made accountable for their mistakes.
“It’s easy to blame the manager and point the finger at the players but it is the decision makers.
“Someone is sitting nice and pretty behind it all watching the storm build up and these are the ones that are responsible.
“The people that are making the big decision but we never seem to see them do we?
“If you are a new manager going in there then you want to bring in some of your own players and get rid of a few you don’t fancy.
“They are pretty much back to square one again but the good thing is they are picking up a few good results and while that continues it keeps people off your back and Graeme Murty’s doing a great job.”
