Derek McInnes has finally opened up on Hearts’ title collapse at Celtic Park and his comments at his Rangers unveiling prove he is still hurting
Speaking inside Ibrox, McInnes was asked about the Hearts defeat that handed Celtic the league title and ended the Tynecastle challenge.
And after months of radio silence, the new Rangers boss described the experience as the lowest point of his managerial career.
What are the ‘obvious reasons’ McInnes is talking about?
The new Rangers boss is still bitter.
Celtic Park defeat is still painful for Rangers boss Derek McInnes
Ever since Hearts threw away the title, Celtic fans have had to listen to nonsense about pitch invasions, alleged assaults on players and daft conspiracies about the game being abandoned.
However, they have heard nothing from McInnes, until now.
Reflecting on Hearts’ title defeat, he said: “No, it’s not easy. I loved my time at Hearts. Hearts is a brilliant club.
“My time at Hearts was short, but it was brilliant. I would love to have managed Hearts longer to be honest. I thought I should have been there a lot longer before I was appointed and we had a special season and there are no two ways about it.
“It was tough how it all played out but proud of the work that we all did, my staff, the players together, we did some great things there.
“As I said this time last year, getting appointed at Hearts, bottom six team, to get us to 80 points and break club records left right and centre, we just fell short of winning a title which hurt on the day.”
The agony can be heard in McInnes’ voice.
Celtic denied Derek McInnes the title Hearts believed was theirs
The best part of McInnes’ admission was that Hearts had ‘belief’. And Celtic broke it. And it caused anger.
He continued: “The way the season played out was really harsh on us all and it was hard to deal with, to be honest. It was hard to process and there was a lot of anger and a lot of frustration for obvious reasons.
“It was a sobering feeling leaving Celtic Park and probably the lowest point in my career because I had a firm belief that we were going to win the league for a long period.”
McInnes believed Hearts were coming to Celtic Park to be crowned champions. As the manager, he is entitled to do that.
However, his tactics on the day were partially to blame for Hearts’ collapse as Celtic continued to attack the visitors after they sat in and tried to defend a 1-0 lead.
The fact McInnes chose those words at his Rangers unveiling shows that what happened at Celtic Park is still eating away at the new Ibrox boss.
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