When Derek McInnes turned down the chance to become Rangers manager in December 2017, it wasn’t a decision he took lightly.It was made a little easier, however, with the advice and support he received at the time from two men whose wise counsel he has valued throughout his career.Walter Smith, who signed McInnes as a player for Rangers in 1995, and Sir Alex Ferguson both backed his reluctance to join an Ibrox club who were still struggling to find stability on and off the pitch at the time.Almost nine years later, McInnes has already received the seal of approval from Ferguson after accepting the job this time around. He also has no doubts that his mentor Smith, who passed away in 2021, would also have told him the timing was right.‘I spoke to Sir Alex the other day and he was delighted,’ said McInnes, who was in regular contact with the former Manchester United manager last season as he came so close to guiding Hearts to the Premiership title.‘He enjoyed coming to see our stuff at Hearts and he thought we had a special thing going there. But he understood why I’m here at Rangers and we had a good chat the other day, and he sounded in good form. Obviously he’s not been in the best of health, so I’m delighted to have that chat with him. Derek McInnes revealed the words of encouragement he’d had from Sir Alex Ferguson‘Of course, there was a fear I wouldn’t get another chance to become Rangers manager but I always hoped that it would come round.‘I did say it would probably have to be a different set of circumstances, different owners. I don’t really want to go into why it didn’t happen the first time around, but I felt as though I arrived at the right decision then.‘The two people that I spoke to then were Walter and Sir Alex. When I spoke to Sir Alex the other day, he reminded me of the conversations we had back then.‘Both he and Walter were adamant that I made the right call, and supported me on that, and advised me based on the circumstances then. But I’m pretty sure Walter would have advised me to take it this time. I do feel there’s a confidence with the new ownership here, having Jim Gillespie as CEO working alongside Andrew Cavenagh and the board.‘I think there’s a real togetherness, and a real idea of what we’re trying to be off the pitch and on the pitch, and it’s up to me to try and deliver the on-pitch stuff as best I can.’McInnes admits there was an emotional aspect to his formal unveiling as Rangers manager this week as he stepped into the manager’s office at Ibrox. It brought back cherished memories of his late father Duncan who was a passionate Rangers fan. Walter Smith and McInnes chat before a game between their Rangers and St Johnstone sides‘It was actually only the second time I’ve been in that room — the first was on the day I signed as a player,’ he said.‘I’d been away to do my medical for over an hour, then got back to Ibrox and went up to the gaffer’s office to find my dad sitting with him having a beer. The two of them were just chewing the fat.‘I remember saying to my dad, “Are you alright, aye? Check you out”. He’s like ,“Aye, it’s just Walter”. I went, “did you go to school with Walter, aye?”. The gaffer clearly knew it was a special day all round, probably even more so for my dad, and I think he was determined to make that day as good as he could for him.‘I think both of them would be proud of me now becoming Rangers manager. I’ve thought about both of them a lot since getting the job and I’m sure both would be delighted for me. I got a nice message from the Smith family as well.‘My intention is to try and be a success at Rangers, because it’s not enjoyable here if you’re not winning, and we’ve seen that in recent years, whether it’s managers, players, board members, all the rest of it.‘So going back to the whole emotional thing, with my dad and the gaffer and stuff like that, underneath it all is that I feel the weight of responsibility, and it’s a responsibility that I’m well aware of, that we need to do our job well here.’