Rangers manager Derek McInnes has played down his full-time confrontation with Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken, claiming the Belgian thanked him for leaving such a strong squad at Tynecastle. The two managers faced off after Rangers rescued a late point in a tense 2-2 draw in Gorgie.
Late equaliser denies Hearts
McInnes had warned his players they would be stepping into a cauldron in the capital on his return to Tynecastle. For large spells, the hosts looked far keener on the fight as they roared back from Kevin Kelsy's opener to net twice through Claudio Braga and Calvin Miller. However, just as Hearts thought they had snatched a huge win in the title race, Rangers hit back with Olwethu Makhanya's 88th-minute equaliser.
Quizzed on the stare-off with Vrancken as the pair went to shake hands, McInnes said with a wry grin: "No, all good. I think he was just thanking me for how grateful he is for leaving him such a strong squad here."
Managers trade respect
Asked for his take on the incident, Hearts' Belgian boss said: "I have the biggest respect for him, for what he does at Rangers and what he did here, as I already said before the game. When you draw, lose or win, I think you have to have a genuine handshake. But we spoke at the end, and it's all fine."
McInnes knew he would be in for a rough ride as he pulled up at Gorgie for the first time since his controversial defection to Ibrox. The Hearts support piled the pressure on their old boss and his team, and it showed as ragged Rangers wilted after Kelsy had given them the lead.
McInnes honest in assessment
McInnes hopes the experience will provide his young forward line with a valuable lesson after avoiding dropping further behind Celtic in the title race. He said: "We're disappointed we never showed more authority in the game. I don't think you expect to have control when you come to Tynecastle. We've got a very young forward line and I don't think we secured the ball enough."
He added: "I think when we did, as we did for the two strikers combining for the first goal, it's a brilliant goal in terms of combination play from them. You've got to credit Hearts. I think Hearts had the better players. I think they had three or four real top performers and players who played really well, so I have to be honest with that. We never started the second half. It's inexplicable, really."
McInnes continued: "We didn't do enough to win the game, but we worked hard. I think the stats will show we had more possession, more big chances and a similar number of shots on target. But, as I say, the better performers were in Hearts jerseys tonight. I've got a really young forward line when you look at their ages, and tonight is a learning curve for them. I'm learning about them, but they're also learning and developing their own games. Sometimes we just need to do the basics a bit better."
He concluded: "The basics are securing possession, buying fouls when that contact is made and playing a wee bit more cutely at times. I thought we were a bit too haphazard in the forward areas, which in turn didn't really allow us to gain any real authority in the game."
Fond memories despite hostility
McInnes took an ear-bashing all night from the fans that once idolised him as he took them to the brink of last year's title. But he said: "I didn't expect anything different, and why should I? I get it. I totally get it. I liked coming round and seeing all my ex-players and all the players I signed. I actually met some of the players I'd signed for the first time. It was quite surreal, but seeing all the staff here and all my former players was brilliant."
He added: "I had a brilliant time here. There was only fondness, so that's part of it. But once the whistle goes, I know people aren't going to be kind to me and I totally understand that."
Makhanya was the only man in blue to get pass marks, and his manager said: "You're right to mention him. I thought he was outstanding and he had to be because we weren't as assured around him at times. I thought he was terrific."
Missed chances for both sides
With Celtic dropping points at home to Dundee United, it was a chance missed for Rangers. Hearts were left frustrated too as they lost the chance to slash Rangers' lead in second place back to a single point.
Vrancken said: "I think when you concede a goal so late, you're always disappointed because I think we deserved the three points today. You're always disappointed, especially because you want to reward the players for what they've already done during this run of games and given the situation we're in, as you all already know. It would have been a great win, but it was still a massive performance today."
He added: "The spirit in the team is amazing. I can't tell you how proud I am of their performance, their team spirit and their fighting spirit. You're playing against a really good side who want to win the title, who spent a lot of millions during the summer and who aren't playing in Europe, so they have fewer games. They also had an extra day of recovery going into this match. When you consider their individual qualities and everything else, and then look at this performance from our players, including the difficulties we've had out of possession and the situation we've been in, which we've already talked about many times, I'm really proud of what they did today."
Vrancken noted: "It's nice to see that the players are frustrated. They're not so much frustrated as disappointed because they also felt that they had lost two points here. We had to win it. We had to take the victory. Especially when you consider how the game unfolded, going a goal behind because of a mistake, then producing a really good first half and maintaining that level afterwards. We stayed together and fought for the win. The team spirit was amazing."
He concluded: "It's nice to see that, despite the situation we're in, the players can be disappointed. You could see that disappointment in the dressing room because they felt they'd lost two points, rather than being happy with a point against a team like that. As a coach, I'm really happy to see it."
