John Rankin admits he is thrilled to see old sidekick Darian MacKinnon making strides at Hamilton Accies, but insists he won’t be taking much notice of him this summer as the pair prepare to go head-to-head in League One next season.
Rankin Takes Reins at Airdrie
The new Airdrie boss has taken the reins at New Broomfield after the club were relegated from the Championship last season, putting him on a collision course with MacKinnon, who was Rankin’s assistant at Accies.
In November last year, Rankin resigned from his Hamilton role amid the club’s constant off-the-field issues that saw him become fed up chasing players’ wages and hampered by all sorts of distractions.
MacKinnon stepped up to replace him and eventually helped Accies remain in League One with a play-off final win over Clyde to avoid relegation.
The duo spent three years together at Accies and now find themselves up against each other in the title/promotion battle next season.
Mutual Respect
Rankin told Lanarkshire Live Sport: “I still speak to Daz but right now it is probably going to be a bit more difficult because I don’t want to know what he probably doesn’t want to know what I am doing. That is just a respect thing.
“I have the utmost respect for him but, thankfully, I know he won’t be playing because I have seen him in training - so that’s a good thing. But I can’t be more complimentary of how supportive Daz was of me in our time together.
“I am delighted to see him making really good progress and doing some great work [at Accies].”
MacKinnon paid tribute to Rankin when Accies survived relegation, telling BBC Alba: “I learned a lot from him and we are still good friends to this day, even though he has left, and I have never thanked him publicly so I’d like to thank him and his family for the bond we have.”
Rankin added: “He has been very complimentary of the work we did together at Hamilton and I am very complimentary of him; you won’t meet a more loyal guy and he is a great guy at that, very driven and very passionate.
“It will be nice to see him again. But I haven’t thought about facing him or have much emotion about that, it is about my players going out and performing.”
Airdrie’s League Cup Schedule
Meanwhile, the Diamonds’ League Cup schedule has been announced. They kick-off away to Dundee on July 11 (3pm), followed by a trip to Clyde on July 14 (7.45pm). They then host Annan on July 18 (3pm) and finish up against Ross County (3pm) at New Broomfield on July 25.
Pre-Season Friendly
Airdrie have also announced a pre-season friendly against Ayr United. The team will travel to Somerset Park on Saturday, July 4 and kick-off is 1pm.
