It has taken Derek McInnes 19 years, 821 games and five managerial postings to finally make it back to where he has always wanted to be. And I have to say I am delighted for my old team-mate now that he has been confirmed as just the 22nd permanent boss to be entrusted with the keys to the manager's office at Ibrox.
He has more than earned his shot at this huge job and I think it is an extremely clever appointment by the guys at the top of the Marble Staircase. Del played for the club and knows exactly what will be expected of him and his team. But more than that, he has shown with his wealth of experience that he is a top manager and a top person.
You do not survive in the management game as long as the former St Johnstone, Bristol City, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Hearts gaffer has if you have not got top credentials. I am now looking forward to him putting all his nous to good use in the coming weeks and months as he strives to place Rangers back where they should be – at the top of Scottish football.
And I really do hope this is the end of the revolving door of bosses coming and going at Ibrox. McInnes is the eighth full-time appointee in the last nine years and frankly that is just too many. The club needs stability and a safe pair of hands. It needs someone with a long term plan and the desire and resilience to see it through.
The real positive thing about Derek is that he will be in no hurry to move on. He will view this job as the culmination of everything he has worked for. He has spent almost two decades trying to get himself back to Ibrox after his five-year spell here as a player. For him, this is THE dream job. As a boyhood supporter, it is the pinnacle of his coaching ambitions.
I am sick and tired of seeing other managers coming here using Ibrox as a stopping off point en route to what they might believe is a bigger club or bigger league. I want to make this clear. Rangers is no stepping stone. You are not going to leave Ibrox and find yourself a bigger job. Derek will realise that and realise how big an opportunity he now has to write his name into the history books.
To do that, he is going to have make some major changes at the club – and first on the list should be installing a new mentality. The cracks in the squad's psyche were evident in the final weeks of the season as they crumbled under the intensity of the title race pressure. Fixing that will not be easy and that is why recruitment will be key in the weeks ahead.
The signing of Lawrence Shankland from Hearts is a terrific start. Like Derek, it is a deal that should have been done years ago but it is better late than never. I really believe that with Lawrence leading from the front, Rangers now have the focal point to their attack that can be dangerous week in, week out. But the team needs more of Shank's type of character and that is why I will be watching with interest to see the signings who arrive.
By taking both the captain and the manager from one of your main rivals, Andrew Cavenagh and Jim Gillespie will hope that they have dealt the Jambos a huge blow before a ball is kicked this season. It is the kind of thing the best Rangers sides have always done down the years – strengthen yourself by weakening your opponent.
Derek will know he will not be able to sign the kind of superstars he played alongside during his time at the club. But I do think that period under Walter Smith and then Dick Advocaat has gone a long way to shaping him as a manager. Firstly, when it comes to character, you are not going to walk into a dressing room with the likes of Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant, Paul Gascoigne, Brian Laudrup, Andy Goram and Mark Hateley and survive if you have not got something about you as a person.
The standards were so high then, it would be easy to get swallowed up if you did not have an inner steel. The same could be said when the likes of Jorg Albertz, Gio van Bronckhorst and Arthur Numan arrived later on. But Derek managed to hold his own in amongst them because of the man he is. OK, he might not have played every week but his importance to the squad was evident by the way his team-mates responded to him. They realised that he could be trusted when he did come into the team and that earned him the respect of some of the biggest names ever to play in Scotland.
And the fact he was not always a regular has fed into how he has approached management. As someone who might find himself on the bench at times, he knew he had to be ready when called upon. And Del's big thing as a boss is about ensuring the team is strong as a collective – both in the dressing room and on the pitch. Yes you might have a stand-out individual performer but you win nothing if they do not work for the benefit of the team.
That is what all the best bosses I played under realised too and I believe that is the message Del will be making his first priority now he is the manager of Rangers. And even his job title is an important point for me. Both Russell Martin and Danny Rohl worked under the banner of 'head coach' last season. But being a coach is only one part of the gig at Ibrox. There is so much more to it than what you do on the training pitch or by the sidelines. Chiefly, you have to be the figurehead, the leader, the person that can galvanise a group and a fanbase and give them reason to keep believing when times are tough.
The club has had plenty of those in recent years but I really believe with Del in charge as manager, better times lie ahead.
