Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne in blast at Rangers over THAT statement

ABERDEEN chairman Stewart Milne yesterday continued the war of words with Rangers while admitting a working peace between the clubs would have to be reached.

With Derek McInnes opting to reject the chance to move to Ibrox, Milne was the clear winner in the tussle over the Dons manager.

Nevertheless he was less than impressed at Rangers response to the decision.

“I don’t think the statement they came out with was befitting of Rangers who, in their own words, see themselves as a massive club,” said Milne.

“Whether it was the intention or not, it cast doubt on the capabilities of Derek McInnes as a manager, which is just totally out of line.

“Over the last five years I’ve got to know Derek McInnes as well as anybody des and I would put his capability alongside any manager that they are likely to spring out.

“I rate him not just as a good football manager but alongside any of the top people I employ within the Stewart Milne Group.

“Derek has a management capability that goes way beyond the norms of a football manager.

“That’s why we rate him and value him so highly.

“We get Derek’s input into almost every single aspect of what we’re doing.”

The Dons chairman watched his team put back-to-back defeats against Rangers behind them with victory over Dundee on Friday but his disquiet at events has left a strong impression.

“The other thing that surprised me that when an important statement comes out from a club like Rangers, it should have ownership,” he said.

“That should have been a statement from somebody with power and authority at Rangers.

“It came out with no one’s name attached to it. That for me was very disappointing.”

Ultimately, he struck a conciliatory note by insisting McInnes would have been allowed to go had he wanted and the potential payment of compensation had not been an issue.

“If we were going to get upset with every major thing that goes wrong in the game, we would all just get bogged down,” he said.

“We’ve always had a very good relationship with Rangers, we’ll work hard to make sure that we come through and relations are strengthened as we move forward.

“We all want to see a strong Rangers, we need that for Scottish football, and the sooner they fill their vacancy and get a good manager in and strengthen the whole set up, that’s in the interests of Scottish football.”