Derek McInnes has detailed one-on-one time with Sir Alex Ferguson after the legendary Glaswegian football manager was back home this week.
Rangers hosted Sir Alex at Auchenhowie, with the Manchester United icon offering his wisdom and insight over lunch with the Gers boss and his staff on Tuesday.
As we await the return of domestic action on Saturday, when Kilmarnock visit Ibrox, it offers encouragement that Derek McInnes has the ear of one of the greatest names in the game.
The pair enjoy a close relationship, which led to the visit, with McInnes revealing he received a call from his mentor on Monday.
He was asked about the visit at the press conference on Thursday.
“He (SAF) messaged on Monday to see if he could come up and see us on Tuesday as he was up in Glasgow dealing with one or two things and seeing his brother.
“He came in on Tuesday for lunch and spent a bit of time with the staff and myself chewing the fat as he does and it was great to see him.
“He’s in good health, obviously he’s got a wee bit of difficulty with he’s walking at the minute, but he’s determined.
“He’s two months away, he says, from being right as rain again. He certainly looked in decent spirits.
Sir Alex Ferguson on McInnes and Rangers
These visits can be seen to be valuable when times are hard, possibly after a bad result, but the opposite is true as well.
Rangers are going into the next block of games in a position of strength, and feeling confident.
Sir Alex Ferguson voiced his praise for the strong, aggressive performance that won the day at Parkhead, and his thoughts will have been embraced by McInnes and his staff as they seek to push the team on to find greater consistency.
When asked if he felt Ferguson was pleased for him being Rangers manager, McInnes’ response was insightful:
“I had the discussion with him in the summer. He thought he enjoyed what we were doing at Hearts. I think he genuinely felt that a club outside the Old Firm could win the league. And obviously last season he was a regular visitor.
“But I think he obviously understood when the opportunity to come here was there for me.
“We’d spoken long and hard about that as well. I think he just wants good things to happen for you. He has been very supportive of myself and he is somebody that I enjoy the conversations I have with him.
“There’s always something you come away with that he hasn’t said previously.
“He spoke about his own difficult start at Man United. He said it’s how you finish a season, not how you start this campaign. Sometimes it can take time.
“As we know in modern football, sometimes you don’t always get the time. He thought we were really strong in the performance against Celtic Park in particular.
Whether it’s late winners, serial trophies, or dominating the league over the course of a season, the more Fergie time the better for Derek McInnes and Rangers.
