Last week the Aberdeen boss decided to stay put at Pittodrie instead of risking a move to a club who took six weeks to even make an approach for him.

Former Celtic striker Hartson believes that was probably the best decision for all concerned given Rangers’ dismal recruiting record.

Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha have both gone within the space of eight months this year after proving disastrous appointments. That’s why Hartson has no faith that those responsible for bringing them in will make it third time lucky. 

He said: “Jose Mourinho would struggle to do something special with Rangers.

“I don’t think they are a fantastic set of players. Caixinha wasted a lot of money on a lot of duds so it’s going to take someone more than Derek McInnes to go in there.

“They need a transition as they need better players, and a board that trusts the right person to bring in the right manager.

“Whoever appointed Caixinha and Warburton are the people who should be held accountable, not the players. The players just go out and try to do their best.

“But if Rangers are just going to keep appointing managers who are nowhere near good enough or stable enough to manage that massive club then why aren’t the people making those decisions being held accountable for their mistakes?”

Hartson added: “It’s easy to blame the manager and point the finger at the players, but it’s the decision makers.

“Someone is sitting nice and pretty behind it all watching the storm build up and these are the ones that are responsible. But we never seem to see them, do we?”

John Hartson was at CLAN Cancer Centre in Aberdeen to donate a cheque for £20,000 from his Foundation. The John Hartson Foundation has raised in the region of £750,000 in the past seven years and has targeted £1million by 2020.