Halliday says McInnes understands the pressure cooker he’s walking into, a level of intensity he hasn’t encountered before in the dugout.
Expectations may be hefty at Aberdeen and Hearts, but the unrelenting demand to win at an Old Firm club is on a different scale.
As a former Rangers player and lifelong supporter, he knows that reality, yet he still needs to convince some fans he can restore the team to consistently lifting major trophies.
He remains largely untested in Europe—his experience limited to qualifiers—and must guide Rangers through two rounds to reach the Europa League group stage, a competition in which the club has shone in recent seasons.
However, it’s the domestic intensity that has troubled his post-Gerrard predecessors, whether by taking title races to the wire and falling short or failing to mount a credible challenge at all.
At other times, they were simply up against a Celtic side with greater financial muscle and quality.
Since the club’s takeover by a US-based consortium—who now face a potentially defining season—talk of budget constraints has quietened after an alleged £40m outlay last year.
Even with that support, Martin began on the back foot with an opening-day draw at Motherwell last August.
Twelve months earlier, Philippe Clement also stumbled in the first match of his first full campaign, drawing at Hearts. The season before, Michael Beale was beaten at Kilmarnock.
With excuses wearing thin, a strong start in Friday’s Premiership curtain-raiser at Dundee United is vital for McInnes.
Rangers have six league games before visiting Celtic for the season’s first Old Firm. Halliday believes they must be perfect in all of them.
He says Rangers too often reach that first derby already under must-win pressure.
This year, he insists, they need to win every match leading up to it.