It was disappointing but not entirely surprising to hear Kilmarnock fans turn on Derek McInnes during what proved to be his final match in charge on Wednesday night.

A section of the Killie faithful made their feelings clear over his impending move to Hearts, with chants and boos aimed in his direction during the 3-0 defeat to Motherwell. 

It’s since been confirmed that McInnes will not be in the dugout for Killie’s final game of the season against the Tynecastle club on Sunday.

After all, he lifted the club from their lowest ebb to the Championship title just a few months after taking over in January 2022. 

Following a tricky first campaign back in the top flight, he led them to a fourth-place finish in 2023-24, winning SFWA Manager of the Year in the process. 

Derek McInnes was booed by Killie fans in what proved his final match in charge

McInnes emerges from the Fir Park tunnel on a night when his Killie side were beaten 3-0

The Kilmarnock cause wasn’t helped by Robbie Deas’ red card for foul on Lennon Miller

He has also successfully turned academy players like David Watson and Bobby Wales into first-team regulars.

The club narrowly missed out on a place in the Europa Conference League this season after a spirited effort at the start of what has been a difficult campaign. Killie have been missing captain Kyle Vassell for the majority of the year and indiscipline has cost them dearly. Robbie Deas’ red card on Wednesday night was their ninth in all competitions this term.

Killie only secured survival last weekend and it had certainly begun to feel as if McInnes had taken them as far as he could. Some fans may have felt disrespected, but the 53-year-old has been refreshingly honest amid an awkwardly-timed approach from Hearts.

No-one can blame him for jumping at the opportunity, given the forthcoming cash injection at Tynecastle courtesy of Tony Bloom.

Bloom has spoken of wanting the Gorgie side to ‘disrupt’ the status quo at the top end of the table. McInnes – across his time at Aberdeen and Killie – has shown he can certainly do so, having masterminded some great results over the Old Firm in the past. His work at Rugby Park has earned him another opportunity at one of Scotland’s biggest clubs, and they now have the resources and budget to match.

It’s a move that makes sense for all parties. Hearts get a manager with experience and ambition, while Killie will get some fresh ideas at a time when it seems they badly need them. McInnes’ assistant Paul Sheeran said on Wednesday night that the manager deserved better than the reaction he got from fans. Perhaps time will prove him right.

Raducanu-Murray dream team would make sense … but has Emma already burnt her bridges?

This week’s announcement that the Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray partnership is over was sad news.

Especially for those of us who took a keen interest in how the player-coach relationship between two superstars was going to develop.

Murray can now return to a well-deserved retirement while his former Serbian rival will soldier on in search of Grand Slam No25.

Now that the Scot has dipped his toe in the coaching waters, however, it would be a surprise if he wasn’t tempted back in some capacity.

He won’t be short of offers, and he’s already been quoted in the past as saying that Emma Raducanu is one player he would consider taking under his wing.

Despite an improvement in her form of late, she still seems incapable of laying a glove on the top players, and her US Open triumph is now perceived by many as one of sport’s glorious flukes.

Andy Murray could potentially make a fine coach for Emma Raducanu in future

If anyone knows the pressure that Raducanu is under to perform, it’s Murray.

He carried the weight of a nation on his shoulders before sweeping to his first Wimbledon title and, as a coach, he could surely do for Raducanu what the great Ivan Lendl once did for him.

So, it’s a dream team that makes sense in so many ways.

There’s just one snag. If he was to be offered the job, would he now take it?

It’s only last year that Raducanu delivered her infamous snub to the former world No1 when she pulled out of his final outing at Wimbledon – in the mixed doubles – because of ‘some stiffness’ in her right wrist.

Murray was said to be ‘disappointed’ by what was a clear misstep by Raducanu. His mother Judy went further, responding to a post on X from TV presenter Marcus Buckland describing Raducanu’s decision as ‘astonishing’ by writing: ‘Yes, astonishing.’

Raducanu said earlier this year that she has since apologised to Murray, as she didn’t want any ‘bad blood’ between the pair.

Murray is above all this kind of nonsense, of course. If Raducanu felt that he was the ideal person to coach her, he would weigh it up for all the right reasons and decide whether or not he could improve her game.

He wouldn’t be human, however, if the following thought hadn’t momentarily crossed his mind: ‘Help you? No chance.’

Sir Chris Hoy’s positive message was a delight to hear

It was pleasing to see the inspirational Sir Chris Hoy in upbeat mood earlier this week as he spoke about his cancer treatment and revealed he is appreciating life ‘more than ever’.

The six-time Olympic cycling champion revealed in February 2024 he was undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy, and said in October that his diagnosis was terminal and he had been told by doctors that he had two to four years to live.

‘I’m doing well,’ the 49-year-old Scot told Sky Sports News. ‘It feels like I’ve entered a bit of a stability stage at the moment and I’m feeling good, exercising, riding a bike, busy.

‘Most importantly cancer’s not the first thing I think about in the morning when I wake up and it’s not the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. I think we’ve got into a rhythm now where it’s part of our lives and we manage that and crack on.

Sir Chris Hoy revealed that he has entered a stable stage following his cancer diagnosis

‘It feels like it’s been one of the busiest periods of my life, the last few months, just doing everything: fun stuff, family stuff, work, travel.

‘I feel good. I’m on constant medications, constant treatment, but it’s not interfering too much with my life and the most important thing is it’s working, so I’m stable at the moment, everything’s good. Making hay while the sun shines.’

As well as six Olympic golds, the Edinburgh-born athlete won 11 world championships and 34 World Cup titles by the time he retired from competitive racing in 2013.

He added: ‘I can’t believe the position I’m in now compared to 18 months ago, I never imagined I’d be able to get to this point where I’m actually living life.

‘And not just living life, but actually appreciating it more than ever and able to enjoy the little things. It’s not just about doing bucket-list stuff and doing massive things, it’s about appreciating the daily, mundane fun of life.’

Franco needs to keep proving he’s the right man to replace Townsend

It’s fair to say that Scottish rugby is about to go through a significant period of change.

Edinburgh announced this week that 12 players will depart at the end of the season. Up until recent results, it had been thought that it would be head coach Sean Everitt heading for the exit. It will be interesting to see if that has now changed.

New signings have also been announced and it will be a similar story along the M8 at Glasgow Warriors as they look to balance the books.

Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors have gone off the boil at business end of the season

The Warriors have gone off the boil at the worst possible time this season and you would no longer back them to defend their URC title.

Why that has happened is open to debate, but it’s strange that so many of their performers have gone AWOL of late.

Speculation over the future of head coach Franco Smith won’t have helped, even if it has quietened down over the past few weeks.

The general consensus appears to be that Smith will step up to replace Gregor Townsend as Scotland head coach next year.

It seems a sensible move at the moment but if Smith can’t get Glasgow back on track, it allows for doubts to creep in.

Scottish rugby needs stability if it is to go in the right direction. Let’s hope any major decisions are taken quickly and decisively.

Super Scot Hollie Davidson keeps blazing the trail for female referees

Hollie Davidson continues to be a trailblazer for female officials in rugby, with the Scot now set for another first after being confirmed as referee for the Challenge Cup final between Bath and Lyon later this month.

The 32-year-old has been part of several high-profile ties in recent years, including taking charge of an 1872 Cup match and becoming the first female to be a part of an on-field officiating team in the men’s Six Nations.

Hollie Davidson will take charge of the Challenge Cup final between Bath and Lyon this month

Davidson will become the first Scot to referee a European Professional Club Rugby final since Jim Fleming in 1998 when she takes the whistle for the match on May 23 in Cardiff – in which another well-known Scot, Finn Russell, will be hoping to star.

Davidson’s appointment is another huge step on her rise through the ranks, not to mention a massive positive for female officials involved in the sport.