Two games, no wins, and a whole lot of work yet to do – there has been no dream start for Derek McInnes in his dream job.
Rangers’ 2-1 first-leg defeat in their Europa League third-round qualifier away to Jagiellonia Bialystok came hot on the heels of a meek draw at Dundee United in their Scottish Premiership curtain-raiser.
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McInnes’ appointment, many fans hoped, would be a fresh start for the club after a succession of managers who arrived with glowing reviews and bags of promise, before they all left under a cloud of criticism and disappointment.
Nine signings have arrived this summer, with more expected, but last year’s ruinous form is casting a long shadow.
“We’ve seen a lot tonight of what I thought Rangers were last season,” McInnes said after the defeat in Poland.
It’s a damning indictment from someone who knows how high the standards should be at Ibrox.
‘We have to be far more stingy’
Neither Russell Martin nor Danny Rohl were able to restore past glories in their short stints in Govan while McInnes was taking Hearts to the verge of immortality.
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Much of the condemnation surrounding the Ibrox club’s failures last season came back to the same theme – they may be fluid and clinical going forward at times, but a soft underbelly put paid to hopes of success.
“I thought we gave up too many chances and gave teams too much encouragement,” the 55-year-old added post match in Poland.
“We’ve got to be honest and say we are guilty of beating ourselves tonight. And that’s no disrespect to our opponent because on transitions and counter-attack, it fuels them.”
Rangers were flailing in the opening 45 minutes as Jagiellonia cut them open with ease, capitalising on numerous lapses in concentration.
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Twelve minutes into the game, Thelo Aasgaard tried an audacious spin on the edge of the hosts’ box, attempting to squeeze the ball through a small gap in the defence.
One minute later it was in the back of Rangers’ net following an impressive counter.
“There’s no bigger drain on confidence for any player, team, support than losing cheap goals,” McInnes said.
“There were mistakes for the goals, and I understand that can happen, but we have got to be far more stingy with our work, defend the goal with our lives, don’t give our opponent opportunities.
“At no cost is that ball going in our box, at no cost are they going to get a chance, and we’ve got to have a bit more of that approach to our work.”
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The central defensive partnership of Dujon Sterling and Emmanuel Fernandez looked particularly shaky.
“If you spoke to McInnes right now without a microphone in front of him, and you asked him, ‘Do you trust Fernandez?’, there’s no way he says yes, no way,” former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday said on BBC Sportsound.
“But he doesn’t have an option at this moment in time to play someone else.
“I’m being very critical here, but I think Fernandez has every attribute to be a top, top central defender, yet it looks as if he hasn’t had the education growing up of the basics of being a central defender.”
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Curtis comes to the fore to make his case
Cammy Devlin, Findlay Curtis and Nicolas Raskin were introduced in a triple half-time change and they all played their part in a much better second-half showing from McInnes’ side.
Curtis was the standout. The 20-year-old was a revelation on loan at Kilmarnock in the second half of last season, earning a call-up to Scotland’s World Cup squad.
For a Rangers side crying out for attacking guile and inventiveness on the flanks, Curtis being limited to just eight minutes in their Premiership opener against United was surprising.
His 45 minutes in Poland – where he struck the post late on and flashed an effort just wide – surely will lead to greater involvement in a team short of attacking impetus right now.
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“The second-half performance was better, in an attacking sense. Findlay Curtis had a large part to play in that,” former Rangers striker Steven Thompson said on BBC Sportsound.
“He didn’t have that first thought of, when he received the ball, laying it back or looking for a sitting midfielder.
“He wants to go and take people on. It’s brilliant to see that, because there’s not enough of that in this Rangers side. He put in a number of good deliveries.
“His performance was one of the major positives from the evening.”
Halliday was similarly impressed, saying: “Curtis had a fearless nature to try to make a positive impact.
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“Not everything came off, but when he gets the ball, he drives at players, he plays one-two, he’s running off the ball and having efforts at goal.
“That alone sparked Rangers into that 5% or 10% more on the ball.”
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