Search

Advertisement

McInnes has plenty to prove in Europe as Jablonec test looms

Advertisement
[BBC]

It's been another shambolic week at Rangers - is it ever anything else?

Thursday night's embarrassing Europa League exit is fully on Derek McInnes. The half-time substitution and change of shaped killed any chance of qualification.

Giving up the midfield in Europe isn't the move of an experienced manager, it's a rookie mistake.

I feel the comments after it - blaming the players and suggesting they weren't ready for that level - was a bit of self-preservation. Clearly, the two legs and McInnes' tactical choices proved he's not ready to manage at that level.

Then we have the Couhaib Driouech debacle. It's a shame because he would have been a quality addition but given where we are at the moment, I'm not sure we can attract players of that level. That remains to be seen in the rest of the window.

On a brighter note, Sunday was much better. Going with three in the middle of the park helped get control, who'd have thought it? And James Penrice and Djeidi Gassama were excellent on the left-hand side.

Vanja Dragojevic and Nico Raskin were superb and with Ryan Naderi in attack, despite his flaws, his pressing was good and the whole front six was much more fluid and less static.

Also, I'm pleased the manager wasn't against dropping his two Hearts boys. We looked far better for it.

Hopefully we see more attacking players arrive before the Conference League squad deadline and we can put in a good performance on Thursday night in the Conference League play-off.

It's been a terrible start to the season, but we have to kick on from here.

Consistency of shape and selection has to come from Sunday. Better players will obviously help if we can get them in the door. One game at a time and let's see how we deal with an in-form Jablonec side next.

Advertisement

Comments (0)

Be the first to write a comment.

Leave a Comment