---
title: "Derek McInnes and the Old Habits Already Haunting Rangers"
canonical: "https://readrangers.com/2026/08/07/derek-mcinnes-rangers-defensive-frailties"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
section: "Articles and Opinions"
published: "2026-08-07T10:45:15Z"
modified: "2026-08-07T10:45:16Z"
---

# Derek McInnes and the Old Habits Already Haunting Rangers

**Two games into the Derek McInnes era at Ibrox, and the soundtrack is unnervingly familiar.**

A meek opening-day draw at Dundee United, then a [2-1 first-leg defeat away to Jagiellonia Bialystok](https://readrangers.com/2026/08/07/rangers-jagiellonia-second-leg-ibrox-comeback) in the Europa League third qualifying round.

No wins, and the same soft centre that hollowed out last season already on show in Poland. This was meant to be the fresh start.

Instead, for long stretches on Thursday night, we watched a Rangers side undo itself. Again.

That, more than the scoreline, is the worry. McInnes arrived from Hearts as the antidote to a revolving door of managers – Russell Martin and Danny Röhl among the recent short stints – who could not cure Rangers’ fragility.

Nine new signings have landed this summer to date, yet the early evidence suggests the deepest problem is still personnel.

## Derek McInnes calls out the problem

To his credit, the manager did not hide from it. “We’ve seen a lot tonight of what I thought Rangers were last season,” he [told BBC Sport Scotland.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0kmd62el06o)

It was a damning line from a man who knows exactly how high the standards should be at Ibrox.

> “I thought we gave up too many chances and gave teams too much encouragement. 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.”

The pattern was set early. Jagiellonia carved the Gers open inside the opening quarter, capitalising on a string of lapses in concentration – a loose Thelo Aasgaard turn on the edge of the hosts’ box was punished on the counter within a minute, and the Light Blues spent a flat, flailing first half chasing the game.

It was less a collapse than a relapse. The exact failure mode supporters sat through far too often last term.

## A pattern, not a one-off

The uncomfortable truth for supporters is that none of this is new.

Last season’s Rangers could look fluid and clinical going forward and still be undone by a single transition and that is precisely how the goals arrived in Bialystok.

When [Rangers’ unwanted European records tumbled](https://readrangers.com/2026/08/06/jagiellonia-loss-brings-two-new-unwanted-euro-records-for-gers) on the night, it felt less like a shock than a rerun. McInnes naming the issue is at least the first step towards treating it.

Delivering change is another matter.

### Rangers have time, but the concerns are real

Nine signings so far represent a serious summer of surgery, and a rebuilt spine simply does not gel in a fortnight, but it does not yet look complete.

There is time. The Europa League tie is only half done, with the second leg at Ibrox on 13 August, and a full house tends to change the temperature.

The league continues with the first home game, against Hibs, on Sunday.

However, the message from Poland was blunt and it deserved to be. Until Rangers stop beating themselves, the old habits will keep writing the same ending. Over to you, Derek.