Sean Dyche has become the latest experienced voice from outside Scotland to back Derek McInnes.
He argues that Rangers need to find more leaders capable of carrying the pressure and expectation that comes with playing at Ibrox.
The comments were carried by Inside Ibrox at the end of the worst week of McInnes’s short reign.
The pressure is building after four competitive games without a win, but worse than that for McInnes, there are no signs of hope or optimism.
What Sean Dyche says Rangers are missing
Dyche’s point is about character rather than tactics.
Ibrox is an unforgiving place for a squad rebuilt almost from scratch, and the English manager believes McInnes should be given more time to shape a group that is still forming.
That view sits awkwardly against the numbers. The Rangers boss has not won any of his first four competitive matches, a run BBC Sport Scotland examined this week after Thursday’s Europa League exit to Jagiellonia Bialystok.
He is not alone in pointing the finger away from the dugout.
Former Gers midfielder Andy Halliday, speaking to Sky Sports in, defended the manager while accusing the club’s hierarchy of “gross mismanagement”
This reflects the sharper end of the argument Read Rangers set out when Halliday blasted an imbalanced Rangers squad earlier on Friday.
It is familiar territory for a manager who has had public backing before, with Rangers hero Steven Davis giving McInnes his support at the start of the month.
Whether that goodwill survives contact with results is the question, and the next answer comes at Ibrox this weekend against St Mirren.
Comments.
Loading comments…