Rangers Out of Europe, Under Pressure — But Former Players Still Back McInnes

Rangers are out of the Europa League after a defeat to Jagiellonia Białystok, and the questions are already piling up around their new manager, Derek McInnes.

McInnes, appointed this summer to revive Rangers' fortunes — the Glasgow club are one of Scotland's biggest, historically locked in a rivalry with Celtic — has not won any of his first four games in charge. Former Hearts manager John Robertson described the situation bluntly: McInnes is "suddenly under pressure" (BBC Sport). That pressure sharpened after the Europa League exit, a result that eliminates Rangers from continental competition — the second tier of European football, sitting just below the Champions League — before the season has properly got going.

McInnes himself was candid about the gap between where his squad is and where it needs to be. After the match, Rangers' official YouTube channel posted his reflections on the defeat (YouTube). He had already told reporters before the second leg that Rangers were "not ready" for the Europa League, despite millions being spent on nine new signings this summer (Yahoo Sport).

Nine signings in one window is a lot. But former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday pointed to an even starker figure: if Rangers have signed 27 players in a year, something has gone seriously wrong (BBC Sport). His argument is not that the manager should be excluded from the process — far from it. Halliday said recruitment should be a collaboration: the football department identifies targets, but the manager has the final say. The suggestion is that too many players have arrived without enough coherent direction behind the decisions.

Halliday was specific about what Rangers still need: a starting right-back, a starting centre-half, and a starting central midfielder — the spine of the team, the positions that run through the middle from defence to midfield. If McInnes wants to keep playing with two strikers, they need another forward too (BBC Sport).

Robertson agreed that the spine is the problem, and fixing it will cost money the club does not necessarily have in abundance. McInnes himself made the same point before the summer window opened: whatever money there is has to be spent wisely, on players who meet the club's specific needs (Rangers.co.uk).

Yet the voices calling for patience are just as loud as the ones noting the early failures. Former Rangers defender Richard Foster said McInnes "has not become a bad manager in four games" and believes he is the right man for the job (BBC Sport). Foster's prediction is that McInnes will get Rangers to a point this season where they are challenging for the league and the cup and playing competitive football — the standard the Ibrox support demands.

Robertson echoed the same theme. McInnes needs time to build his team and put his stamp on it, he said, and that is not the work of a few weeks.

For Rangers fans, the picture is mixed but not hopeless. The squad is clearly unfinished — too many arrivals, not enough quality in the right places, and an early European exit that stings. But four games is a thin sample for a manager who has walked into a club mid-rebuild. The league season is the real test, and it has barely begun.