09 Aug 2026 22:31:48
I keep seeing McInnes is out his depth after another defeat, but where do we actually go from here?
When Gerrard was being linked with coming back, plenty on here wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Yet Gerrard remains our only genuinely successful manager in the last 12 years.
Since Gerrard left we've gone through manager after manager and every one has ultimately failed. Now, a matter of weeks into McInnes, we're already hearing the same calls again.
At what point do we ask whether every single manager is rotten, or whether there is a much bigger problem with recruitment, squad building and the quality of player we're giving managers?
We can sack McInnes. Fine. Then who?
People talk as though there's a queue of top class managers outside Ibrox waiting for the phone call.
There isn't. If Rangers were offering elite wages, a huge transfer budget and the resources to completely rebuild this squad, I'm pretty damn sure we'd have attracted a higher profile manager already.
Sack McInnes and at this rate we'll be asking Callum Davidson to save us by Christmas.
The transfer market tells its own story as well. We've been linked with players like Dahl but once the figures start getting towards £10m+, we're clearly either unwilling or unable to compete. We knew months ago who needed moved on and which positions desperately needed strengthened, yet we're still sitting here with holes all over the squad.
For me we still need a RB, LB, CB, creative midfielder, another winger and a prolific striker. That's not a little bit of tweaking that's half 1st team.
And that's why I don't see McInnes going anywhere in the long term He's going to have to somehow galvanise what he's got, get them organised and turn them into a team. More importantly, he needs time and he needs backed, both by the club and the support.
All the early talk about major investment in the playing squad hasn't really materialised yet. The Americans appear determined to maximise what we receive for players while being far more cautious about what goes back out. Maybe that's sensible business long term, but supporters need to recognise what that means in the short term.
We're probably going to have to sit and suck this up for a while.
Because continually changing the manager while giving the next one the same fundamental problems isn't a rebuild. It's just repeating the same cycle and expecting a different result.
McInnes might ultimately succeed or fail none of us knows yet. But after watching manager after manager fail since Gerrard, I'm struggling to believe the answer is simply that we've somehow managed to appoint a succession of completely useless managers.
So where is everyone's head at? If you want McInnes gone already, who realistically replaces him under the terms Rangers currently seem willing to offer and what does that new manager do with this squad that the last five couldn't?
And unfortunately you only need to look across the city to see the difference. When Celtic identify a player they really want, more often than not they find a way of getting the deal done. Høgh is a perfect example if that's the striker they believe improves them, they'll put serious money on the table to get their man.
That's where I think we're still falling short. We can identify good players as well, but identifying them means absolutely nothing if we're continually reaching the point where the asking price becomes too much and we move onto the next option
Down the list!!
I can't offer up anything more positive unfortunately,
09 Aug 2026 23:43:33
Stig, I believe the strive to create a revolving door of players bought on potential but leaving for good profits has set us back. There seems to be a scatter gun approach. Was Devilin brought in because Barron was going, was Drago brought in because Raskin is going? 🤷🏼 Both still at the club
I think the whole set up needs changed, I think players out developing should hopefully pay dividends, but I think this season needs to show a direction and it will be a long season.
The players we brought in add to the quantity, but don't seem to increase the quality. That has to change. Manager after manager wants leaders, manager after manager says the players aren't doing what they are told. Maybe there's too much emphasis in certain games where 76% possession still results in us playing a formation which isn't working, and, like the United game, we can't unlock. That's not right.
09 Aug 2026 23:48:12
In my opinion, there are two major things that are stopping us from progressing:
1. The recruitment (when looking at a player simply ask would they get in the Celtic team, if they don't then don't sign them, if they are injury prone don't sign them.
It's not rocket science.)
2. The supporters (winning our last league title when no fans were in might be the clue.)
10 Aug 2026 00:02:07
As was said, it's not wholly the quality, it's the style of play, the sooner we have a go constantly in matches the better, we could have Pep, Haaland and Bernardo Silva and it wouldn't make a difference, that's why it's not so much who we sign but what they can do for us, how they're used.
10 Aug 2026 00:21:30
Out of his depth after a few games is bonkers if it wasn't as laughable.
10 Aug 2026 00:03:32
We need to get purdy and Thelwell tae f ASAP
10 Aug 2026 01:25:59
It's mental, Mystar. He needs 1, 2, or maybe even 3 seasons to get us back. Any manager would.
10 Aug 2026 03:53:18
Blue, he isn't getting 2/3 seasons, mate, he should never have been employed in the 1st place. I don't think he will be our manager in December. I am not saying it's right or wrong, but if it was any other manager than a Rangers fan, he would be getting it more.
We also need to play someone else other than that bag of cement we call Shankland.
10 Aug 2026 05:28:02
Storm, Someone else like Naderi perhaps? 🤨 - 🤔 I would be playing Miovski and Shankland up front as Chermiti will be out for wee while and Naderi is absolutely woeful in most aspects of the game- he is a shocking buy for our club - also punting Del Boy as a knee jerk will just push us further back so Any manager needs time -- we are continuing buying shirt fillers and not class and until that stops even Mourinho/Pep couldn't make this mob play any better -fact!
10 Aug 2026 06:41:33
Blue Floyd, that's pish n here's an example Gerrard at Villa fighting relegation, in comes Emre, same squad, up fighting for European places. This it ain't manager etc, is a cope out guy not good at his job, simple as.
10 Aug 2026 06:49:59
Blue-Floyd3, I like Miovski mate, and it would suit him playing with a partner, but it now looks very likely that he's on his way and for me been unfortunate in his short Rangers career and has never had a proper run and that's my opinion on him and it will never change as he's a natural goalscorer for me and if others differ and will do, fair enough, and that's your opinion and this is mine on Miovski.
🤔
10 Aug 2026 06:52:26
Storm, it's one thing to say you don't rate Shankland and stating you think he's overweight and not started his Rangers career well, but way too strong imo, calling a Rangers striker and captain a bag of cement. 😲👎
10 Aug 2026 08:08:19
Stig, I know what you are saying, but how can the likes of Motherwell & Dundee play better football than Rangers? Elvis has Dundee popping the ball about, playing from the back, attractive football, with players of Dundee level.
When was the last time you watched a Rangers side and enjoyed the football they played? DMC/DR/PC/GVB all slow, boring, side to side nonsense that doesn't work domestically.
10 Aug 2026 08:16:12
Thestigno1 continually changing the manager absolutely not the answer, mate, and until our recruitment/scouting team is correct it doesn't matter what manager we have because they're doomed to fail. 🤔
10 Aug 2026 08:37:19
The issue, as I see it, is that because of the quality of the league and the amount of money we are realistically willing or able to pay, we can only attract managers up to a certain level. Then, because we never give anyone enough time to actually settle and build something, we end up paying settlement fees anyway.
Is it really any wonder that Gerrard is the only manager who has properly succeeded in recent years? And even then, it took him three seasons to do it. He probably only got that time because the fans weren't able to influence his sacking in the same way due to Covid.
Then, when we sack a manager, we effectively have to start again and replace a full squad of 14 or 15 players on a budget of around £20m. That means the majority of our recruitment has to be made up of out-of-contract players, players on low wages, or players willing to come to Scotland for relatively little money.
So we simply can't afford to go out and buy two, three or four genuinely top-quality players every summer because the budget isn't there. That's not necessarily because the owners don't have the money, but because there are limits to how much they can realistically spend.
Celtic are in a completely different position. They might only need to replace two or three players, and they also have a significantly higher turnover than we do. If we spend £11m on someone like Dahl, for example, that potentially leaves £9m to find another 13 players. That's obviously a completely different recruitment challenge.
It means we are always going to have to try to build a team that is better than the sum of its individual parts. And that takes time. It takes time for a manager like McInnes, or whoever it might be, to identify the right players, understand what they can do, and put them together into a functioning team.
Emre is probably a good example of this. He failed at Arsenal, Arteta came in afterwards and got them success. That doesn't necessarily mean Emre was a bad manager; sometimes circumstances, recruitment, timing and the environment around a manager matter just as much as the manager himself.
So, yes, we can keep chasing instant success. By the law of averages, eventually we might get lucky and it might actually work.
But if we aren't in a position to simply throw huge amounts of money at the problem, then the only sustainable way to grow and improve is to give someone time and get to the point where we are only having to replace two or three players each summer with genuine quality.
And even then, what does "genuine quality" actually mean for Rangers? The players who are good enough and young enough will generally be looking to move on to a bigger league eventually so if you want your buzz word they are, by definition, a project.
The other option is experienced players who are nearing the end of their careers and looking for one last big contract.
That's the reality of recruitment at Rangers at the moment, and unfortunately I don't see that changing any time soon.
So if the answer every time we don't immediately win is to change the manager, change the players and effectively start again, then we are becoming part of the problem ourselves. We're creating exactly the cycle that makes it so difficult to build anything sustainable in the first place.
We can't keep demanding instant success while simultaneously refusing to give anyone the time required to build a squad capable of achieving it. At some point, we have to accept the reality of where we are, build properly, and give someone the opportunity to actually see that process through.
10 Aug 2026 09:29:39
8Gazza - Emery early signings were Pau Torres 33m and Moussa Diaby around 50m. Therefore, am sure being able to buy this quality allows a manager to do fairly well.
🤔 He is a star manager, of that there is no doubt, but we don't move in those circles do we?
Del Boy needs time and should be allowed to shape his own team, not the inherited also rans our squad is filled with, before sweeping statements are made, or do we want the manager merry-go-round every season till doomsday?