Rangers boss names the under-fire star who left him raging in Poland and admits he spent the entire first half yelling instructions from the touchline
Derek McInnes has gone nuclear after Rangers’ embarrassing 2-1 Europa League defeat to Jagiellonia Białystok – and he did not hold back in a brutal post-match interview that is already sending Ibrox into meltdown.
The new Rangers manager single-handedly tore into one of his own players, revealing that the underperforming star “wasn’t at his best” and that he was forced to constantly scream at him throughout the first half to press higher up the pitch after a catalogue of careless lost passes that gifted the Polish side cheap possession and ultimately cost Rangers the game.
Speaking to reporters still fuming in the mixed zone at the Chorten Arena, McInnes made it crystal clear that he will not tolerate passengers at Ibrox.
“Look, I’m not going to sit here and sugar-coat anything,” McInnes said, his voice sharp with frustration. “One of our players just wasn’t at the level we needed tonight. Nowhere near it. Too many times the ball was given away cheaply in midfield areas. Soft, lazy, and completely avoidable. I was constantly calling him to step up, to press, to show more intensity and aggression. After every lost pass I was having to shout the same thing from the touchline. Press! Get tighter! Win the ball back! That’s not acceptable at this football club. Not on my watch.”
McInnes stopped short of naming the player on camera, but the body language and the timing of the half-time substitutions left little to the imagination. The midfielder in question started the match and was one of three players hauled off at the break as the manager desperately tried to change the momentum of a game that was slipping away.
Rangers had actually started the night in dream fashion. Just four minutes in, Tuur Rommens delivered a dangerous low cross that was turned into his own net by Jagiellonia defender Guilherme Montoia. For a brief moment it looked like McInnes’ first European night as Rangers boss was going to be a memorable one. Instead, it quickly turned into a nightmare.
Thirteen minutes later Emmanuel Fernandez gifted the hosts an equaliser with another own goal. Then, on 21 minutes, Kajetan Szmyt punished further defensive hesitation to make it 2-1. The damage was done before half-time, and McInnes made no attempt to hide where he felt the problems started.
“We beat ourselves in the first half, pure and simple,” he continued. “We had control early on. We were patient, we were organised, and we scored a good goal through good combination play. Then we stopped doing the basics. We stopped competing for second balls. We stopped pressing as a unit. And when you do that in European football, you get punished. One or two individuals just didn’t match the standard required. The second half showed what we’re capable of when we actually work and press together. We dominated the ball, we created chances, and we hit the post late on. But the first half was not good enough. Not for Rangers.”
McInnes made three changes at the interval, introducing Cammy Devlin, Nico Raskin and Findlay Curtis. The improvement was immediate. Rangers controlled large spells of the second half and came agonisingly close to an equaliser when Curtis crashed a volley against the post in stoppage time. Lawrence Shankland, who started on the bench, also had a late chance that somehow stayed out. But the goal never came.
The manager was asked whether the player in question would keep his place for Sunday’s Scottish Premiership clash with Hibernian. His answer was cold and direct.
“Everyone is under pressure. Every single one of them. If you don’t perform to the level this club demands, you won’t play. Simple as that. I expect more. The supporters expect more. And the player knows exactly where he stands. There will be no hiding place.”
The comments have already triggered an explosion on social media. Fans are frantically trying to identify the midfielder McInnes was referring to, with several names being heavily linked. Many supporters have called for the player to be dropped immediately, while others have praised McInnes for refusing to protect underperforming stars in the way previous regimes allegedly did.
This was only McInnes’ second competitive match in charge after a disappointing 1-1 draw with Dundee United at the weekend. Already the new boss is showing a hard edge that has been missing around Ibrox for some time. His message is clear: soft performances and lost passes will not be tolerated.
Rangers now face a must-win second leg at a sold-out Ibrox next week if they are to keep their Europa League hopes alive. Fail, and they drop into the Conference League play-offs. Before that comes the visit of Hibernian on Sunday, where McInnes will once again demand intensity, aggression and zero passengers.
One thing is now beyond doubt. The Derek McInnes era will not be built on excuses or protected egos. If you lose the ball cheaply and fail to press, you will hear about it – loudly, publicly, and without mercy.
The player at the centre of tonight’s storm has been put on notice. The whole squad has been put on notice. And Rangers fans will be watching very closely to see who responds.
