Rangers

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Former manager Graeme Souness says Rangers' recruitment has not been good enough in recent years and the club need "football people" making key decisions.

Rangers have already welcomed eight new arrivals this summer and are reportedly closing on a deal for Japanese winger Daisuke Yokota from Hannover.

Manager Derek McInnes called for more quality signings after Rangers failed to win their opening game of the season for the fourth campaign in a row, drawing 1-1 at Dundee United on Friday.

Although Rangers made a point of calling McInnes the "manager" when he replaced head coach Danny Rohl, they stated the structure remained unchanged and recruitment decisions would be collaborative, with technical director Dan Purdy heavily involved.

"The recruitment's not been good enough," Souness said.

"How do you solve that? You get football people in making football decisions. It's not rocket science.

"If you're a football person, it doesn't mean that it's black and white, because you've been a football person it will work. No one gets every signing right. There's never been a manager. There never will be.

"So you've got a better chance if you've got someone with a footballing background making football decisions.

"If you haven't got that, if you're giving someone that power who's never played the game… I'll say that again, if you're giving that power to someone who's never played the game… I'll say it a third time for a reason. If you give that power to someone who's never played the game, you're asking for trouble.

"And I know everything is based on stats and numbers. That only takes you so far. Let football people make football decisions."

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Rangers have appointed Brian Gilmour as interim academy director to replace David McCallum, who departs after two-and-a-half years in the role.

Former Ibrox midfielder and youth graduate Gilmour returned to the club in 2017 as an academy coach before joining the B team staff in 2020.

The 39-year-old also worked as part of Philippe Clement's backroom team during the Belgian's tenure as head coach.

McCallum leaves Rangers after 11 years' service, which includes a spell as B team manager and brief stint as first-team caretaker in 2021.

"Gilmour, himself a former Rangers academy player, takes on the role with a strong understanding of every stage of the player pathway, having served in several roles across the club since returning in 2017," Rangers said in a statement.

"David McCallum will now depart Rangers, leaving with the very best wishes and thanks of everyone at the club for his 11 years of service."

Jamie Currie
Fan writer

New season, new manager, new leadership group, same poor result to start the campaign.

It's so frustrating and while I know it's only game one, we've seen this over and over.

What makes it worse is the team looked surprised at the environment they were playing in. Really? Our whole modus operandi this summer was about Scottish bias. Fact is, we have too many average players bloating the squad, in every area.

That's before we discuss the manager's starting XI. I know we are short of quality wide but Ryan Naderi playing the first half wide right then Mohamed Diomande second half was similar to when Derek McInnes would use Harry Milne there last season for Hearts and is a massive red flag for me.

The recruitment has been boring and painfully lacking in quality, much like the performance on Friday night. We seriously need to get moving.

We need a starting right-back, a left-back and several wide options. A creative midfielder wouldn't go amiss either. There is a month or so left of the window but we cannot wait that long to get proper quality in the door.

So much still needs to be brought in or we will struggle like we did last season. Everyone involved in recruitment needs to step up or this season has the potential to get away from us.

It feels like I'm saying the same thing year after year and frankly I'm bored of it.

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Former Rangers striker Rory Loy was bemused by Derek McInnes' decision to not start with two up front in the season-opening 1-1 draw at Dundee United.

Captain Lawrence Shankland was deployed as the sole striker, with Ryan Naderi deployed wide right before being hooked for Youssef Chermiti at half-time.

"The one thing I just could not quite believe is that he didn't start with two strikers," Loy told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"I mean that has been his make-up, his identity, all these buzzwords you hear these days, his philosophy. Two wide men, two strikers.

"It was successful at Kilmarnock, back to his Aberdeen days, his two wingers, two strikers. You look at his Hearts team, Claudio Braga and Shankland.

"He comes into Rangers and I was thinking Shankland and Chermiti are a stick-on to start and he almost reverts to what previous managers did and tried to put square pegs in round holes.

"I know they don't have out-and-out pace in the wider areas necessarily but even if you play Djeidi Gassama on one side and somebody who can tuck in and maybe make it a three in the middle of the pitch, on the other side Findlay Curtis is an option."

We asked for your views after Rangers were paired with Northern Irish champions Larne or Iberia Tbilisi of Georgia in the Europa League play-offs should they defeat Jagiellonia Bialystok of Poland.

If Derek McInnes' side lose to Jagiellonia, they will meet Jablonec of Czech Republic or RFS of Latvia in a Conference League play-off.

Here are some of your comments:

Azeem: These are the bread and butter teams Rangers should be beating if they have legitimate aspirations of being in the group stages of the Europa League and the latter stages of competitions. It's been four years since Seville and Rangers have actually gone backwards both domestically and in Europe. Lets just hope Derek McInnes can sort the mess that is Rangers out sooner rather than later.

Rab: Not a bad play-off draw, but we cannot even think of this. We have to win our third qualifying round tie first. The team's full focus must be on Wednesday's first leg and nothing else.

Fraser: We are nowhere near ready for a run in Europe. Yet again we start the season with several new faces and yet again we get off to a stuttering start. We are not learning from past mistakes.

Billy: Nowhere near ready for European football. Disjointed, loose, apathetic. Nothing to encourage me.

Ronald: After Friday night's display we must improve.

Billy: Well, to be honest, if we can't beat these teams we probably don't deserve to be in Europe. Also, would not bode well for the season.

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Nedim Bajrami has joined Saudi club Al Taawoun on a season-long loan deal.

The Albania attacking midfielder signed for Rangers in 2024 from Sassuolo but has never nailed down a starting place at Ibrox, scoring seven goals in 63 appearances.

Al Taawoun also have an option to make the transfer permanent.

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Rangers are set to sign Japanese winger Daisuke Yokota from Hannover in a deal worth up to €4m. (Fabrizio Romano on X), external

Frosinone have rejected an £8m bid from Rangers for Fares Ghedjemis, days after Celtic had a £6m offer for the Algeria winger turned down. (Sky Sports), external

Rangers defender Ben Godfrey will be out for four weeks after injuring his hamstring in Friday's Scottish Premiership draw with Dundee United. (Scottish Sun), external

Read the rest of Tuesday's Scottish gossip.

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

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They have to beat Jagiellonia Bialystok first, but Rangers' path to the Europa League is now clearer after Monday's draw for the play-offs.

As the team with the second highest coefficient in the whole of qualifying behind Benfica, Derek McInnes' men should be confident of making it through.

Jagiellonia finished third behind Lech Poznan and Gornik Zabrze in the Polish top flight and both of those lost in their Champions League qualifiers last week.

However, Lech famously let a 4-1 lead over AGF Aarhus of Denmark slip at home before exiting on penalties, while Gornik were only beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Fenerbahce.

And Jagiellonia sit second in the Ekstraklasa on goal difference behind Legia Warsaw after two games, beating Motor Lublin 2-1 away from home on Friday.

Should Rangers progress against the Poles, they should find the play-off round that bit easier given they have been paired with the winners of the tie between Northern Irish champions Larne and Iberia Tbilisi of Georgia.

Larne, who won the title for the third time after finishing three points clear of Coleraine, did manage to reach the Conference League group stage for the first time two seasons ago.

However, after beating Tre Fiori of San Marino in the first round of Champions League qualifying this season, they were thrashed 9-0 on aggregate by Red Star Belgrade.

Iberia 1999 are lower ranked than Larne having won just four of their 12 European ties since making their debut in 2019.

They won their domestic title for a second year running last year and currently lead Rustavi by two points after 19 games.

Should Rangers lose to Jagiellonia, they will again fancy their chances against Jablonec of Czech Republic or RFS of Latvia in a Conference League play-off.

Jablonec finished fifth domestically last season and have only once got beyond the qualifiers, reaching the Conference League group stage four years ago after losing 7-2 on aggregate to Celtic in their earlier Europa League qualifier.

RFS finished second behind Riga in their domestic league last season and currently sit joint top with Auda but with a game in hand.

They lost home and away to Hearts in the 2022-23 Conference League and reached the Europa League two seasons ago but lost to Hamrun Spartans of Malta in the Conference League play-off last season.

Rangers have been drawn against either Northern Irish champions Larne or Iberia Tbilisi of Georgia in the Europa League play-offs should they defeat Jagiellonia Bialystok of Poland.

If Derek McInnes' side lose in Europa League qualifying, they will meet Jablonec of Czech Republic or RFS of Latvia in a Conference League play-off.

Rangers will be at home for the first leg of either competition on 20 August, with the return a week later.

What do you think of the draw and the Ibrox side's chances of reaching the league stage of either competition?

Give us your thoughts.

Cologne are favourites to sign Mikey Moore on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, with talks at an advanced stage amid interest from several clubs for the 18-year-old winger who spent last season with Rangers. (Fabrizio Romano on X, external)

Frosinone have knocked back Celtic's opening offer of around £6m for Rangers-linked Fares Ghedjemis and, although the Serie A club want to keep the 23-year-old Algeria winger, talks are ongoing between the clubs. (Sky Sports, external)

Hull City are set to beat Rangers and Cardiff Cityto sign 20-year-old midfielder Jens Hjerto-Dahl from Tromso. (Daily Mail, external)

Hull City have emerged as the front-runners to sign Jens Hjerto-Dahl after Rangers withdrew from the race to sign the midfielder. (Football Insider, external)

Rangers have held discussions with Brighton & Hove Albion over Amario Cozier-Duberry, but the Premier League club are in no rush to part with the 21-year-old winger after rejecting a £5m offer from Anderlecht. (Daily Record, external

Former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has revealed he turned down the chance to return to Ibrox as he did not want to return to Scotland and leave his family in the Middle East and harboured doubts about the club's recruitment. (Open Goal podcast, external)

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Rangers are in talks with Coventry City over a deal to sign 23-year-old winger Jahnoah Markelo. Football Insider, external

Scotland defender Scott McKenna is not an active signing target for Rangers, with the Ibrox club exploring a potential loan from Dinamo Zagreb several weeks ago then moving for Olwethu Makhanya instead. Scott Burns on X, external

Algeria winger Fares Ghedjemis, a transfer target for both Celtic and Rangers, was absent from the Frosinone squad for their pre-season friendly against Benevento. Scottish Sun, external

French clubs Paris FC and Nice are showing interest in former Rangers captain James Tavernier, who is a free agent after leaving Ibrox in May. Ben Jacobs on X, external

Rangers fans, we asked you for your thoughts after the 1-1 draw with Dundee United that opened the Scottish Premiership season. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

Colin: No difference from last year. Terrible football and never looked close to winning. Going to be a long, long, long season fighting for second place. Sad times.

Jim: Desperately needing quality on the flanks. Need that to stretch opposition sides to create goal-scoring opportunities.

Jazz: Here we go again. A stuttering start and before we know it, the league will be finished again. I know it's the first game but with the manager's tactics going back to last year, nothing changes.

Sally: Rangers have no midfield creativity! Cammy Devlin is a stopper, not a creator. Aasgaard was the best Rangers player. If Raskin wants to play for Rangers, give him what he needs. Youssef Chermiti and Ryan Naderi are a striker partnership in development.

Derek: First game and it's the usual - playing catch up! Still loads of dead wood. Early days but far from impressed with Dan Neil. As for Chermiti, a simple-squared ball to Findlay Curtis was on, but instead a weak tame shot. Poor decision-making.

Alex: Not the worst start or performance, but not great either. Didn't keep our width and attack the byeline enough. Final third quality was lacking overall. It's just the first game, so no need for overreactions, but we need to improve and be much more ruthless.

Alex B: Dear me, I've waited weeks for this, so underwhelmed. Ross McCrorie was an ex-Rangers player for a reason, he was woeful. Centre-half taken on off and replaced by another right-back. When there is a central defender sub available, he wasn't any better than the last five games from last season.

Liam: Biggest mistake here was the lack of friendlies to build confidence, especially with the new recruits. Why wait for first competitive game? Gassama and Naderi would not be in my starting XI selection.

David: Really disappointed. Same old, same old. New faces but no meaningful improvement. We still struggled to create in the final third and didn't win many of the 50/50 balls. Big improvement needed very quickly, Mr McInnes, or winning the league could be very unlikely after the first Old Firm.

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Rangers and Celtic are both chasing winger Fares Ghedjemis of Frosinone, although the 23-year-old Algerian is thought to be keen on staying in Italy with a bigger club. Scottish Sun, external

Rangers are preparing to strengthen their squad with up to four further signings but a plethora of exits are likely to be sanctioned first, including the sale of prize asset Nico Raskin. TeamTalk, external

New Rangers signing Olwethu Makhanya could miss the Europa League tie against Jagiellonia Bialystok due to a visa issue. Glasgow Times, external

Rangers were held to a 1-1 draw at Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership curtain-raiser as the Derek McInnes era got off to an underwhelming start at Tannadice.

Give us your thoughts here.

Read the match report here.

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Rangers manager Derek McInnes tells BBC Scotland: "We worked hard to get back into it but I don't think we were good enough to win the game.

"I thought the point was the right scoreline and we're disappointed with that.

"First half, we wasted a lot, we didn't create too much, and it was a bit too frantic.

"We never really connected the game well enough or looked after the ball well enough, and we lost a poor goal from our point of view.

"I thought the half-time changes helped us, but the approach from the players in the second half was really good.

"You see the desire to get the equaliser wasn't quite mirrored with the desire to go and get the winner. I just thought we played in fits and starts after that.

"What we need to do when we look in charge is make sure we don't make silly mistakes and give the opponent encouragement.

"After the equaliser, for five minutes I felt we made too many little mistakes and need to communicate better and deal with that situation better."