Rangers Show Signs of Improvement Against Aberdeen
Rangers finally found something to cling to on Sunday – not redemption, not yet, but at least a version of themselves that didn’t look lost.
It has been a grim opening to the season. Recruitment has dragged, the European campaign – such as it was – veered into the embarrassing, and Derek McInnes has spent weeks shuffling line-ups, systems and substitutions like a manager hoping one of his experiments might magically click. It hasn’t. Until Aberdeen.
A glimpse of the team McInnes wanted
Against Aberdeen, Rangers at last resembled the side many expected from McInnes on day one. They were organised. They were disciplined. They got over the line.
It wasn’t spectacular. It didn’t need to be. This was about basic competence and control, about shutting down the chaos that has surrounded the club since the first ball of the season was kicked.
The hope inside the club now is simple: that this is a base camp, not a one-off. A platform, not an anomaly.
Kim and Gassama offer attacking spark
In attack, only two players truly rose above the noise.
Kim Min-Su played like a man intent on being the heartbeat of this team. He demanded the ball, linked play and tried to impose himself as the fulcrum of Rangers’ forward work. Around him, Djeidi Gassama crackled with energy, busy and direct, the kind of lively presence that unsettles defenders and lifts a stadium.
Others did their jobs, but it was Kim and Gassama who looked like they might drag this attack into something more convincing in the weeks ahead.
No controversy in key calls
Referee Matthew MacDermid found himself at the centre of the usual online storm, but on the big calls, he got them right.
Kevin Nisbet’s disallowed goal has already triggered the predictable social media outrage, yet the incident was clear-cut. There were two separate infringements in the build-up: a shove on Dujon Sterling and an offside. Either one was enough to chalk it off. Combined, the decision was straightforward.
The noise will continue, of course. It always does. But on this occasion, the officiating held up under scrutiny.
Window ticking, work mounting
The win brought comfort and a welcome sense of solidity. It has to be more than that.
Falkirk away on Wednesday now looms as a test of whether Rangers can string performances together rather than lurch from one extreme to the other. This result needs to be the start of a run, not a brief pause in the criticism.
Off the pitch, the clock is merciless. The transfer window is closing in, and the squad is still short of the quality required. A striker has been heavily linked. McInnes also needs another right winger and two midfielders to drag this group towards the standard demanded at Rangers.
There is, bluntly, a lot to do. Sunday offered a sliver of reassurance. The question now is whether the club can move quickly enough – on the pitch and in the market – to make it mean something.
