Derek McInnes has been in charge for 100 days at Rangers - the club he grew up supporting, played for and previously turned down the opportunity to manage. In his brief but busy tenure, there has been a huge squad overhaul, while a sluggish start led to Ibrox jeers and the failure to qualify for European football for the first time in a decade. A golden start to autumn quietened talk of crisis as a winning streak extended to six games, including two Old Firm derby victories.
BBC Sport Scotland charts the key moments of McInnes' reign. Penrice focuses on Rangers as Scotland remains a target How derby masterclasses provide stark Rangers contrast One month and one day after his Heart of Midlothian side were pipped to the title by Celtic on the final day of last season, McInnes is announced as Rangers manager, replacing the departed Danny Rohl. It is 26 years since his days as a Rangers player ended with a move to West Bromwich Albion and eight-and-a-half years since he turned down the chance to become boss under the chairmanship of Dave King.
"It is no secret that I grew up a Rangers supporter and I am convinced this is the right time to take on this prestigious role," McInnes says. "There is a lot of hard work ahead." The new era begins at Tannadice with a whimper rather than a bang as Thelo Aasgaard scores a second-half equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Dundee United. "We worked hard to get back into it, but I don't think we were good enough to win the game," McInnes says.
"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." Curtain up on Rangers European campaign - and it does not start well. A trip to eastern Poland in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie ends in a 2-1 defeat by Jagellonia Bialystok.
McInnes notes: "I just felt we beat ourselves, to be honest. We got off to a good start, being patient with what we were trying to do. We made two mistakes for the two goals." Rangers' first home match of the season ends also ends in a 2-1 defeat, this time by Hibernian.
A late Callum Wright goal seals victory for the Edinburgh side and, to make matters worse, striker Youseff Chermitti suffers an ACL injury that scuppers any potential big-money sale amid reports of interest from Galatasaray. "There are little things going against us at the minute, but we have to stay strong - we're not as bad as people think," McInnes insists. "At the minute, we are trying to work boys back to the same level of fitness and trying to manage that situation.
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