How do you catalogue the insipidness of Derek McInnes' Rangers team in Jablonec? How do you catalogue the Pedro-Caixinha-in-the-bushes level embarrassment that the club experienced in their exit from European football on Thursday? In Jablonec, Rangers were unspeakably awful, devoid of any cohesion, desire, threat, their manager reduced to saying how embarrassed and mortified he was multiple times post-match.
They had one shot on target the whole night, one goal scored in 210 minutes. Rangers fans in the stadium gave it to them with both barrels at the end. The whole scene was cringemaking.
He tried to explain what he was trying to do with his multiple switches of formation and attempted to explain why his side were "miles off it". Talk is cheap in his position. There's a limited shelf life for that kind of thing at Ibrox.
The chat from some Rangers folk in the preamble was that the Conference League meant little to them, that an exit wouldn't spark an uprising, that no midweek European football could give them a chance to hurl themselves at the Premiership instead. Fine in theory, but not in reality. The notion that a defeat would be met with a collective shrug by Rangers fans was never a serious proposition.
This defeat sparked untrammelled fury. McInnes would be as well staying away from social media. Winning in the bearpit of Pittodrie on Sunday is strongly advised.
Rangers out of Europe after wretched penalty defeat in Jablonec 'Mortified' McInnes takes responsibility for Rangers' European exit Latest Rangers news, analysis and fan views Rangers were so flat in the Czech Republic, meandering about like confused men, showing weakness in the tackle and not a scintilla of wit. McInnes changed the shape of his four or five times and the poverty of their play didn't improve one iota. "I look at us now and I'm thinking, well, we're no' great as a possession-based team at the minute," said McInnes in explaining his constant switches.
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