Rangers’ Old Firm Statement: A Blueprint for Success Under McInnes
Rangers’ Old Firm statement was exactly the sort of performance many expected to see all season under Derek McInnes: organised, snarling, and ruthless when the front four were turned loose.
At first glance, the team sheet hinted at trouble. It looked like a straight 4-4-2, the sort of shape that usually gets swallowed up in an Old Firm midfield. You could almost script the criticism in advance: outnumbered in the middle, chasing shadows, overrun.
McInnes had something else in mind.
Penrice the problem-solver, not the passenger
This was no flat 4-4-2. McInnes used James Penrice as the hinge of the entire system. Out of possession, he tucked in centrally, shoring up the midfield and snuffing out Celtic’s numerical edge. When Rangers had the ball, he drifted wide, underlapping and overlapping Djeidi Gassama, creating angles and confusion down that flank.
It was clever. It was brave. And it worked.
Behind them, the back three simply bullied Celtic’s forwards. They dominated the physical battles, read the game early, and squeezed the space so effectively that Celtic managed just one shot on target – a tame effort Ivor Pandur could have dealt with in his sleep.
Makhanya the Rolls-Royce
Olwethu Makhanya has started to look like the classic “Rolls-Royce defender” in Scottish terms. Composed on the ball, aggressive in the duel, quick enough to cover the channels – he is ticking every box you need to survive, and thrive, in this league.
In front of him, the midfield set the tone. Penrice’s energy and discipline gave Rangers balance, while Nico Raskin showed precisely why he is in the Belgium squad. He snapped into challenges, used the ball sensibly, and drove the team forward at the right moments.
Dan Neil, though, ran the show. He dictated the tempo, picked the right passes, and controlled the middle of the pitch with a calm authority. His two goals were not just a bonus; they were the exclamation mark on a complete midfield performance.
Wide threat, constant pressure
Out wide, Gassama and Kim Min-su stretched Celtic’s back line and pinned their full-backs deep. Their final ball was not always perfect, but that almost missed the point. Their pace and direct running forced Celtic backwards, stopped them building from the back, and kept Rangers on the front foot.
Up top, Kevin Kelsy might replay his early miss in his head a few times, but everything else about his performance screamed centre-forward’s display. He linked play, battled defenders, and worked intelligently with Ryan Naderi. The way he repeatedly pinned Cameron Carter-Vickers gave Rangers a platform to play from, and his goal – sharply taken – was a fitting reward for that graft.
A blueprint for McInnes
McInnes called it a reference point, and he is right. This is the standard now. The aggression, the structure, the clarity of roles – this is what Rangers must carry into Celtic Park on Sunday.
The next game will not look like this one. Different venue, different dynamic, different kind of pressure. But the requirement does not change. Rangers need another result. Even at this stage of the season, slipping eight points behind is not a gap you can casually shrug off.
Five domestic wins in a row and a cup semi-final on the horizon tell their own story. From the position the club found itself in after Jablonec, most would have grabbed this scenario with both hands.
Now the question is no longer whether Rangers are recovering. It is whether they can turn a statement performance into a sustained title challenge – starting with another Old Firm test in enemy territory.
