Rangers summer rebuild under McInnes delivers back-to-back Celtic wins
Rangers’ summer overhaul pays off with consecutive Old Firm wins
One hundred days into the Derek McInnes era at Ibrox has brought a dramatic turnaround for Rangers. After four winless games to start and a humiliating European exit to Jablonec, the club now heads into the international break on the back of six consecutive wins, including back-to-back victories over Celtic.
The revival is being traced back to a key summer transfer window that followed a chaotic 12 months. Last summer under former head coach Russell Martin, CEO Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell, Rangers signed 14 players, of whom only four remain. Martin was sacked after 123 days, with Stewart and Thelwell departing soon after.
A new recruitment model
Chairman Andrew Cavenagh admitted mistakes had been made and took a more hands-on role. The new structure now involves CEO Jim Gillespie, former technical director Dan Purdy, 49ers representatives Paraag Marathe and Gretar Steinsson, and performance director Stig Inge Bjornebye, appointed in June.
The club targeted fewer signings than the previous summer, but opportunities and injuries pushed the total back to 14. The brief was clear: build for domestic success against Celtic without copying their possession-based style, instead focusing on physicality and speed, reducing squad age, adding leaders after the departures of captain James Tavernier and vice-captain Jack Butland, and signing players with resale value.
The new-look spine
The average age of the team that beat Celtic twice before the break was under 24, compared with Celtic’s closer to 27. The starting XI in those games featured a new spine and six summer signings: goalkeeper Ivor Pandur, defender Olwethu Makhanya, captain Dan Neil in midfield alongside James Penrice, Minsu Kim out wide and Kevin Kelsy leading the line.
At Ibrox in the League Cup quarter-final and again at Parkhead in the Premiership a week later, Rangers played with an identifiable identity – strong, physical, fast and dominant in the second-ball battle. Celtic changed shape in search of answers that never arrived.
The approach mirrors January additions Tuur Rommens, Tochi Chukwuani and Ryan Naderi, and has created a group with speed, physicality and desire, with 13 squad members selected for international duty in the three-week window, 12 of them aged 26 or under.
With a test against Kilmarnock on 10 October and a League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen to come, the early signs are positive. Rangers still need to catch Celtic in the Premiership, but for the first time in years the club heads into autumn with a platform built from a united recruitment process and consecutive Old Firm victories.