Rangers

Image source, SNS

Kris Boyd believes Rangers are lacking ruthlessness at the top end of the pitch but has praised his former side for their unbeaten run.

Derek McInnes' side have won 10 and drawn two of their matches since their last defeat.

They are second in the Scottish Premiership and have also reached the League Cup final.

"To go on that run and be unbeaten for a period of time now is incredible because you go back to the start of the season, there's no doubt it was a struggle for Rangers, it was a tough watch," Boyd told BBC Scotland.

"I think now, if you are criticising, it would be a case of Rangers should be killing games off and finishing them and scoring more goals. They're creating chances but I don't see that ruthless forward at the top end of the pitch that's obsessed with goals.

"Overall, there's just something missing at the top end in terms of that killer who wants to get two, three, four goals. It's not possible every single week.

"It's about winning and that's what Rangers are doing right now."

Despite his concerns about McInnes' attack, Boyd was keen to praise Rangers' defensive performances.

"I think there's more of a Derek McInnes DNA about this team now because defensively Rangers look strong," he added.

"They don't look as if they're going to concede many goals."

Image source, SNS

Alex McLeish is impressed with the job Derek McInnes is doing at Rangers.

McInnes, appointed this summer, has led Rangers on a 12-match unbeaten run and they trail Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic by four points, with a game in hand.

Rangers are also through to next month's League Cup final.

McLeish managed Rangers from 2001-06 and won seven trophies, including two league titles.

"It takes a wee bit of time to get things going and there was a wee bit of panic again after five or six games," McLeish told BBC Scotland.

"All of a sudden, the players, they get it - what it takes to play for Rangers, what it takes to win football matches.

"And I really believe that Derek is taking the team in a very, very profitable direction in terms of trophies.

"He's got a lot of quite talented players. There's a few who are there who instantly you recognise, wow he's going to make a difference and that's what you need. They need to realise they can make a difference."

It's almost 25 years to the day McLeish took over from Dick Advocaat at Ibrox and the Scot sought counsel from Ibrox managerial great Walter Smith before taking up the post.

And McLeish said: "The day I went to Ibrox, I said, 'Walter, what do you think?' And he said, 'just win'."

Watch the best of the action from Paisley as Rangers beat St Mirren 2-0. (Available to UK users only)

Image source, SNS

It was important for Rangers to get back to winning ways away from home after two successive draws on the road, midfielder Dan Neil stressed after Saturday's 2-0 defeat of St Mirren.

It followed 2-2 draws with Dundee and Hearts in the Scottish Premiership and the Englishman says it was particularly vital as it comes in the last game before the latest international break.

"It was a big thing that we spoke about before the game - keeping a clean sheet," Neil, who scored Rangers' second goal, said.

"I think everyone played their part in that and it's nice to get a win before this break.

"One of the big things we spoke about again, other than the clean sheets, is coming away from home and putting in a good performance.

"The last two away results and performances really haven't been us. It was important that we didn't have another one of them going into the break and have it lingering over us.

"Coming away from home in any league is tough, but especially this league. The better our away form is, I think the better we're going to stand during the season.

"Our home form speaks for itself, but the last two away results haven't been great for us. So it was important to put that hoodoo of those two results behind us and make sure that we won the game."

We asked for your views after Rangers extended their unbeaten run to 12 games with a 2-0 Premiership win at St Mirren.

Here's what some of you said:

Dave: Scrappy as per usual but its three points and a clean sheet. But we need more goals.

Derek: I agree Ivor Pandur has been one of the best signings we made. You've got confidence in the keeper, whereas Jack Butland was like a car crash waiting to happen. Three points, but what is going on with the defence? Still far to slow build up, sorry Dan Neil you're not a temporary leader on the park. Still nowhere near clinical enough up front. Win ugly but not every week. It's meant to be entertainment.

Paul: Rangers just don't have that real cutting edge. Lots of good link-up play but lack the final killer ball. Ryan Naderi and Kevin Kelsy are good signings, but they're not natural finishers.

Robert: We are just not scoring enough goals.

Davy: Hard-fought three points. It's never going to be pretty, but the midfield and wide players appear to be clicking and giving more service to the front two, but need to be more ruthless in front of goal.

Gerry: Another slogfest, huffed and puffed but couldn't blow the house down, chances created but not converted due to some woeful finishing. On another day it could come back to bite us. It took a debatable penalty to break the deadlock in a game that should have been out of sight long before the second goal finally arrived, and what does Bojan Miovski have to do to get a run in the team? It's baffling.

Goals either side of half-time from Ryan Naderi and Dan Neil earned Rangers victory at St Mirren and took the Ibrox outfit within a point of Celtic at the Scottish Premiership summit.

Read the match report.

Have your say.

Image source, SNS

Rangers manager Derek McInnes: "Very pleased. I thought we deserved to win the game.

"It's traditionally a tough game. St Mirren are a team that can cause problems and I thought our aggression, our tenacity, our approach in the early part was superb.

"We should have scored before we did, but when we did score, it was no more than we deserved. I thought we got a wee bit sloppy after that and it's something we need to get better at, keeping our shoulder to the wheel after we score.

"Loads of chances. It's quite ironic we scored from a penalty and a deflected shot, but some of our work was really clean up until the last part. The players deserve a lot of credit because that was a win that was well fought for, well earned and we're really pleased.

"What becomes a good chance could be a brilliant chance if we just take care with the weight of pass and make the right decision. There are umpteen examples in that game today and it's something we need to improve on. We've got to take ownership that we can do better in these moments. The top players make these decisions at breakneck speed and pick the right pass.

"Ivor [Pandur] has been a brilliant signing for us. His calmness - players have huge faith in him. You never win anything with a poor goalie. We're pleased with the clean sheets - they are vitally important if you're going to be successful.

"It's not been perfect. We've had the draw and Hearts and the draw at Dundee. Our fight is with ourselves to keep improving. If we can keep winning and getting those improvements as we go along, there's hopefully more to come from us."

Rangers still have high hopes for midfielder Vanja Dragojevic despite the 20-year-old big-money summer signing from Partizan Belgrade barely being seen since the Europa League defeat by Jablonec in early August. (Daily Record, external)

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Image source, SNS

St Mirren's Ryan Carr is suspended and fellow midfielder Paul Nsio cannot play against his parent club.

Ismeal Kabia (calf), Nikolas Agrafiotis (calf), Keanu Baccus (Achilles), Malik Dijksteel (hamstring) and Jonah Ayunga (knee) remain out.

Rangers winger Bedredine Bouanani (illness) and defender Emmanuel Fernandez (ankle) are expected to shake off fitness concerns.

Ross McCrorie, Cammy Devlin, Lawrence Shankland (all hamstring), Daisuke Yokota (groin) and Youssef Chermiti (knee) remains out.

Image source, SNS

Derek McInnes has praised "brilliant" Rangers goalkeeper Ivor Pandur and says the Croat's form has gone under the radar.

Since signing from Hull City on a four-year deal in the summer, 26-year-old Pandur has brought a sense of calm to the Rangers defence, which was demonstrated again in the 1-0 League Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen on Saturday.

Prior to the Premiership clash with St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday night, manager McInnes said: "I think he's done so well.

"The fact I don't really get asked a lot about Pandur, he's just so quietly effective, and I think the players hold such a high regard for him and take confidence from him.

"There's nothing worse - I've been there as a player when you're not sure about your goalie and it affects a lot of what's happening on the pitch. But when you know you've got a good one there, it sends out the exact opposite.

"The confidence he sends throughout the team is clear, whether it's dealing with things at his feet, in the air.

"His shot-stopping is unbelievable. I watch him in training - every shot has the same importance. He just wants to keep the ball out of his net and, for me, they're the best types.

"He doesn't try harder for one shot than he does the next one. Everything is 'You're not beating me', I think he plays the game that way. He's been brilliant."

Rangers will face Hibs in the League Cup final next month and McInnes stressed the positives of taking the penultimate step towards the first trophy of the season and of his career as Ibrox boss.

The former Rangers midfielder said: "It's been really as you'd expect. I think you've got to take the good from the game.

"It's not easy getting to a cup final and the fact that we're there now, you've got to try and be pleased with that.

"I think the whole club - I was at the Charity Foundation ball on Sunday - and everybody's so excited about going to the cup final, and that's where we should be.

"We'll look forward to it when it comes around, but it's important now that we just really focus on this game before we get into the break, because it can easily dissipate, all that excitement and optimism, on the back of the next result."

Image source, SNS

Scott Allan believes Saturday night's game at St Mirren is a must-win for Rangers if they're serious about challenging for the title.

Rangers can pile pressure on Celtic, who play Kilmarnock on Sunday, by narrowing the gap at the top to one point with victory in Paisley.

The Ibrox side have failed to win on three of their past four trips to face the Buddies. And while Rangers are in fine from with nine wins in an 11-game unbeaten run, they have drawn half of their six Premiership away matches this season.

Speaking on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast, former Hibs, Celtic and Dundee United midfielder Allan said: "If Rangers are serious about putting a real title challenge up then these are the sort of games they have to go and win.

"A few weeks ago at Dens Park, Dundee basically dictated how Rangers played in the first half.

"So Rangers will be looking at trying to right that wrong but for St Mirren, I think they would have to get everything right on the night to get something from Rangers."

Allan believes Rangers are set to "click" at the top end of the park and thinks St Mirren have to score the opener if they are to stage an upset.

"Going forward, Rangers look they're just about to click into gear," he said.

"I think Badredine Bouanani coming into the team has brought something different, he's got that eye for a pass and we've not seen that in a Rangers team for a while.

"St Mirren would have to be all but perfect for me and I just feel it'll be a difficult one for them. They would have to score first."

Image source, SNS

Craig McLeish wants to avoid another "hard luck story" when St Mirren face Rangers on Saturday night.

Since moving from the youth set-up to become Buddies boss in March - initially on a temporary basis before making the move permanent in June - McLeish's side have run both Rangers and Celtic close on several occasions.

Most recently, St Mirren lost to a last-gasp goal in a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox, following a 2-1 home defeat to Celtic and a 5-1 defeat away to Rangers in the League Cup.

In his dugout debut for Saints in March, Rangers won 1-0 in Paisley, before St Mirren went down 1-0 at Celtic Park then took the Hoops to extra time in the Scottish Cup semi-final, only to eventually lose 6-2.

McLeish said: "We don't want to be the hard luck story every time we play against them and you get plaudits like, 'oh well done you played well but unlucky again'.

"We don't want that. We want to be able to go toe-to-toe with anyone in the league and come out with positive results and against Rangers and Celtic, we have not managed to do that.

"A couple of the games have got away from us and that's what you're trying to fight against and make sure that the games do go right to the end and you're always in with a chance.

"That's the bit now for us as a group and confidence within the group, to go and get a positive result against one of them - that's probably the next step for us.

"We've had a look at Rangers twice (this season) as well, and we obviously have to change some bits just because of personnel available to us.

"You're just trying to constantly learn and adapt from the games that you're playing against teams.

"You have to take those experiences on and just tweak little bits to it, so there will be little bits that we try and throw at Rangers that they've not seen from us before as well.

"That's what we have to try to do. We have to try and be unpredictable with it."

• Ryan Naderi's eight goal involvements (5 goals, 3 assists) have been worth nine points to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership this season, second only to St Johnstone's Josh Fowler (10 points) among players for all sides.

• Rangers have lost just one of their past 16 league visits to St Mirren (W11 D4), a 2-1 defeat in December 2024 under Philippe Clement.

• St Mirren have lost four successive meetings with Rangers in all competitions, including twice already this season - 5-1 in the League Cup and 1-0 in the league.

• St Mirren have won just one of their past eight league games (D1 L6), although are unbeaten in two at home (W1 D1).

• Rangers are unbeaten in nine league matches (W7 D2) but have drawn their past two away, both 2-2 stalemates at Dundee and Hearts.

Image source, SNS

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin admits he would like to formalise Lyall Cameron's loan move from Rangers into a longer term arrangement. (Sun, external)

But Goodwin says United "need to be realistic" regarding their hopes of securing the 24-year-old Cameron beyond this season. (Record - subscription required, external)

Friday's Scottish gossip

Image source, SNS

Findlay Curtis is relaxed over his Rangers future as he looks to cement his place for club and country.

The winger, 20, has yet to agree a new contract amid ongoing talks but is relishing life under Derek McInnes and eyeing his first silverware.

"I'll leave that with my agent and the football club," Curtis said.

"Obviously, it's a brilliant place to play football. I've been here since I was six, so we'll see what happens. But I'm loving it here.

"With the new staff as well, there's a real feeling everyone here wants the success that the fans want."

Curtis, who came through the Ibrox academy, had a successful loan spell at Kilmarnock last season and returned to Ibrox looking to kick on.

However, his past eight appearances have all been off the bench as Derek McInnes's side have gone on an 11-game unbeaten run which has taken them second in the Premiership before the trip to St Mirren on Saturday and secured a place in the League Cup final against Hibernian next month.

Despite a lack of starts Curtis was named in Sebastien Pocognoli's first Scotland squad for the Nations League camp in September and October and then dropped to the Under-21s where he starred in the 5-2 victory over Azerbaijan at Rugby Park.

Curtis returned to the senior squad and came off the bench in the 2-1 home defeat to Slovenia and on Tuesday it was revealed he had retained his place in the squad for this month's final two Group B1 matches against North Macedonia and Switzerland.

The youngster is ready to do whatever it takes to become a regular for Rangers and Scotland.

He said: "I just needed to take it in my stride. It was hard at the time because all I wanted to do was play for Scotland's first team.

"It's every young boy's dream. I'm just delighted to be back up for this camp and hopefully I can make that impact again.

"I think if you have to drop down a level, all you can do is be the best you can be. I think I did that. I'm not going to chuck it at any time, whether it's at club level, with Scotland or with Scotland Under-21s.

"I'm enjoying this year and hopefully, as a club and as Scotland, we can kick on.

"I think it's about working hard. Listen, all the boys in my position (at Rangers) are doing really well and the team is winning. That's the main thing at the club.

"All I need to do is impress in training, whether it's coming on from the bench or starting games, and make sure I make that spot my own.

"It's massive that we can win a cup final before Christmas. It would mean everything to me. Being a boyhood fan, it would be unbelievable."

Image source, SNS

Bolonga and Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson, 27, reveals he expects to play for Rangers one day. (National - subscription required, external)

Rangers winger Findlay Curtis is attracting loan interest from Scottish Premiership rivals and clubs in England as the 20-year-old struggles for a starting place in the lead-up to the January transfer window. (Football Insider, external)

Meanwhile, Rangers manager Derek McInnes is in the dark over the possibility of making 21-year-old Stuttgart winger Badredine Bouanani's loan move permanent. (Herald - subscription required, external)

Arsenal are plotting a move to sign 15-year-old Rangers right-back Kai Urban. (Football Insider, external)

Image source, SNS

Derek McInnes has assured Findlay Curtis he is a big part of his Rangers plans despite a lack of starts.

All but four of the 20-year-old Scotland winger's 17 Rangers appearances this season have been as a substitute, with his last start coming in early September.

Curtis, who impressed on loan with Kilmarnock last season, signed a contract extension at Ibrox in January 2025 that reportedly runs until the end of the current campaign.

"There's no shame in not getting into this Rangers team week in, week out," said manager McInnes.

"He's got good competition there, but Findlay is a boy that I really enjoy working with from my first conversation with him. I phoned him when he was in Miami at the World Cup and it was such a positive experience for him.

"I'm really looking forward to working with him going forward as well. I think Findlay's been involved in most games, either starting or coming off the bench, and getting those minutes is vitally important.

"But for any player, whether it's homegrown or not, they've got to accept that at Rangers there should be competition for places.

"You don't waste your minutes. If you're in the team, do your best to stay in the team. And Findlay has contributed really well for us, really strongly. He is a good trainer, a brilliant kid.

"He knows how much we want him to be here longer term. The club have made that clear to him as well. And Findlay's telling me that he wants to be here.

"He wants to win trophies here. This is his club. He can speak for himself, but he knows what we think about him.

"And I'm not here to say to him be patient because I want him to be in a hurry to get more starts. But I believe that he is well on his way to being a good Rangers player going forward.

"And hopefully this season he can get the minutes that he's happy with."

Image source, SNS

Derek McInnes has been speaking to the media as Rangers prepare for the Premiership game at St Mirren on Saturday (20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines:

• McInnes says it his job to "give supporters a team they can believe in" and reaching the League Cup final against Hibs, plus hopefully winning it, "validates what we're trying to do". But he knows "questions will be asked" if Rangers lose the final.

• On a "great" first Scotland call-up for James Penrice, the Ibrox boss says: "No real surprise but nonetheless to see his reaction, that's the way it should be. He deserves it, hopefully he can get on the pitch and ideally come back with a couple of caps."

• McInnes is "hopeful" Penrice, currently on loan from AEK Athens, can be signed on a permanent deal: "I think there's a lot of goodwill all round to try for that and it's something we'd like to do. The conversations I've had with Jim [Gillespie] and the board has been along those lines and hopefully we can make that permanent."

• He adds on Penrice: "What he's done from the first minute is play with so much enthusiasm. He really wants to be here, plays properly, brings quality but also brings energy and the fans take to him because of how he performs and how much he wants to win."

• The cup final on 13 December is a "good carrot" for players making their way back from injury. Daisuke Yokota should return by the end of the month and Ross McCrorie will be ready next week. Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland "will probably both look to be on the pitch the first week of December" but still have a "few hurdles to overcome".

• McInnes adds on Devlin and Shankland: "The fact it's a cup final doesn't do them any harm in terms of pushing them on."

• Badredine Bouanani is ill but should be fine for Saturday's match. Emmanuel Fernandez's twisted ankle was a "bit of a mess" after Saturday's semi-final win but the defender is due to train on Thursday and is expected to be fit for Saturday.

• On 20-year-old winger Findlay Curtis' lack of starts this season, McInnes cites strong competition in wide areas and says: "I'm not here to say to him be patient, because I want him to be in a hurry to get more starts. I believe he is well on his way to being a good Rangers player. And hopefully this season he can get the minutes that he's happy with, but we're certainly happy with a lot of his contributions."

• Ryan Naderi, who scored the semi-final winner, is "becoming more confident" now he's netting more regularly and has benefitted from playing for the Czech Republic.

• McInnes adds: "And even when he's not his best, he's a handful and he knocks his pan in, which is a good starting point for any player."

• On the 50/50 ticket split with Hibs for the final, McInnes says: "Obviously there's going to be a lot of disappointed Rangers fans because it's going to be difficult to satisfy everybody. But it is what it is. We've got to deal with it."

• On St Mirren, McInnes says Rangers' two games against them this season have been different types but both "wide open" and Craig McLeish's side have a lot of pace and varied threats.

Image source, Getty Images

Bojan Miovski has lost his place in the North Macedonia squad for this month's Nations League trip to Scotland due a lack of game time at Rangers.

The 27-year-old striker has nine goals from 45 international appearances but has been used sparingly at Ibrox this season.

Miovski, who played the full match when Scotland won 2-0 in Skopje on 3 October, has only featured for a combined 72 minutes across eight appearances as a substitute under Ibrox boss Derek McInnes.

The former Aberdeen and Girona centre-forward scored a stoppage-time winner at home to St Mirren in September, having hit 13 goals for Rangers last term.

Head coach Goce Sedloski insisted "the door is not closed" for Miovski, who made his North Macedonia debut five years ago.

"Miovski has not had playing time at Glasgow Rangers for a long time," Sedloski added. "He has not been deleted from the squad, when he plays, he will get a call-up.

"There is no anger about the decision. I have always decided to select those who are playing and I will continue that way."

Alasdair Lamont
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

Derek McInnes made a fair point after watching his side make fairly heavy weather of reaching the League Cup final at the expense of Aberdeen on Saturday.

He accepted the performance hadn't been all it might have been and put that partly down to the relative youth and inexperience of his side.

It is a factor probably not given due consideration when assessing where Rangers are right now.

Of the XI that started at Hampden, the most senior players were the 27-year-old pair of Dujon Sterling and James Penrice.

Seven of the starting team were 23 or under. That is a young team.

McInnes pointed it out as a reason why some of the positions the team get themselves into don't yield better results, principally in terms of chance conversion. The manager feels there is a lack of composure at times, a tendency to snatch at chances or to make the wrong decision.

It is an argument that carries some weight because in watching Rangers this season, you do get the sense they are passing up too many opportunities and not putting teams to bed.

McInnes believes that will come but stressed the importance of continuing to win while they learn to be more clinical and composed in the final third, which to be fair they have been doing - the semi-final win being their ninth in an unbeaten run that now extends to 11 games.

The last match before another international break comes this Saturday night in Paisley and it is imperative Rangers do not drop points for a third successive game on the road.

With Celtic losing on Sunday, Rangers need to be taking advantage of such results and reducing the gap at the top to one with a win over St Mirren and then hope Kilmarnock can produce an upset against the leaders on Sunday.