Glasgow Rangers finally got their first competitive victory of the campaign on the board with a 5-1 win against St Mirren at Ibrox in the League Cup on Sunday.
Derek McInnes failed to win any of his first four matches in charge of the Scottish Premiership giants, but oversaw a comfortable evening in front of the club’s supporters at the weekend.
Goals from Ryan Naderi, Vanja Dragojevic, James Penrice, Djeidi Gassama, and Ross McCausland ensured that the Gers have their name in the hat for the next draw.
Now, there is plenty for the Scottish head coach to learn from this win over the Saints after his side’s struggles in the previous four competitive games.
What McInnes learned after Rangers beat St Mirren
The main learning point to take away from that match for McInnes is that playing a 4-3-3 system looks to suit Rangers and the way teams play against them far more than a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 does.
Playing a midfield three of Nico Raskin, Dragojevic, who scored a wonderful goal, and Tochi Chukwuani meant that the Light Blues could control and dictate the match in the middle of the park.
Too often in the opening four games of the season, the midfield was left vacant because McInnes only selected two central midfielders and they got cut adrift from each other when they went wide to press out of possession or join attacks on the ball.
Playing three in the middle means that the Gers always have a central option offensively and defensively, instead of there being a gaping hole in midfield, which gives the team a much better platform to build from.
|
Rangers results this season |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Opposition |
Formation |
Result |
|
St Mirren |
4-3-3 |
5-1 win |
|
Jagiellonia |
3-5-2 / 4-4-2 |
1-1 draw |
|
Hibernian |
4-4-2 |
2-1 loss |
|
Jagiellonia |
4-4-2 / 4-2-3-1 |
2-1 loss |
|
Dundee United |
4-4-2 / 4-2-3-1 |
1-1 draw |
Playing three in the middle also meant that the full-backs got more involved higher up the pitch rather than having to progress the play from deep due to a lack of options to pass to in midfield for the centre-backs.
Rangers have unearthed their new James Tavernier
Rangers were dealt a blow in the summer when James Tavernier opted to move on from Ibrox, as he scored 144 goals and provided 148 assists in 565 matches in all competitions for the club.
The Gers signed Ross McCrorie from Bristol City to bolster their right-back options after the former captain departed, but he has found himself behind Dujon Sterling in the pecking order.
It is at left-back, instead, where McInnes appears to have unearthed the club’s new version of Tavernier, in the form of new signing James Penrice.
The Scottish full-back joined on loan from AEK Athens, with the option to make it permanent next summer, and hit the ground running on his debut against St Mirren.
After a season in Greece, the experienced defender has returned to Scotland and did not look out of place at all at Ibrox against the Saints on Sunday.
In fact, Penrice looked head and shoulders above of some of his teammates in the match, as he caught the eye with an exceptional display at left-back for McInnes’ side.
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Rating Rangers starters vs St Mirren |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Rating |
|
Ivor Pandur |
7.5 |
|
Dujon Sterling |
6 |
|
Emmanuel Fernandez |
4 |
|
Olwethu Makhanya |
7 |
|
James Penrice |
9 |
|
Nico Raskin |
6 |
|
Vanja Dragojevic |
8 |
|
Tochi Chukwuani |
7 |
|
Daisuke Yakota |
7 |
|
Ryan Naderi |
7 |
|
Djeidi Gassama |
8 |
The 27-year-old full-back was the star of the show with his relentless energy down the left-back, constantly looking to combine with his teammates to get forward and contribute offensively.
He also got stuck in with challenges to win the ball back with aggressive positioning and decision-making off the ball, showcasing both sides of his game in a monstrous performance.
Like Tavernier, Penrice showed that he can offer a threat as both a scorer and a creator of goals from a full-back position, albeit not from right-back, as he scored and provided an assist against St Mirren.
He was also unlucky not to score a second goal with a low drive from outside of the box that stung the glove of Jacob Chapman, and he put in another cross that led to Lawrence Shankland striking the post.
In his last spell in the Premiership, Penrice created a whopping 14 ‘big chances’ for his teammates in 33 appearances for Hearts in the 2024/25 campaign, more than any Rangers player other than Tavernier created last season.
His performances for the Jam Tarts and his monstrous debut for the Gers suggest that he has the quality to be a Tavernier-esque figure for McInnes, just at left-back instead of right-back.
