Derek McInnes began his Rangers reign with a 1-1 draw at Dundee United on Friday, a result that mirrored an opening-day stalemate at Motherwell exactly one year ago.
The former Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Hearts manager was measured in his response, stressing the need for patience as he steers the Ibrox club through a significant summer of transition.
“It’s one game,” McInnes told Sky Sports. “I’m not really interested in what’s happened previously, but from my point of view, we are going to get better as we go along.”
Rangers fell behind to Lachlan Rose’s first-half effort before improving after the interval and drawing level through Thelo Aasgaard’s equaliser late in the game.
The visitors were fortunate not to leave Tannadice with nothing, as Jesse Randall dinked a tame late chance straight into the arms of debutant goalkeeper Ivor Pandur.
“It’s disappointing – we’ve dropped a couple of points, but we weren’t good enough to get all three,” McInnes added, acknowledging his side had more to do.
“We’ve got to have more trust in what we’re doing, keep our shoulder to the wheel and do simple things better,” the manager said, outlining his immediate priorities for the squad.
Former Rangers striker Steven Thompson was calm in his assessment, suggesting there is no reason for alarm after a single opening-day result on the road.
“It’s not the result Rangers wanted, but it is a point away from home at a difficult venue,” Thompson said on BBC Radio Scotland. “Other teams will come here and find it very difficult.”
Thompson was also measured about the timeline for judging McInnes fairly, pointing to the work still ahead for the new manager at Ibrox.
“It’s not what McInnes wants, but it’s the first game of the season,” he said. “There will be time to judge once he gets the players he wants and once he gets more work done on the training ground.”
Debutants Ben Godfrey, Cammy Devlin, Lawrence Shankland and Pandur all started, giving a first glimpse of what this new-look Rangers side could become under McInnes this season.
Summer signings Dan Neil and Ross McCrorie also featured from the bench, with McInnes confirming further transfer business is expected in the weeks ahead.
However, former Rangers player Andy Halliday identified clear tactical concerns from what he observed at Tannadice on the opening night of the Scottish Premiership season.
“No matter how many defenders you play with, the main fundamental is being compact, and I thought Rangers were the furthest thing from compact,” Halliday said on Sportsound.
“All the best individuals, other than Thelo Aasgaard, were Dundee United players,” he added, raising doubts about the current quality available to the new manager.
Godfrey’s evening was cut short by a hamstring complaint, adding to an already demanding injury and recruitment picture ahead of Thursday’s Europa League qualifying trip to Jagiellonia Bialystok.
There is also uncertainty over whether new signing Olwethu Makhanya will receive a visa in time for that European fixture, placing further pressure on a thin defensive squad.
Wide areas remain the most pressing concern for McInnes, with Djeidi Gassama substituted at half-time and Rangers finishing the match with Mohamed Diomande and Aasgaard playing in narrow positions.
“We still would like a winger to go get at people, make a difference and get people on the back foot,” McInnes told Sky, making his recruitment priorities crystal clear.
“We never quite had that and we’re working hard to bring those types of players to the club,” he said. “Our strikers are all dependant on service. We’re working hard and we know what we want.”
