Rangers chief explains why McInnes can succeed at Ibrox with Klopp comparison

Rangers chief explains Klopp comparison as Derek McInnes receives full board backing

Derek McInnes is still waiting for his first victory as Rangers manager after three competitive matches, but the club’s hierarchy remain firmly behind him.

Rangers chief executive Jim Gillespie has revealed that McInnes was appointed partly because the club wanted a manager capable of producing the kind of aggressive, front-foot football associated with Jurgen Klopp during his Liverpool reign.

McInnes arrived at Ibrox in the summer after an outstanding 2025/26 campaign with Hearts, where he guided the Edinburgh side to within touching distance of the Scottish Premiership title.

The former Rangers midfielder won 28 of his 44 matches with Hearts across all competitions, suffering just eight defeats. His previous connection with the Glasgow club also made him an attractive candidate.

McInnes made 34 appearances for Rangers as a player and previously rejected an approach from the club in 2017 while he was managing Aberdeen.

This time, however, he accepted the opportunity and brought Hearts duo Lawrence Shankland and Cameron Devlin with him.

His opening weeks in charge have been difficult. Rangers drew with Dundee United in their Premiership opener before suffering a 2-1 defeat to Jagiellonia Bialystok in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying-round tie.

McInnes then suffered another setback in his first league game at Ibrox, with Callum Wright scoring a stoppage-time winner for Hibernian in a 2-1 defeat.

Despite the poor results, Gillespie insists the club remain convinced that McInnes is the right man to lead Rangers forward.

Speaking at an open forum in Glasgow, Gillespie explained the thinking behind his appointment.

“You can go for a Pep [Guardiola] style manager or a Klopp style manager – we wanted a Klopp-style manager who plays on the front foot,” Gillespie said.

“Derek has been high on our list for a long time, and we think he fits the style and culture of this club.”

McInnes is already Rangers’ third permanent manager in the space of 12 months, following the spells of Russell Martin and Danny Rohl.

The club have also undergone significant changes in the transfer market, with nine new players already arriving at Ibrox.

Shankland, Devlin, Ben Godfrey, Dan Neil, Ross McCrorie, Daisuke Yokota, Olwethu Makhanya, Vanja Dragojevic and Ivor Pandur have all joined, while Jack Butland, Oliver Antman and Danilo are among those to have departed.

However, Rangers are not finished with their recruitment.

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh has indicated that the club would ideally like to add another three to five players before the transfer window closes.

“There’s certainly work to be done,” Cavenagh said.

“I don’t like putting a number on it, but certainly I’d hope three to five more players are coming in, and a number will possibly go out.”

Rangers now face a crucial Europa League second leg against Jagiellonia on Thursday, knowing victory would take them into the play-off round.

Cavenagh admitted the timing of the remaining transfer business creates an additional challenge but insisted the club’s long-term vision remains unchanged.

“It sucks that we have to play a number of important games before the window closes, but that’s how it works,” he said.

“When we came in around a year ago, our ambition was to sustain winning and winning sustainably.

“I understand we’re not there yet, but I’m more optimistic now than I was a year ago.

“We could look at how things have gone in the first three games and sit here and sulk, but we’re not going to do that.

“When we came in, we realised finishing second and sometimes worse, was seeping into every corner of this club, and we had to change that, but it takes time.”

For McInnes, Thursday’s European clash offers an immediate opportunity to respond to the difficult start and give the Rangers hierarchy another reason to believe their long-term project is heading in the right direction.