Furious Derek McInnes slams Rangers as Jablonec exit ends Europe

Furious Derek McInnes sees Rangers' European ambitions shattered after a 1‑0 extra‑time defeat to Czech minnows Jablonec on Thursday, leaving the Scottish giants without a league or group‑stage berth for the first time since 2017 and sparking fresh criticism of his squad.

Despite leading 1‑0 from last week’s first leg, Rangers were levelled on the night in the Czech Republic and forced into extra time, where a goalless 30 minutes saw the tie head to penalties. James Penrice and Findlay Curtis each missed from 12 yards as Jablonec progressed to the Conference League phase. Shutterstock Editorial reported the drama.

Following their earlier Europa League exit to Jagiellonia Bialystok, this loss consigns Rangers to their earliest European exit since a defeat by Progres Niederkorn nine years ago. The Furious manager now faces intensified scrutiny after winning just two of his seven matches in all competitions, none in the league this term.

McInnes under pressure after European setbacks

In a furious post‑match press conference, McInnes admitted, “I’m embarrassed with the performance.” He added, “The only people who represented the club well tonight were my staff, the support staff and the preparation.” McInnes’ said there would be no excuses and that the responsibility lay with him to improve.

Rangers return to action on Sunday with a Scottish Premiership trip to Aberdeen, hoping to halt the slide in the domestic League.

Scottish clubs face European turmoil

Celtic’s collapse against LASK saw their Glasgow rivals surrender a four‑goal lead to exit the Champions League, while Motherwell also left the Conference League after a 7‑2 aggregate defeat to Freiburg. Meanwhile, McInnes’ former club Hearts secured progression by beating Rapid Vienna on penalties, adding another twist to the Scottish European narrative.