Derek McInnes: What next for Rangers manager after European exit added to dismal start to season

The pressure on the squad and manager Derek McInnes has been cranked up at Ibrox.

He will take his new-look side to Pittodrie on Sunday to face former club Aberdeen next, live on Sky Sports.

The question is - can he get a reaction from a group of players who, by his own admission, are struggling, and what is going wrong at the club?

Manager Derek McInnes said he was "mortified" and "embarrassed" by their defeat to Jablonec. It's clear to see why.

Just ONE shot on target over 120 minutes. Less possession than their opponents. A team that looked devoid of ideas in attack and short of confidence at the back. That was all against a club who finished fifth in the Czech top flight last season. It should be no surprise that Sky Sports' Kris Boyd says this is an "all-time low".

McInnes took full responsibility for the result and admitted his players were "miles short" of where they need to be.

The reality is Rangers will not be involved in any form of European group stage football this season. The last time that happened was 2017.

Some fans will point their finger at the manager. Others will be critical of the players. The truth is, this defeat was a collective failure.

Following their 1-0 win in the first leg, Rangers had a full and clear week to prepare for this match, having requested their league game against St Mirren was postponed. McInnes even stuck with the same XI for the first time this season.

However, at half-time he made three changes - something we have seen before over this campaign.

Players were not performing how he wanted, and Rangers were struggling to get a foothold in the game. In fact, McInnes changed shape and personnel multiple times over the 120 minutes. The reality is, none of those tweaks worked.

He admitted afterwards his side doesn't look comfortable with the ball, doesn't look effective enough on the counter and are not happy when they go direct.

Boyd thinks McInnes has "no trust" in some of his players, based on the number of changes he is having to make, and believes those players have "no confidence" in themselves at the moment.

Every season has its own unique challenges, but it is only natural to compare and contrast.

When it comes to McInnes, his record so far does not stack up well against that of his predecessors.

Russell Martin started last season in the dugout. He won three and lost one of his first seven games. His tenure only lasted another 10 games thereafter, before being sacked.

Danny Rohl came in to replace him last October and won four but lost three over the same number of matches.

When he departed in the summer for RB Salzburg, McInnes took to the hot seat, but his start has been worse than both. Rangers have won just two and lost three of his seven matches as manager.

Next up, it's a trip to one of his former clubs, Aberdeen, with Sunday's match live on Sky Sports.

As we have seen before, when a season starts badly, sections of the Ibrox support can quickly lose patience.

Some fans are already at the stage where they want to see change. Others perhaps know that a cycle of replacing managers needs to stop, and they acknowledge it will take time to get things right.

There have been seven different permanent bosses in that Ibrox dugout in less than five years. That is not sustainable.

However, could it be that the issue goes beyond the person in the dugout and that's why McInnes could be given time?

Last summer chairman Andrew Cavenagh and the US consortium who took over the club said their ambition was "sustained winning and winning sustainably".

However, at a recent shareholders meeting, he admitted they realised "finishing second and sometimes worse was seeping into every corner of this club".

In the last 15 seasons, Celtic have won the league title 14 times, and in the last campaign, Rangers were not even their Old Firm rivals' closest challengers - finishing third behind a Hearts side managed by McInnes.

There has been huge change behind the scenes at Ibrox over the past year as Rangers look to address those issues. There's a new CEO, changes to recruitment, plus a new manager for starters. While Cavenagh admitted a couple of weeks ago that the start to this season isn't quite what he would have wanted, he did insist he was more optimistic now than he was 12 months ago. For that reason alone, time for calm could be their way forward - for now.

The powers that be would not have sanctioned the level of spending which we have seen this summer, if they didn't believe in their manager.

In fact, chief executive Jim Gillespie - who led the managerial search - said McInnes was the "only one name that ticked all the boxes" as they lured him from Hearts in June.

While it is safe to assume he will want results to improve quickly, he has never hidden his belief that McInnes will bring success back to Rangers.

So far, the club have signed 12 players this summer, and Kevin Kelsy is likely to be the next through the door after a £9.2m deal was agreed with Portland Timbers for the striker.

That level of future planning was reinforced in the immediate aftermath of Rangers' defeat to Jablonec. When admitting his side looked "young" and "inexperienced", McInnes added "we're obviously trying to make some signings to help with that".

Well, the good news (perhaps) for Rangers is the matches come thick and fast as they look to bounce back.

McInnes himself admitted there are "huge improvements to make", but he'll hope to see a better performance and result when his squad head to Pittodrie on Sunday to face Aberdeen, live on Sky Sports.

It's another trip on the road three days later as they head to Falkirk on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports, before welcoming Motherwell to Ibrox next Saturday.

Before the international break there is then the small matter of two Old Firm matches. The first at Ibrox on September 13 is in the League Cup, with their Premiership clash at Celtic Park a week later - live on Sky Sports.