Derek McInnes Is Already Showing the Same Cracks We Saw Last Season

There is absolutely no shame in dropping points away from home in Scotland.

Let’s get that out of the way first.

The Premiership is competitive. Last season proved that. Teams take points off each other every week and any manager will tell you that difficult away days are part of the job.

But that’s not what caught my attention after Rangers’ opening-day draw.

It was Derek McInnes.

Watching him remonstrate with the officials at full-time over a corner that quite clearly wasn’t going to be given (he surely wasn’t after a pen was he LOL) before turning to fist-pump the away support, I couldn’t help but think I’d seen this film before.

In fact, I have.

Towards the end of last season at Hearts.

The warning signs were there long before he walked through the doors at Ibrox. Hearts won just one of their final seven away league games, and as results became harder to come by, McInnes became noticeably more irritable.

Who could forget his reaction after Celtic received THAT stonewall Motherwell penalty?

He branded the decision “disgusting” afterwards.

Then there was the final day at Celtic Park.

When Celtic were awarded one of the clearest penalties you’ll ever see, McInnes stood slow-clapping the officials. It wasn’t the actions of a manager in control. It looked like someone feeling every ounce of the pressure.

I actually remember saying at the time that I could smell the pressure on him. Martin O’Neill would not of been slow in recognising when an opponent was beginning to feel the weight of expectation.

McInness was that guy.

Fast forward a few months and he’s now managing Rangers.

The expectations have multiplied.

The scrutiny has intensified.

And after just one league game, I’m already seeing the same traits.

Listen, one result won’t define a season. Nobody wins the title in August, and nobody loses it either.

But Rangers needed a positive start under their new manager. They didn’t get one.

Instead, the lasting image was their experienced manager arguing with officials over nothing before celebrating a draw as though emotion had overtaken reason.

That’s what surprised me most.

McInnes wasn’t brought in because he’s an up-and-coming coach learning on the job. He was appointed because of his experience. He’s been managing for the best part of two decades. Experience is supposed to bring calmness when pressure arrives.

Instead, the pressure seems to be finding him again.

His head had totally gone at the end of his FIRST league game – 37 to go.

If this is how he’s reacting after one league game, what happens when the real pressure arrives?

There’s another little statistic worth remembering too.

McInnes has already finished second to Celtic with Aberdeen.

He finished second to Celtic with Hearts.

If he finishes second to Celtic with Rangers, that’ll be quite the hat-trick.

From a Celtic point of view, though, there’s no denying one thing.

Whether he succeeds or fails, Derek McInnes is going to be absolute entertainment for us to watch this season.

And now it’s over to Celtic on Monday night to pile even more pressure onto the shoulders of a manager who, to me at least, already looks like he’s feeling the heat.