Celtic Watching as Derek McInnes Cracks Under Ibrox Pressure — And the Excuses Keep Coming

Derek McInnes says the Ibrox club are “playing with fire”.

Judging by the pressure building around him, he might want to be careful he doesn’t get burned himself.

The latest Derek McInnes excuses are beginning to form a familiar pattern. Wednesday’s press conference contained explanation after explanation for why things aren’t going according to plan.

Injuries were mentioned. Squad numbers came up. There is no left-footed defender. Recruitment needs accelerated.

Another striker is required.

Some of those concerns are perfectly legitimate. Youssef Chermiti’s ACL injury is serious, while Tuur Rommens could reportedly miss several weeks.

However, every manager deals with injuries.

The question is whether McInnes is beginning to spend more time explaining problems than solving them.

At this rate, it was almost surprising Wednesday night’s eclipse didn’t make the list.

Perhaps that was going against him as well. McInnes might have been planning to spend the evening topping up his mahogany tan, only for the moon to interfere with preparations.

Another setback. Another unfortunate circumstance. Another thing completely beyond his control.

Thankfully for the moon, McInnes hasn’t blamed it yet.

Give him time.

Derek McInnes excuses are beginning to pile up

Speaking before Thursday’s huge European qualifier against Jagiellonia Bialystok, McInnes laid out his problems.

“We don’t have an array of options defensively,” he said.

“We don’t have a left-footed defender in the building.”

Then came the headline-grabber.

“I do think that with the numbers we’ve got there, we are playing with fire.”

McInnes also admitted things haven’t gone according to plan.

“It’s not been as straightforward as I hoped,” he conceded.

Individually, those comments are understandable. Collectively, however, they increasingly sound like a manager preparing the mitigation before another ball is kicked.

Results certainly aren’t helping him.

The Ibrox club have taken only one point from their opening two league matches. They also lost the first leg against Jagiellonia 2-1.

Remarkably, their goal in Poland was an own goal.

Their equaliser against Hibs was another own goal.

Yet McInnes still found positives after the European defeat. He highlighted the second-half clean sheet despite his side already conceding twice.

Eventually, the explanations have to stop.

Derek McInnes excuses follow a familiar pattern

Celtic supporters have seen this routine before.

Pressure was building at Hearts last season when McInnes produced one of his most controversial outbursts.

After Celtic received a late penalty against Motherwell, McInnes branded the decision “disgusting”.

Then came an even more revealing line:

“We’re up against everybody.”

That went considerably further than simply disagreeing with one refereeing decision.

The Scottish FA subsequently imposed a four-match touchline ban, with one match suspended. The Ibrox club later appealed that punishment.

McInnes has been a manager since 2007. Across almost two decades, his only major trophy remains Aberdeen’s 2014 League Cup triumph.

His work elsewhere deserves recognition. However, managing the Ibrox club brings a completely different level of expectation.

One league point and consecutive defeats have already increased the temperature.

Thursday night is therefore enormous.

Overturn the 2-1 deficit and McInnes finally has something positive to build upon.

Go out, however, and the pressure could become ferocious.

At that stage, supporters won’t want to hear about left-footed defenders, recruitment, injuries or squad rebuilding.

Results ultimately belong to the manager.

McInnes himself has said difficult periods “define you”.

He’s absolutely right.

Unfortunately for him, his response to adversity increasingly appears to involve explaining why circumstances have made his job more difficult.

Sooner or later, the explanations run out.

If Thursday becomes another disaster, Celtic supporters might reasonably wonder what comes next.

Recruitment? Injuries? VAR? Bad luck?

Or perhaps that pesky eclipse really did ruin everything after all.

Whatever happens, McInnes faces a simple reality.

At a club demanding immediate success, explanations only buy a manager so much time.

The pressure is building. The results aren’t arriving.

Eventually, somebody has to take responsibility.