SNS GroupDerek McInnes believes frustrated fans need “something to get behind” as he strives for his first win as Rangers manager.
The former Hearts boss has gone four games without a victory since taking over at Ibrox this summer and Thursday’s Europa League qualifying exit to Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok – 3-2 on aggregate – brought another wave of criticism from home fans.
While already five points behind William Hill Premiership leaders Celtic and St Mirren after only two round of fixtures, the Light Blues drop to the Europa Conference League for the first time where they will play Czech side Jablonec in a play-off.
However, first up is the Premier Sports Cup last-16 tie against holders St Mirren at Ibrox on Sunday, and McInnes noted supporters’ early-season unrest.
He said: “I think they need to see something to get behind and they need to see action. They need to see a team who are better than what they were on Thursday.
“I think there were wee moments and I think there were wee moments in the four games.
“But it’s nowhere near enough. So nobody is sitting here and asking for understanding and patience.
“I quite understand the frustrations and, as I said, it’s been more than just these four games where the frustration starts to build.
“They need somewhere to vent that but they should be seeing a better performance and we’ll aim to give them that. It’s not been the start we wanted but the intention is still to have the outcome that we want come the end of the season.
“We’re still working hard towards that and we’ve got money to spend.
“We’ve got good ownership. We’ve got a lot of younger players, and what we could do with is just a wee bit of help.
“We need to try and win games as we go along because if you don’t win games, everything becomes so much more difficult.
“Everything gets scrutinised when you don’t win a game.
“That’s just par for the course, so that’s not going to change. The only thing that has to change is getting more winning performances and hopefully we can have that Sunday.”
St Mirren, who retained their top-flight status last season with a play-off win over Partick Thistle, came through the Premier Sports Cup group stage with only a blip of a home defeat to Dunfermline and have started the league campaign with wins over Falkirk and St Johnstone.
McInnes said: “I’ve watched them in the last couple of games. They’ve changed how they want to play this season.
“They stayed up by the skin of their teeth last season and you have to say they’ve had two strong performances.
“They’ll come here confident on the back of a couple of wins, qualifying for the League Cup through the group stages.
“So we’ve got work to do and we need our full attention. Particularly where we are at the minute.
“We could just do with winning a game and getting a wee bit of confidence into the lads and getting a wee bit more optimism into the support.”
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