Hello started [Derek McInnes]'s reign with a draw at Dundee Utd, but the bigger message came after the game. McInnes said the side will improve as it goes along, and he also pointed straight at the areas that still need work: a winger, more service for the strikers and more additions overall.

He did not talk like a manager taking a verdict on day one. He sounded like someone laying out how unfinished the squad still is.

McInnes' message after Tannadice

"It's one game. I'm not really interested in what's happened previously, but from my point of view, we are going to get better as we go along," McInnes said to bbc.co.uk.

He was even more direct on the build that still lies ahead. "We still would like a winger to go get at people, make a difference and get people on the back foot. We never quite had that and we're working hard to bring those types of players to the club," he said.

That is the clearest read on the night. Rangers are not being sold as a finished product, and McInnes is not pretending otherwise.

The wider picture backs that up. Rangers finished second in the 2025 Premiership phase and took 69 points from 33 league matches, so the standard they are being judged against is still a high one. But a draw at Dundee Utd was not treated inside the camp as a season-defining wobble, just a first step with obvious gaps still showing.

Debutants and the areas still missing

Four Rangers players debuted from the start at Tannadice: goalkeeper Ivor Pandur, centre-back Ben Godfrey, and former Hearts duo Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland. Thelo Aasgaard was also part of the new-look feel around the side.

There was a moment late on when Jesse Randall dinked a tame effort straight at debutant goalkeeper Ivor Pandur. Earlier, Ben Godfrey went off with a hamstring complaint, which did not help the sense of a night still being assembled on the fly.

Former Rangers striker Steven Thompson argued there was no need to panic. "It's not the result Rangers wanted, but it is a point away from home at a difficult venue. At this point in the season, there's no knee-jerk reaction or anything here," he said.

Former Rangers player Andy Halliday was less generous about the performance itself. "No matter how many defenders you play with, the main fundamental is being compact, and I thought Rangers were the furthest thing from compact," he said.

That split is probably the right way to read the night. The result does not tell you much on its own, but the team shape and the need for more width are already obvious, and McInnes said as much himself. Rangers also have a quick turn to Thursday's trip to Jagiellonia Bialystok in Europa League qualifying, with Olwethu Makhanya's visa status uncertain for that one.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →