Ross McCrorie is back at Auchenhowie, and the first message from the Rangers defender is plain enough. Ross McCrorie says Derek McInnes was the biggest reason he chose Ibrox over offers in England, and he sees the new manager as the man to set the standard again.

McInnes and the return

"The biggest thing for me was the gaffer," McCrorie told BBC Sport. He added: "I had a good few offers in England but as soon as the gaffer got the job here I knew he was the man to take this club forward."

That is the core of the move. McCrorie is not selling the return as nostalgia. He is saying McInnes gave him the push to leave Rangers before, then gave him the pull to come back.

The defender's history with the club is long. He first joined Rangers as a nine-year-old and made his debut in September 2017. Between those points and this return, he made 115 appearances for Aberdeen before leaving for Bristol City in 2023.

The standards Rangers are trying to reset

McCrorie's wider point is about the dressing room as much as the manager. "He knows the league inside and out. He's all about standards," he said of McInnes. "If you play for Rangers, any competition you're in, you want to win. That's the target. It's all about winning. You have to live and breathe it."

He was even sharper about where the club stands now. "Watching as a fan, there's no getting away from it, it's not been good enough. I want to help create the standards that it takes to make Rangers successful."

The league numbers back up the size of the job. Rangers have lost four of their last five league matches, sit third in the Premiership on 72 points after 38 matches, and scored 76 while conceding 43.

That is the background to McCrorie's talk of character and unity. "It's not just about quality, it's about character as well," he said. "We need to have that ruthless edge to us. You need to have that quiet confidence that you match anyone on the day. You need to create unity. That brotherhood in the changing room can go a long way."

There is a fair case that McInnes is the key figure in the decision. McCrorie has said as much, and he also pointed to the manager's earlier role in sending him out to Aberdeen to play. But the broader pull is there too, a player who came through the system, left, developed, and now returns with a clear view of what Rangers have lacked.

Six years after he left Ibrox, Rangers have collected just three trophies. McCrorie's return is being framed as part of a summer reset, but the bigger test starts now, with results still needing to catch up to the talk about standards.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →