Rangers and the paradox of a painful exit that boosts their trophy chances

All new managers want to hit the ground running. But landing with a dull thud has never been a barrier to future glory, certainly not at Ibrox. Take Graeme Souness, whose start as Rangers’ player-manager put the ‘pish’ in ‘inauspicious’. On his league debut, away to Hibs, he was sent off in the first half after a revenge attack on the wrong mullet. Rangers lost 2-1 and were beaten in the third game as well. Graeme out! Rangers won the League Cup and finished the season as champions for the first time in nine years.

Dick Advocaat had a similarly awkward start in 1998. In his first game, played at Tranmere’s Prenton Park, Rangers went 3-0 down to Shelbourne in the first leg of their Big Vase tie. They went through comfortably in the end but lost the first league game a few days later. Dic-Advocaat out! Rangers had to settle for a domestic treble that season. Different times, when toys were played with for more than a few seconds before being launched from the pram with maximum force, followed a few seconds later by a handful of freshly sourced excreta. In 2026, alas, hot air and horse pucky are an acceptable substitute for reasonable discourse. And so, after failing to win any of his first four games as Rangers manager, Derek McInnes is “out of his depth” and a “dead man walking”.

Que Sera, Sera? Eff that! Turns out the future is ours to see after four games, two of them in a competition Rangers had no chance of winning anyway. Football Daily hasn’t a clue if McInnes is up to the Brobdingnagian challenge of managing Rangers, one that most tea-timely newsletters don’t really understand. But we do know that a culture of self-fulfilling poppycock, where ostentatious negativity is football’s version of the fatberg and many people would rather be right than happy, is a stain on our daily bread.

That said, what a roflcopter of a start! Given the events of last season, it was never going to be an equanimity-cultivating experience for a new Rangers manager to see Russell Martin’s start and lower it. Rangers have one point from two league games and are out of Bigger Vase after the most costly 1-1 draw against Polish opposition on British soil since Brian Clough called somebody a clown. Paradoxically, the aggregate defeat to Jagiellonia Bialystok – and subsequent drop into Tin Pot – has increased Rangers’ chances of winning a trophy under McInnes. Time will tell whether those chances have increased from 0.0000001% to 0.0000002%, from 9% to 9.4% or from some other figure to some other figure. Right now, the supercomputers know, and the bairns in the prams certainly don’t.

Join Dominic Booth at 8pm BST for live updates on Wolves 2-0 Blackburn in the Championship opener.

“If Gianni Infantino doesn’t get re-elected unanimously, then whoever voted against him needs to get their head examined” – Andrew Giuliani, the chief suit of the White House Task Force for the Geopolitics World Cup, emerges from Donald Trump’s fundament to give his view on the Fifa crisis. Alas, Giuliani’s interview with the Athletic didn’t take place at Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

double quotation markWhen I reflect on the lack of support for my very reasonable case from 1,057 people (Football Daily letters passim), I find consolation in the fact that I won letter o’the day, and none of them did. The Football Daily merch, when it arrives, will have pride of place in the trophy room at Cushion Towers” – Bob Cushion.

double quotation markSo Arsenal are looking to spend €30m on Ezri Konsa as defensive cover. Meanwhile, the club I support, Exeter City, don’t have two brass farthings to rub together (ask your dad). Something wrong here” – Dave Hill.

double quotation markI will admit to the occasional snigger, but today was the first time in a long time that I’ve actually laughed out loud at a joke in the Fiver – the one about Portugal and Euro 2028. It was a joke, wasn’t it?” – Bill Muskett.

double quotation markThat 6ft 4in striker Brian Madjo has a very high ceiling is the most common sense, practical thing about modern football I’ve read in a long time” – Peter Oh.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Peter Oh, who gets some Football Weekly merch. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

Herne Bay FC were full of the joys when they smashed Broadfields United 6-1 in their FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round replay on Tuesday. Six was the magic number – until some social media funsters pointed out that Herne Bay had also used six subs rather than the permitted five. Small print is small print and the FA has ruled that the match will be replayed next Tuesday. There might be another bit of small print at play. It’s been suggested that Herne Bay thought they had made a concussion substitution earlier in the match, which theoretically permitted them a sixth change. But concussion substitutions are only permitted in later rounds of the FA Cup, because apparently it’s not a medical issue when a non-league player goes all wobbly.

“For clarity,” said the official Herne Bay website, “the substitution in question [Joe Tyrie for Joe Taylor] occurred in the 88th minute when Herne Bay were leading 5–0, and the match was effectively decided at that point.” Their opposition were equally frustrated by the FA’s intransigence. “The game was deemed not to have been played in accordance with the competition rules,” said an official statement. “Broadfields United has no choice but to respect and comply with the FA’s decision on the matter.” But they haven’t ruled out making six substitutions in the first minute of the replay. Think of the Fifa Fair Play Award!

Jimmy Rimmer, the outstanding goalkeeper who played every minute of all 42 games when Aston Villa won the title in 1980-81, has died aged 78. Rimmer also picked up two European Cup winner’s medals, one each with Manchester United and Villa, despite playing only nine minutes across both finals.

The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has declared its support for Gianni Infantino, but New Zealand has broken ranks to call him out.

Mikel Arteta wants to address Arsenal’s embarrassing shortage of centre-backs who can also play full-back by signing Jarell Quansah from Bayer Leverkusen.

Enzo Maresca doesn’t do 5pm Friday deadlines, not even when they involve the potential signing of Enzo Fernández.

And Diego Gómez has squiggled his name on a new five-year contract with Brighton.

In the latest of our Premier League previews, Andy Hunter gives Everton a full MOT and John Brewin inserts his thermometer into Fulham.

Will Unwin talks to Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, the joint head coaches who have been promoted from within to manage Lincoln City in the Championship.

Hate Siri, love Sirius. They’re the Swedish side who are chasing a shock Allsvenskan title despite losing the “best player in the league”. Will Magee reports.

This gallery contains several spectacular pictures of the UK’s parched sporting pitches.

How much do you know about the Football League? Take this quiz to find out.

And Harry Paterson assesses whether newly promoted Coventry, Ipswich and Hull City can repeat the success of Sunderland and Leeds last season.

10 January 1958: England stars Tommy Banks, Wilf McGuinness, Billy Wright and Bobby Charlton at a practice session at Bolton’s Burnden Park before the 1958 international against the USSR. To tie up some loose ends: Charlton scored in a 5-0 win and everyone bar Banks would have been unused to wearing Bolton kit, and the building that once housed the Pack Horse is now student digs.