Derek

The stats back up McInnes’ anger. Rangers had just over 46% possession during the 120 minutes in the Czech Republic, and just one shot on target.

They won fewer than 70% of their 16 tackles and committed 17 fouls.

“I can’t accept, and we shouldn’t accept, losing individual battles, duels, second balls, not winning enough tackles and just getting the momentum of the game going our way,” the former Hearts manager added.

“I thought we looked young, inexperienced at times. We’re trying to make some signings to help with that side of it but we need to do so much more as a team.

“We got what we deserved. If we’d won on penalties we would have taken it, of course, but it would only have covered over the cracks.

“I’m mortified with the performance. I know you can lose games of football but we should have enough in the building to take care of that tonight.”

Rangers had won their two previous games – a 5-1 win over St Mirren in the League Cup and the 1-0 victory against Jablonec at Ibrox – after drawing at Dundee United and losing at home to Hibernian in their opening two Premiership matches.

But McInnes feels this latest result may set them back.

“We went into this game scrambling for some sort of confidence, some positivity,” he said. “But I just thought the team that deserved to go through went through tonight and that’s hard for me to take.”

Lawrence Shankland is “too good not to score regularly” and is sure to have a “big influence” at Rangers whether or not he starts games, insists manager Derek McInnes.

Shankland has scored once in five outings since his move to Ibrox and the captain was used as a substitute on Sunday as Rangers beat St Mirren 5-1 for their first win of the season.

The 31-year-old Scotland striker hit 22 goals for Hearts last term working under McInnes.

“When you have a player like Lawrence, who knows his way around the penalty box and how to score goals, I do not worry too much about it,” said McInnes.

“He is too good not to score regularly. He has consistently shown that over a period of time in the Premiership.

“Sometimes people can over emphasise these things. For me, it is a case of letting him play his natural game.

“The best strikers have that instinctive side to their game, where everything looks natural and seamless. I have no doubt he will do well here.”

McInnes chose to start with Ryan Naderi in the Premier Sports Cup victory over St Mirren and the German opened the scoring, while Nico Raskin was skipper.

“I said that when I spoke to Lawrence,” added McInnes. “Being captain does not guarantee anything, and he accepted that. He is not going to stamp his feet about it. Having worked with Lawrence before, he is a brilliant captain and a brilliant boy.

“You want your captain to have a big influence on and off the pitch, and I believe Lawrence will have that.”

Shankland is one of 11 new signings at Rangers and the search is on for another centre forward since Youssef Chermiti is a long-term absentee.

“The priority is at the top end of the pitch,” said McInnes. “Number nines are normally more difficult ones to do, and it wasn’t an area we were looking at before Youseff’s injury.

“We’re hoping we can land on the one that we want and hopefully we can bring them here quickly.”

His NFL playing career is over, but Derek Carr is far from done with football.

UCLA announced this week that it has hired Carr as a special advisor to football coach Bob Chesney, and that the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback will assist with the Bruins’ offensive staff in game-planning strategy.

“Coach Chesney is a leader of men,” said Carr, who was at Dodger Stadium on Monday evening and was on the field before the game. “So many guys get hired just based on scheme. This is a guy who stands up in front of the room and leads.”

It might seem a bit random, Carr joining UCLA’s staff. He played at Fresno State, then with the Raiders in Oakland and Las Vegas before finishing his NFL career in New Orleans. But there’s a connection.

Darrick Yray, UCLA football’s general manager, formerly was an offensive assistant and assistant director of football operations at Fresno State. He and Carr got to know each other there.

After attending his first team meeting at UCLA, Carr texted Yray and said, “You’ve got a real one” in Chesney.

“You can feel his presence,” Carr said of Chesney, hired in December after his rise to coaching prominence at Holy Cross then James Madison. “You can feel the team respond to him. … It wasn’t so much what he said, it was how he said it. He was so demanding of the team, yet so encouraging.

“He can demand, demand, demand, but also love them at the same time, to the point where they’re like, `OK, Coach, whatever you want.’”

Carr played 11 NFL seasons, finishing with 41,245 yards passing and 257 touchdowns. He remains the Raiders’ all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completions. He retired in May 2025.

Coaching was always in his plans. His brother, Darren, is head football coach at Bakersfield Christian High, and Derek helped coach the quarterbacks there last season. Their brother, David, the quarterback picked No. 1 overall by the expansion Houston Texans in 2002, is Bakersfield Christian’s offensive coordinator.

“I have so much knowledge and things built up that I just want to give to these kids,” Derek Carr said of his interest in coaching in high school and college. “Just like my brother did for me.

“When I got to high school, I was ahead. When I got to college, I was ahead. When I got to the NFL, I was ahead. Because my brother poured into my life. That’s what I feel I want to do for the next generation, too.”

Thursday’s defeat – which drops Rangers into a Conference League play-off against Czechs Jablonec – comes on the back of the nightmare news Youssef Chermiti was ruled out with a long-term knee injury just after Rangers rejected a big-money bid for the 22-year-old.

It means Rangers have had to set their sights on recruiting a new striker in addition to the wingers and defenders McInnes had already targeted. He says the club are “working so hard to get the necessary type of players”, with PSV Eindhoven winger Couhaib Driouech set to be the latest arrival.

Halliday thinks the squad “shouldn’t be that imbalanced this late into the transfer window” and reckons they need “three centre-halves, one left-back, two, arguably, three wingers”.

“But the current squad that’s available should be enough to beat Dundee United, it should be enough to beat Hibs and, to be honest, it should be enough to beat Jagiellonia Bialystok,” he said.

Rangers were obviously hoping reuniting McInnes with Lawrence Shankland would be a winning formula after they went so close to wrenching the title away from Celtic while at Hearts last season.

However, former Rangers striker Steven Thompson thinks Shankland is already finding out the extra pressure he faces as the club’s new captain.

“It’s the weight of playing for Rangers, the weight of not having the start that he wanted, and the weight of taking a bad touch,” he said.

“At previous clubs, if you take a bad touch and give it away, you might get a few pelters. Here tonight, when Lawrence Shankland’s link-up play wasn’t that good or he should’ve had a shot when he didn’t, they are on you and it is going to take him a bit to get used to that I think. It’s not physical, it’s mental.”

Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr has joined UCLA’s coaching staff as a special advisor to coach Bob Chesney.

The Bruins announced the hiring Monday of the 35-year-old Carr, who is volunteering in his first major coaching role.

The longtime Raiders starter will help Chesney and the Bruins’ offensive staff with game planning and strategy, and he will work with UCLA‘s quarterbacks.

“His experience, leadership and football knowledge will be an incredible resource for our coaching staff and student-athletes,” Chesney said in a statement. “What stands out most is his passion for the game and his commitment to developing young people. Derek will have a tremendous impact on our players and is a great addition to our program.”

Chesney and his staff are in their first season in Westwood after he was hired away from James Madison last December. Carr’s connection to the job was through Bruins general manager Darrick Yray, an offensive assistant and an assistant director of football operations at Fresno State during Carr’s prolific career with the Bulldogs.

“I’ve known Darrick for a long time and have great respect for the work he’s done throughout his career,” Carr said in a statement. “The opportunity to help coach Chesney, the staff and the quarterbacks at UCLA was one that really excited me. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences and helping support the program in any way I can.”

Carr is 22nd in NFL history after passing for 41,245 yards during his 11-season career with the Raiders and the New Orleans Saints. He is the Raiders’ career leader in yards passing, completions and passing touchdowns.

Carr was a four-time Pro Bowl selection in Oakland and Las Vegas. After two subsequent seasons as the Saints’ starter, Carr retired from the NFL in May 2025 because of a serious right shoulder injury.

Carr’s No. 4 is retired at Fresno State after he passed for 12,842 yards and 113 touchdowns, leading the nation in both categories in 2013 while winning the Sammy Baugh Trophy.

At UCLA, Carr will work with presumptive starter Nico Iamaleava, the Tennessee transfer and Long Beach native who passed for 1,928 yards and 13 touchdowns last season for the Bruins. Iamaleava’s younger brother, Madden, is expected to be their backup quarterback in his second season in the program.

Even before this high-profile addition to his staff, Chesney was already building early momentum in his significant rebuilding project at a program that has foundered over the past decade.

Chip Kelly produced six mediocre seasons before he bolted from Westwood in February 2024, leaving the Bruins in the lurch after that winter’s coaching cycle had largely ended. Former UCLA star DeShaun Foster took over on short notice, but was fired three games into his second season last fall before the Bruins finished 3-9.

Beacham writes for the Associated Press.

After their Europa League qualifying loss in Poland, McInnes called on his side to “be far more stingy with our work, defend the goal with our lives, don’t give our opponent opportunities” and criticised the squad for showing the same worrying characteristics that were the club’s ruin last season.

His side showed little sign of turning this around in the short space of time since their European trip.

Against Hibs on Sunday afternoon, his third different back four of the season struggled to hold their shape and summer signing Vanja Dragojevic soon grappled Josh Kerr to the ground for a penalty as the errors continued.

These faults, coupled with a lack of consistency in playing partners, is compounding the misery.

Their draw with Dundee United started with a back-line comprising of Ben Godfrey, Dujon Sterling, Emmanuel Fernandez and Tuur Rommens.

Away in Poland, it was Ross McCrorie, Sterling, Emmanuel Fernandez and Rommens.

When David Gray’s team came to town it was Dragojevic, Olwethu Makhanya, Fernandez and Rommens.

These issues need to be ironed out quickly by the coaching staff as their Europa League qualification hangs in the balance prior to Thursday’s second leg against Jagiellonia Bialystok.

McInnes thought the defeat by Hibs was “really harsh on us” as “we were the better team” and “deserved far better than we got” in a game in which Hibs took the lead through a penalty he disputed.

“It’s damaging in the sense that we came here to win and we expect to win,” he said.

“What we’ve got to do now is just dust ourselves down because that was a blow for us.

“The response of the team in the latter part of the game was terrific.”

Their selection inconsistency is mirrored in their form on the park too.

Allan added: “Performing consistently is what [brings] results and winning silverware, and I know its very early on, but there is no consistency in how Rangers were playing today.”

Rangers have appointed Derek McInnes as manager on a three-year contract after agreeing a compensation deal with Scottish Premiership rivals Hearts.

McInnes is the third boss at Ibrox inside a year and replaces Danny Rohl, whose move to Austrian side RB Salzburg was confirmed earlier on Wednesday.

The 54-year-old joined Hearts from Kilmarnock last summer and led the Tynecastle club to a second-placed finish, missing out on the title to Celtic on a dramatic final day, but edging Rangers out of the Champions League qualifiers.

The former Rangers midfielder turned down an approach from the Ibrox club in December 2017 in order to stay at Aberdeen but has now followed Tynecastle captain Lawrence Shankland in moving from Hearts.

“It is a real honour,” McInnes said. “The demands here are clear and our supporters rightfully have high expectations. It is up to me, my staff and my players to meet those expectations, and have this club performing as it should.

“There is a lot of hard work ahead, but already the preparations have begun and I am looking forward to meeting the current squad in the coming weeks and welcoming some new faces.”

Alan Archibald, Paul Sheerin and Craig Clark will assist McInnes.

While Rohl was head coach, McInnes will have the title of manager and was the frontrunner as soon as it emerged that the German was keen to leave for Salzburg.

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh said the Scot is “someone we have always rated highly” and is “exactly what this club needs at this moment in time”.

He added: “His deep Scottish and Rangers experience are important for us. He knows how to win in this league, and he is coming off an extremely strong season with Hearts.”

Rohl, 37, replaced Russell Martin as head coach in October and steered Rangers into a three-way title fight, but a post-split collapse yielded a third-placed finish behind Celtic and Hearts as the Ibrox club ended the campaign without silverware.

Cavenagh – who publicly backed Rohl at the end of the season – thanked him for his “service and commitment to Rangers”.

“He and his staff put in a significant amount of hard work during his time in charge, which we are greatly appreciative of,” he added.

CELEBRITIES are turning up in droves for Jake Hall‘s funeral this afternoon.

Boxer Derek Chisora is among the celebrities arriving at Grade-I church St Mary the Virgin, in Wanstead, London, for the service.

Cops found the 35-year-old former reality show star in a pool of blood after he ran through a single-glazed glass door.

He was found dead at a Spanish holiday villa with head injuries after a night out partying on May 6.

Officers were called to the rented house in Santa Margalida in the north of the holiday island at around 7.30am.

Police quizzed four men and two women staying at the house.

They reportedly told officers that they had been out in the evening and continued partying after returning to the property in the early hours.

Authorities have not released the nationalities of the others who were at the property.

The Guardia Civil confirmed there was no “criminal activity”.

Hours before he died, he shared a last post on Instagram vowing to “remember the good things”.

Set to the Rolling Stones’ classic Beast of Burden, it showed him enjoying painting, Spanish scenery and fashion.

It was captioned: “Life is bollocks sometimes but I’m gonna try remember the good things – ️ looking through things – I’m just making art – in many forms.”

Footballer and model Jake leaves behind the mother of his child, Misse Beqiri, who he had an on-off relationship with since 2016.

The couple share a daughter, River, who was born in November 2017.

Misse posted an emotional tribute, writing: “There was no way you were ever supposed to go. My heart is shattered, and so is our daughter’s.

“You lit up every room you walked into – your smile, your charm, your energy filled the air.”

She then paid tribute to his love of music and creativity, as well as how many people really loved him.

Chloe Lewis also posted a tribute to her “first love” at the time of his death,

Chloe, who began a 10 year relationship with Jake when she was 16, shared a collection of photos on Instagram from their time together and wrote heartbreaking words that moved celeb pals including Michelle Keegan and Ferne McCann.

“My first love, my childhood sweetheart,” began Chloe. “A love that taught me so much about life and myself, and even more so now your presence is no longer here.”

In their early 20s Towie turned them into stars, but fame had a detrimental impact on their relationship.

Chloe said neither of them wanted to be in the public eye and the pressures of the show put a strain on their romance.

Leading tributes to the star at the time of his death was legendary DJ Fat Tony, who shared an image of the star and captioned it: “Devastating news we Love you such an awful loss to the world you beautiful man x.”

Blue’s Antony Costa wrote: “So sad, what a lovely bloke you were mate R.I.P.”

Love Island’s Jack Fincham wrote on a picture of the pair posted on Instagram: “Cannot believe what I have just read. Condolences to Jake’s family a very sad day. Rest in perfect peace mate.”

Jake first shot to fame on The Only Way Is Essex in 2015, where he famously dated Chloe Lewis before quitting the show in 2024.