McInnes Wants Bodies In — And He's Right to Push
Derek McInnes wants two or three signings done before Rangers kick off their Scottish Premiership campaign at Dundee Utd. That's not an ambitious ask. That's basic preparation. And the fact he's saying it publicly tells you something — this needs to happen, and it needs to happen now.
Managers don't hold press conferences and throw numbers into the air for fun. When McInnes says "two or three," he's drawing a line. He's telling the board, the agents, and anyone else involved in this process exactly what the minimum looks like. That's a manager doing his job. The question is whether everyone else does theirs.
The Window Doesn't Care About Your Timeline
Here's the thing about pre-season targets. They drift. Talks go quiet. Agents play clubs off against each other. Deals that looked close in June end up collapsing in August when someone's valuation doesn't match reality. It happens constantly across British football.
Rangers cannot afford that kind of drift. The season opener against Dundee Utd — live on Sky Sports — is not some irrelevant fixture you can afford to use as a warm-up. It's the first points on the board. First impressions in front of cameras. Momentum is real in football, and it starts here.
Going into that match with a squad that still has gaps? That's avoidable. McInnes knows it. He's being loud about it for a reason.
Two or Three Sounds Small. It Isn't.
Two or three signings sounds modest. In practice, landing that many quality additions in a compressed window is a serious operation. You're talking about identifying targets, agreeing personal terms, satisfying governing body requirements, passing medicals, and getting registrations done — all before the Premiership curtain goes up.
Each signing is its own negotiation. Each one has a timeline. And they rarely run neatly alongside each other.
So when McInnes says "two or three," we're not talking about a shopping list that gets ticked off in a quiet afternoon. We're talking about a coordinated push across multiple deals simultaneously. The recruitment team needs to be organised. The board needs to be committed. The funds need to be in place.
What This Tells Us About Where Rangers Are
McInnes flagging this publicly is worth reading carefully. He's not saying the squad is a disaster. He's saying it's not ready. Not yet. There's a difference.
He's managing expectations and applying pressure at the same time. Smart. If the signings come in and Rangers start well, he looks decisive. If the business doesn't happen and Rangers drop points early, the narrative writes itself — and it won't be flattering for the people above him.
That's the position a manager puts himself in when he speaks this clearly before a ball's been kicked. It's a calculated move. McInnes has been around long enough to know exactly what he's doing.
Our Verdict
Two or three signings before the Dundee Utd opener isn't ambitious. It's the floor, not the ceiling. McInnes has been transparent about what the squad needs, and that transparency puts the pressure where it belongs — on the people writing the cheques and making the calls.
Rangers have a live TV fixture as their first competitive outing. That's not the moment to still be piecing your squad together. Get the business done. Back your manager. Or don't, and find out the hard way why pre-season planning matters.
The window won't hold. The season is coming. McInnes has said his piece. Now the club has to act.
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