Unlocking Jablonec was Rangers’ responsibility, and they laboured over it. After a marathon of huff and puff, one of the few fluent passages of play finally produced Ryan Naderi’s winner.
The positives are brief but clear: a one-goal lead to take to Jablonec next week; a clean sheet; tireless work from Djeidi Gassama and James Penrice; composed defending by Olwethu Makhanya; encouraging signs from Naderi; and, unlike at half-time, no boos at the final whistle.
It was a tough watch, though. In that first half, Rangers lacked movement, guile and any real spark. Repeatedly, defenders looked up for a forward pass only to see motionless, tightly marked teammates staring back at them.
Poor Emmanuel Fernandez had another difficult night, though there were moments when you could sympathise.
Trying to be positive in possession and play forward, he often had no options and was forced to go back, which drew groans. When he risked a bolder pass and missed his man, the backlash came again—angry, angry, angry.
At one stage he waved an arm, as if to signal the lack of runners ahead of him.
McInnes spent much of the night pacing frantically around his cramped technical area, likely clocking up a sky-high step count—10,000 in no time. Perhaps he needs support: another coach with a different skill set, fresher and more imaginative ideas.