Rangers’ winning run has lifted them to within a point of the Scottish Premiership summit, but the mood around the club is not one of complete satisfaction. Saturday’s 2-0 victory at St Mirren was deserved, yet it followed a familiar pattern: dominance without the decisive finish.
Derek McInnes’ side have now gone 12 matches in all competitions without defeat, winning 10 of them. They boast the best defensive record in the top flight and the third-best attacking record. Even so, the sense persists that this team is operating below its ceiling.
Chances Created, Chances Wasted
At Paisley, Rangers never quite killed the game. Ryan Naderi put them ahead from the penalty spot — his sixth goal in eight league matches — but he should have scored earlier. Kevin Kelsy then passed up a series of opportunities at the start of the second half before Dan Neil’s deflected effort finally made it 2-0.
The underlying numbers reinforce the eye test. Rangers’ expected goals in their 12 league matches this season stand at 29.8, yet they have scored only 21. That gap between creation and conversion is among the clearest explanations for the lingering unease.
Injuries to Youssef Chermiti and Lawrence Shankland have removed two senior striking options, which goes some way to explaining the profligacy. But it does not tell the whole story. Naderi and Kelsy have performed admirably — only two matches since August have passed without either man scoring. The problem lies behind them.
The Supporting Cast
South Korean winger Kim Min-su has yet to score or assist since arriving from Girona in the summer, although he created more chances than any other player on Saturday. Badredine Bouanani has shown undoubted quality without regularly delivering end product.
Against St Mirren, promising attacking positions repeatedly failed to produce a shot as players took the wrong option and allowed the home defence to recover. McInnes was candid about the issue.
He noted the irony of scoring from a penalty and a deflection, but praised much of his team’s build-up play up to the final moment. He stressed that better decisions and more careful weight of pass would turn good chances into brilliant ones, and that his players must take ownership of improving in those moments.
Midfielder Dan Neil echoed the sentiment, saying the squad speak constantly about being more clinical and that a couple of chances could have been handled better.
External Concerns
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton, speaking on Sky Sports, argued that Rangers still lack control and a killer instinct. He warned that the failure to manage games properly will eventually cost them.
Former Rangers and Scotland striker Kris Boyd, Sutton’s fellow pundit, agreed. He suggested that previous Rangers teams would have turned a performance like Saturday’s into a three- or four-goal victory, and concluded that something is missing.
McInnes himself acknowledged that the past two and a half months have not been perfect, pointing to draws with Hearts and at Dundee. He framed his side’s challenge as an internal one: to keep winning while continuing to improve.
Sutton believes that if those improvements arrive, Rangers could become difficult to stop, suggesting they have another gear or two — a prospect he says will worry other teams in the league.
For now, the results are keeping Rangers close to the top. The question is whether the finishing can catch up before the missed chances start to matter.
