Derek McInnes says stars can live up to expectation as Rangers boss claims he can take duo to 'another level'
Light Blues gaffer thinks he can get the best out of two of last season’s standouts
Rangers boss Derek McInnes is confident he can take defender Emmanuel Fernandez and striker Youssef Chermiti to ‘another level’ next season despite the high expectations the duo carry.
Fernandez, 24, won the Player of the Year award last season after a solid debut campaign, while Chermiti, 22, finished the club’s top goalscorer after finding the target 15 times. While McInnes was impressed with both watching on as a rival in the Hearts dugout last season, now he’s in the building at Ibrox, he believes he can get more out of them.
The new Rangers boss has put his stamp on the team already with five summer signings, as well as Lawrence Shankland who was already in the door. However he’s tasked with not only enlisting quality additions, but also further developing the existing players. With a fortnight left until the season officially gets underway against Dundee United, McInnes’ squad have returned from their warm-weather training camp in Spain ahead of last minute preparations.
McInnes on improving Rangers stars
When asked about his plans for Chermiti and Fernandez, the manager told the Rangers Review: "Both of them are relatively young and they came with a lot of expectations on them with the price tag and the kind of profile, I'm pretty sure when you speak to these lads and everybody who signs for Rangers, they should all have that kind of inherent feeling that we're here to win things and be successful.
“But there's also, at that age, a development process. And I think both lads, at their best last season, showed their real quality. And the challenge for them and for me is to get their best more often. When they are on top of their game, both have got so much to offer at both ends of the pitch and I think that hopefully we can see that."
Eyebrows were raised last season when Chermiti was signed from Everton for around £10m, despite him only having three career goals to his name. Equally, Fernandez’ £3.5m was also a gamble, given his lack of minutes during his four years at Peterborough United. Despite both duo starting of shaky, as the season wore on they grew from strength to strength.
Chermiti and Fernandez can reach ‘another level’
He continued: "I think individually they're capable of good moments. As a defender, Manny (Fernandez) has an obvious physical profile there, I've had good chats with Manny about what he needs to improve on and he agreed, really. He answered my own question. I was going to talk to him about certain things we think we can get more from him this season and what he needs to be to take his game to another level.
"It's similar with Youssef. Leading the line at Rangers takes more than just scoring great goals. We've got to try and get the scruffy goals, we've got to try and make [him] always relevant in the game and try and just get those little finer details that will take his game to another level. Because he's certainly got the skillset, he's certainly got the profile, he's a great size, he can move, he's technically good, he scores all types of finishes.”