Pundit accuses Derek McInnes of 'playing to the galleries' as Old Firm warning to Rangers boss issued

Rangers boss Derek McInnes has been accused by pundit Chris Sutton of ‘playing to the galleries’ after his antics against St Mirren on Wednesday night, as he’s told the home fans won’t be singing on Sunday at Ibrox if they don’t get a result against Celtic.

After a 90th minute dink from striker Bojan Miovski caused scenes of bedlam at Ibrox in their 1-0 victory over the Buddies, McInnes was clapping along to supporters’ rendition renowned Roy Orbison Rangers anthem - ‘Penny Arcade’. With five wins from five on the domestic front, the manager is slowly but surely making amends for his poor start to life in Govan - but all that can change on Sunday.

As the Light Blues prepare to host Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final on Sunday, Sutton believes any street cred McInnes earned among the Ibrox faithful will soon be forgotten if things don’t go their way in the derby.

McInnes accused of ‘playing to the galleries’

In his Daily Record column, the former Celtic striker wrote: “It’s a fascinating contest. Derek McInnes has started to win over Rangers fans and they lapped up him clapping along to the sing-song after they scraped past St Mirren. That was a performance of nonsense and just playing to the galleries.

“But it will be a different story if they come a cropper at home to Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup, with no away fans in the ground. McInnes is a top manager and he walked into a difficult position. There’s still a sense he’s throwing everything at it to see what works but there is no doubt Rangers can cause Celtic problems.”

With no away fans allowed in the stadium after March’s chaotic derby in the Scottish Cup, the Rangers boss has called on Rangers fans to make it as loud and intimidating as possible for their opponents. Ibrox is known for being an unforgiving place - particularly when it comes to Old Firm defeats - but McInnes is hoping the supporters will be with them and not against them.

McInnes says Rangers need to keep fans onside

Ahead of the match, the Rangers boss said: “You’re not going to play Celtic and dominate the game for 90 minutes. We’ll have spells, they’ll have spells, that’s just the way it is. I think it’s important that we tap into having that 50,000 behind us. Be behind the players, support them, have their backs, not be on their backs and really make it as tough for Celtic as possible.

“We’ve got our part to play in that and I feel if we can capitalise on good play and good opportunities, which we didn’t do last night, and we haven’t done against Motherwell, obviously, if we can get ourselves in front, give the crowd something to get behind then the strength of our club can be shown. I think if the 50,000 can be utilised, and we can have the strength of performance in the team that will help the team, we will be difficult to stop.”

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