Rangers Stumble as Celtic Shine in Scottish Premiership

Derek McInnes is still waiting. Rangers are still stumbling. And across the rest of Scotland, a few familiar names used the weekend to answer some pointed questions.

Rangers change the manager, not the story

New face in the dugout, same old anxiety in the stands.

Derek McInnes insists Rangers “aren’t as bad as people think”, but the evidence keeps dragging him back to last season’s script. He shuffled the back four again for Hibernian’s visit, looking for balance, authority, something. Instead, the defence lost its shape and its discipline.

The defining moment came with new signing Vanja Dragojevic grappling Josh Kerr to the turf for a penalty. It was clumsy, needless and entirely in keeping with the error-strewn habits that derailed Rangers last term. You could feel the groans before the referee pointed to the spot.

Mistakes. Chopped and changed line-ups. No rhythm. No consistency. The frustration in the Ibrox stands is no longer a murmur; it’s a mood.

Then came another blow. Youssef Chermiti, the striker the club chose to keep after rejecting a big-money offer from Galatasaray, was stretchered off. The symbolism was hard to miss: the player they had pinned some of their hopes on leaving the pitch as the afternoon unravelled.

On the other side, David Gray’s Hibs survived their share of scares. The head coach admitted they “rode their luck” at times, but his players stayed together, absorbed the pressure and left Ibrox with a statement win to tack onto an impressive midweek Conference League qualifying victory. The noise around Gray has quietened. The questions around McInnes are only getting louder.

Hogh bites back for Celtic

Kasper Hogh walked into Celtic with an £11m price tag and the sort of expectation that weighs on every touch. His debut against Dundee did nothing to ease it. Missed chances, muttering critics, a few early judgments already being made.

He answered them in 35 ruthless minutes at Rugby Park.

On Kilmarnock’s new grass pitch, the Dane finally looked like the player Celtic paid for. Three goals, each one underlining his knack for drifting into the right pocket of space at the right time. This wasn’t a striker forcing things; it was a forward reading the game a step ahead, trusting his movement and his instincts.

Kilmarnock helped him, no question. Their defending was shambolic at times, the kind of loose structure and poor decision-making that top-level forwards feast on. Hogh did exactly that, and he wasn’t alone. Benjamin Nygren and Luke McCowan also cashed in as Celtic moved top of the table on goal difference.

For Neil McCann, the numbers are brutal. Two Premiership games, two defeats, nine goals conceded. He wants his team to be open, to attack, to play. But openness without organisation is a relegation invitation, and unless the back line tightens up quickly, Kilmarnock are staring at another season of looking over their shoulders.

Vrancken’s Hearts show their teeth

Wouter Vrancken has barely had time to settle in Edinburgh, yet the questions had already started. Hearts had looked nothing like the side that pushed the title race to the brink last season. European defeats, a collapse at Aberdeen, and the murmurings grew: had the club taken the wrong turn?

Dundee United arrived at Tynecastle Park at a tense moment. What followed felt like a release.

Hearts tore into the game and, crucially, found their edge in front of goal. The 6-1 Europa League qualifying hammering that preceded this had left scars, but you wouldn’t have known it from the way the Jambos attacked. They were sharper, braver, and when they had to, they stood firm at the back.

All this with six players missing through injury and suspension. That matters. It hints at depth, resilience, and a squad still very much on Vrancken’s side.

The scoreline, though, did Dundee United few favours. They had plenty of the ball, worked their way into good areas and created chances. What they lacked was the final, decisive touch. The performance wasn’t as far off as the result suggested, but the Premiership is unforgiving to teams that play well without finishing.

Phillips powers perfect start for St Mirren

Two games, two wins, two clean sheets. St Mirren are level with Celtic at the top of the Premiership table, and they’ve done it with a clarity of purpose that stands out this early in the season.

Killian Phillips is at the heart of it. After his opening-day double, the midfielder stepped up again, this time from the spot, to separate the two Saints in Paisley. Another decisive contribution, another reminder of why he is attracting interest as he enters the final year of his contract.

Craig McLeish has been open about Phillips’ situation, promising to help him secure the best move he can when the time comes. For now, though, he is the man driving St Mirren’s early surge.

St Johnstone, newly promoted and buoyed by a winning return to the top flight, did not shrink. They played with confidence, moved the ball well and imposed themselves for long spells. But the cutting edge deserted them. No shots on target before the break, a missed penalty, a strike against the woodwork. They had the moments; they squandered them. In this league, that ruthlessness – or lack of it – separates a promising performance from a tangible result.

Dundee rise as Aberdeen stall

Seven days. That’s all it took for Aberdeen’s mood to swing.

Last weekend, they were lauded for their fightback against Hearts, praised for digging deep and finding a way to win late. At Dens Park, that resolve vanished. Dundee seized control, and the travelling Aberdeen support made their feelings plain with a chorus of boos at full-time.

Steven Pressley’s side won 2-0, and if anything, that flattered Aberdeen. Dundee were sharper in both boxes, more aggressive in duels, and far more convincing in their belief that the game belonged to them.

Joe Bevan set the tone. A goal, an assist, and a performance that crackled with intent as Dundee picked up their first points of the season after a narrow loss at Celtic Park. It felt like a team stepping forward, not just scraping by.

These two meet again on Saturday in the League Cup. Pressley will want a repeat performance, maybe with an even more ruthless scoreline. Stephen Robinson, by contrast, needs a reaction – a big one – from a group that shrank when the game turned against them.

Motherwell steady under Johansson

Motherwell were supposed to wobble. Jens Berthel Askou’s departure threatened to knock them off course after a strong spell, and the assumption was that a step back was inevitable.

Alfred Johansson has other ideas.

The Swedish coach has kept the Steelmen unbeaten across Europe and domestic competition, and a clean sheet against Falkirk adds another layer of confidence to a group aiming for another top-four finish. There’s a calmness about Motherwell’s work, a sense that the handover in the dugout hasn’t disrupted the core of what made them so effective.

They started the brighter side at Fir Park, dictating the early tempo. Falkirk, though, refused to fold. Once they found their rhythm, they earned their point, a valuable marker for John McGlynn after losing key players over the summer.

For Falkirk, that display should stiffen belief heading into their first break of the season. For Motherwell, it’s another reminder that, even amid change, they remain a club very much in the argument near the top end of the table.

Across the division, the storylines are already forming: a giant still searching for its feet, a champion sharpening its attack, surprise leaders wondering how long they can cling to the summit. The question now is who turns a promising weekend into a lasting pattern – and who looks back on it as the moment the season started to slip away.