Rangers Fans Rejoice as Team Shows New Identity After Celtic Victories

Rangers fans sense a power shift after back‑to‑back wins over Celtic that have dragged the title race wide open and hauled Derek McInnes’ side to within two points of their rivals.

Two derbies. Two Rangers victories. And a support that suddenly sees a team it recognises again.

A Rangers I can identify with

For Derek, this feels like a turning of the tide.

"It's the beginning for Rangers and the beginning of the end for Celtic," he says, seeing not just a result but a change in identity. What strikes him is the blend: work rate, physicality, and a growing confidence to match.

This is the version of Rangers he’s been waiting for – direct, powerful, relentless in the running and knitted together by a strong bond. At the heart of it, in his eyes, is Ryan Naderi, whose performances up front have embodied the new message from McInnes. Alongside him, Olwethu Makhanya already looks like a statement signing: calm, composed, and, as Derek puts it, “unflappable”.

Silencing Parkhead

Louise went into the game wondering if lightning could strike twice. It did.

"I had wondered if a repeat of last weekend was possible, but what a performance again from Rangers," she says. Makhanya and Naderi again stand out, while Dan Neil’s grip on the midfield drew praise as he dictated the tempo. She also picked out Dujon Sterling, calling it probably his best display in a Rangers shirt.

The scoreline stayed tight, but the sense from the away end was that it could have been brutal. Louise felt that with sharper finishing and a little more quality in the final third, the margin might have resembled a cricket score. In the end, one goal did the job. One goal was enough to shut down Parkhead.

Her bigger point cuts deeper than a single result. This, she believes, is a Rangers side that has “grown up very quickly” and finally shown its ceiling. McInnes, in her view, has now “made his mark” as Rangers manager. The message from her and many others is clear: whatever happens next, he has to be allowed to build.

Different derby, different controller

Sally’s focus went straight to the engine room.

Last week, she saw Dan Neil running the midfield. This time, it was Nico Raskin’s turn to take control. That kind of rotation of dominance in the middle is exactly what Rangers fans have been crying out for in big games.

Up front, nothing changed: Naderi was “outstanding”, again the focal point and outlet. On the flank, Djeidi Gassama came agonisingly close, with Sally describing him as “so unlucky” not to score with his effort on goal.

What surprised her most was not Rangers’ intensity, but the lack of response. She expected McInnes to tweak things, and certainly anticipated Celtic to learn from the previous week. Neither materialised. Rangers repeated the plan. Celtic repeated the problems.

Makhanya wins over a sceptic

Chris admits he wasn’t convinced when Makhanya first arrived. That doubt is fading fast.

"Wasn't too sure of Makhanya when he first signed," he says, but watching him in this derby felt, in his words, “like a kick about in the back garden with the kids” for the defender. Composed, assured, never flustered.

Even his disallowed goal left a mark. Chris calls the finish “absolutely stunning”, the kind of moment that underlined the South African’s confidence and quality, even if it didn’t count on the scoreboard.

Two wins have not settled a title race. They have done something else, though. They have given Rangers fans a team they can believe in again – and left Celtic staring at a challenge they haven’t had to face for some time.