In the immediate future, Rangers face West Ham United. The Hammers were, of course, relegated to the Championship in England. It remains a strong level of competition, but it is not where a side of their size expects to be. Curiously, Nuno EspÃrito Santo stayed at the London Stadium despite his side suffering relegation. West Ham deemed him the right person to get them out of the mess they were in.
West Ham remain a huge club
One or two players have also committed to the club, including the captain. They want to reassure fans and try to get West Ham back to where they should be. Rangers essentially face a Premier League side on Sunday. A Premier League side that is, of course, now down in the Championship.
This is not where they expect to be, and they are better than the Championship. We will absolutely give them that. West Ham are one of the most underrated big teams in England. They are a huge, huge team.
Pretty much the whole of east London supports West Ham. They are a colossal side and can often very much fill the London Stadium with their bubbles and fans. Therefore, Rangers face them with great interest. What side would we expect Derek McInnes to select?
McInnes could name his strongest team
Well, this is now the final fixture before the serious action starts. This is the important one. This is the one friendly that actually properly kind of matters.
We would imagine McInnes will select something as close to his strongest team as possible. This comes before Rangers face Dundee United on Friday.
We would project Ivor Pandur in goal. Rangers could use the same back four, perhaps with Dujon Sterling at right back. Otherwise, it would feature Tuur Rommens, Ben Godfrey, Emmanuel Fernandez and indeed Sterling or Ross McCrorie.
In midfield, we would genuinely expect Dragojevic starts alongside Cammy Devlin. The chances are that Dan Neil will be in there too, but we are not sure about that one.
Rangers’ likely attacking options
On the left and right, Rangers could potentially use Aasgaard and Findlay Curtis. Oliver Antman is another possibility. Up front, it will again be the two of Chermiti and likely Shankland.
We imagine that, for now, this is probably as close to the strongest XI that we currently have. It is not exactly a marquee XI, and the backline is appalling at the moment. However, at this current time, it is probably what McInnes deems to be his best squad.
There may be one or two other key additions or squad members that we have forgotten to include. However, in general, that is probably as good as it gets.
There is, of course, Chukwuani as well in midfield. One or two others may also stake a claim. Ryan Naderi might hope to start as well.
So your Ibrox Noise predicted XI:
Pandur; Sterling, Godfrey, Fernandez, Rommens; Devlin, Dragojevic; Curtis; Antman; Shankland, Chermiti
Rangers need a stronger performance
However, the point is that some positions have options while others lack them. That is a problem McInnes has going forward for now.
In terms of facing West Ham, the result is not hugely important. However, the hard running against higher calibre opposition really is rather useful. Rangers will hope for a better showing, better running and better fitness than their players have shown throughout preseason thus far.
Indeed, preseason has been quite poor. Very few Rangers fans would judge it, but it has not been the best. The signs have not been particularly positive and have looked a little rough at best.
There has only been one single win, and that, of course, came against Raith Rovers. Curiously enough, all the rest have been draws.
Fundamentally, we will see how it goes against West Ham. However, we would like something stronger, more reliable and with a slightly better defence. Then again, with the players that we have, we are not sure that is possible.