Rangers Struggle Again as Hogh, Vrancken, and Phillips Shine

The Scottish Premiership’s second weekend did not so much unfold as crackle. At Ibrox, Rangers’ new era looked uncomfortably like the old one. Across the city, a £11m striker finally roared into life. In Paisley and Tynecastle, early-season narratives twisted sharply.

Same questions, new face at Rangers

Derek McInnes insists Rangers “aren’t as bad as people think”. The evidence keeps arguing back.

Still without a win, the new manager shuffled his back four again for Hibernian’s visit, searching for a defensive blend that might calm the anxiety in the stands. It never arrived. Rangers’ shape frayed too easily, and the kind of individual errors that haunted last season crept straight back into view.

New signing Vanja Dragojevic’s clumsy haul on Josh Kerr for a penalty summed up the problem: rash decision, heavy touch, costly consequence. Rangers are not just conceding goals; they are gifting moments.

The mood darkened further when Youssef Chermiti, subject of a rejected big-money bid from Galatasaray, left the pitch on a stretcher. One of the club’s most valuable assets, carried away as the team slid to another bruising result. It felt like more than a bad afternoon. It felt like a warning.

Hibs head coach David Gray admitted his side “rode their luck” at times, but they earned the right to do so. Fresh from an impressive Conference League qualifying win in midweek, they dug in, stayed compact and took their chances when Rangers wobbled. The pressure that once threatened to engulf Gray is easing. McInnes, only just in the door, can already feel the temperature rising.

Hogh answers the call at Celtic

Kasper Hogh arrived at Celtic with an £11m fee and a queue of doubters. His debut against Dundee did little to quiet them as chance after chance went begging.

At Rugby Park, he ripped up that script.

On Kilmarnock’s new grass surface, Hogh produced the kind of 35-minute spell that changes a conversation. Three goals, all built on smart movement and instinctive timing, as he repeatedly found space in the box that Kilmarnock’s defence simply couldn’t track.

The Dane didn’t need spectacular finishes. He needed to be in the right place, early, and he was. Time and again.

Benjamin Nygren and Luke McCowan joined in the punishment as Celtic cut loose, their attacking rhythm too sharp for a back line that crumbled under even modest pressure. The champions climbed to the top of the table on goal difference, but the bigger story was the striker who suddenly looked every inch the marquee signing.

For Neil McCann, the numbers are stark: two Premiership games, two defeats, nine goals conceded. He wants his team to play open, front-foot football. Unless the defending tightens quickly, that ambition risks turning into another season spent staring nervously over the shoulder at the relegation fight.

Vrancken’s Hearts finally show their teeth

Wouter Vrancken walked into a club still haunted by how close last season’s Hearts side came to the title. His early weeks have not been kind.

European exits, a collapse at Aberdeen, performances stripped of last year’s edge – questions about his appointment arrived earlier than anyone at Tynecastle would have liked. Then came Dundee United at home, and with it the first real glimpse of what his Hearts might be.

In the wake of a 6-1 Europa League qualifying hammering, the response was emphatic. Everything clicked in the final third, the defence stood tall, and a patched-up side – missing six players through injury and suspension – finally looked like a team with a plan and a pulse.

The scoreline flattered Hearts slightly. Dundee United, who had opened their league campaign with a 1-1 draw against Rangers, saw plenty of the ball and carved out chances. What they lacked was the decisive touch that Vrancken’s side suddenly rediscovered.

United leave with regrets but not disgrace. Hearts leave with something more valuable at this stage: a sense that the turbulence might just be settling.

Phillips drives St Mirren on – but for how long?

St Mirren are not just unbeaten. They are perfect so far: maximum points, back-to-back clean sheets, and a growing sense that they intend to linger near the top end of the table for as long as possible.

At the centre of it all stands Killian Phillips.

After his opening-day double, the midfielder again proved the difference, this time from the penalty spot in the narrow win over St Johnstone in Paisley. It was not a flowing attacking performance, but it did not need to be. Phillips delivered, the defence held, and the points stayed put.

His form has not gone unnoticed. Interest is building as he moves into the final year of his contract, and manager Craig McLeish has been open about his intention to help the player secure the best move he can. That honesty carries its own tension: St Mirren are thriving with Phillips, yet may have to prepare for life without him before August is out.

St Johnstone, newly promoted and buoyed by a winning return to the top flight, showed plenty of composure but not enough incision. No shots on target in the first half, a missed penalty, the woodwork rattled – they did most things right until it mattered most. At this level, that wastefulness is unforgiving.

Dundee rise as Aberdeen stall

Seven days. Two very different Aberdeens.

Last weekend, they clawed back to beat Hearts with a late surge that hinted at character and resilience. At Dens Park, that edge evaporated. The travelling support made their feelings crystal clear with loud boos at full-time, and few on the pitch could argue.

Steven Pressley’s Dundee deserved their 2-0 win and might reasonably feel they left goals behind. They pressed with intent, broke with purpose and, crucially, had Joe Bevan in irresistible form. A goal, an assist, and a constant menace as Dundee collected their first points of the season after a narrow defeat at Celtic Park.

Aberdeen, by contrast, never found that extra gear. Where there had been grit against Hearts, there was drift. The kind of performance that lingers in the mind of a manager for all the wrong reasons.

The two sides meet again on Saturday in the League Cup. Pressley will want exactly this level of aggression and control. Stephen Robinson needs a reaction, not just a result.

Motherwell’s quiet momentum

While others swing between crisis and euphoria, Motherwell are quietly building something steady under Alfred Johansson.

The fears that Jens Berthel Askou’s departure would derail the Steelmen’s progress have not materialised. Johansson has kept the trajectory intact: unbeaten in Europe and domestically, and now a clean sheet against Falkirk to bank alongside growing confidence.

Motherwell started brighter at Fir Park, sharper in possession and more threatening in the final third. Falkirk, though, grew into the contest and earned their point with a composed, organised display that will encourage John McGlynn after a summer of key departures.

For Motherwell, the target is clear – another tilt at the top four. For Falkirk, that performance, and that resilience, offer something just as important heading into their first break of the season: proof they can live with higher-level opposition when it matters.

Two weeks in, the table will lie. The stories won’t. The question now is who can turn these early flashes – Hogh’s ruthlessness, Vrancken’s reset, Phillips’ surge – into something that still matters when the winter storms arrive.