By hook or by crook, Rangers got to the Premier Cup Final by way of Aberdeen. That is what the final result says, with a late winner from Naderi proving the difference.

There has been much made of the stats, with McInnes himself mocking the 25 shots but just five on target, calling it embarrassing. But what remains absurd is McInnes’ strange management.

Another Bizarre Starting Eleven

Once again, he offered a bizarre starting eleven, with James Penrice inexplicably placed in central midfield and a return for Tuur Rommens. Meanwhile, Minsu Kim was on the left wing and Bouanani was on the right. We couldn’t have too much complaint about those latter two choices.

However, we must admit Tochi Chukwuani, Vanja Dragojević and even Dan Neil must be wondering why on earth they were on the bench. After all, a left back was playing in central midfield. It was bizarre.

The match was certainly not completely awful from a Rangers point of view. The play was acceptable, if lacking cutting edge and incision. Naturally, the defence looked a little shaky.

Rommens was playing his first match for months. There was the already shaky Emmanuel Fernandez in defence and Dujon Sterling was having an absolutely abysmal match.

But it was that eleven again. Derek McInnes experimented bizarrely in a very important match.

Why Fix What Wasn’t Broken?

Of course, as we’ve said before, it doesn’t matter if one experiments or does the strangest things as long as you win. And Rangers did.

But it does leave the interpretation open and the general question of why.

Why has Derek McInnes started fixing what wasn’t even broken?

Rangers had a run of seven wins in a row and McInnes inexplicably altered it, seemingly due to pressure from the Algerian press. They wanted Bouanani in and fair enough, he’s been outstanding since he got in the team.

But he forced Naderi into a position which made no sense and the whole system against Dundee didn’t work.

Consequently, he changed back to normal against St Johnstone. Things worked a bit better in that one. Not spectacularly, but better.

He changed again to something else that didn’t work against Hearts. Once again, Rangers dropped points.

And he changed things wildly again at Hampden against Aberdeen. This time, he got away with it by the skin of his teeth.

Naderi Makes the Difference

Naderi is proving to be one heck of a Trojan horse. He seems to have the gift of the gab, on the pitch anyway. He just seems to bring luck and positioning.

He’s a strange hybrid of Tore Andre Flo and Ally McCoist, and it’s clearly working for him this season under this manager.

Thanks to his positioning, which just escaped the offside trap, Naderi scored an excellent winner. Rangers are safely through to the final.

McInnes’ Management Remains a Mystery

McInnes’ management is very strange, as we have seen of late. His bad results have definitely been a consequence of it. And the one good Rangers result on Saturday in the Premier Cup Semi Final came despite it.

It is hard to know what on earth Rangers we are going to get. McInnes now seems insistent on changing things every other match.

What a very strange cup win this one was.