While Rangers secured their passage to the Scottish League Cup final with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at Hampden, the tactical decisions made by Derek McInnes have sparked sharp criticism overseas.

McInnes’ squad selection once again left high-profile summer arrivals watching from the sidelines, raising uncomfortable questions about alignment between the Rangers‘ sporting department and the manager.

Serbian media hit out at Derek McInnes over Vanja Dragojevic and Kosta Nedeljkovic treatment

Writing after Saturday’s semi-final, Serbian outlet Mozzart Sport (Saturday, 31 October) launched a stinging critique aimed at both the Rangers board and McInnes’ selection policy:

Did anyone from Rangers’ sports department consult manager Derek McInnes last summer regarding the players being brought in? Because if they did, why did the 55-year-old Scot agree to have two Serbian internationals – Vanja Dragojevic and Kosta Nedeljkovic – brought to training, only to drop them completely to the bench?

The outrage abroad highlights a growing statistical anomaly in McInnes’ team management. Dragojevic has not played a single minute in the Scottish Premiership for 85 days, with his last starting appearance across all competitions coming back on 27 August in the disastrous UEFA Conference League qualifier defeat against Jablonec.

While the word from Rangers is that Dragojevic is ‘still very raw’, it does not bode well for the former Partizan Belgrade captain that left-back James Penrice was handed a start alongside Nicolas Raskin ahead of him at Hampden on Saturday.

The situation is equally perplexing regarding Nedeljkovic. The highly rated defender, on loan from Premier League side Aston Villa, made his sole start for the Light Blues in a 2-1 victory at Falkirk on 2 September.

Despite brief optimism following a substitute outing in the 3-1 win over Kilmarnock on 10 October, Nedeljkovic has now remained glued to the bench for four consecutive matches across all competitions.

The Serbian report pulled no punches when summarising the duo’s complete lack of progress in Glasgow:

This Saturday, Rangers defeated Aberdeen 1-0 in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals, and the picture remained unchanged – both Serbian footballers spent the entire match on the bench again. McInnes’ stance toward the 20-year-olds is entirely baffling.

The severe lack of minutes for both players casts a harsh light on Ibrox transfer business. When multi-million-pound assets and top-tier loans fail to earn game time, even during dense fixture schedules, it naturally exposes potential disconnects between recruitment vision and managerial trust.

With the January window fast approaching, Rangers leadership faces intense scrutiny over whether these young international talents will finally be integrated into McInnes’ plans or if loan terminations and exits become the only logical resolution.