Lawrence Shankland has said he is pleased to be working under Derek McInnes again at Rangers, giving the new Ibrox manager an immediate senior attacking voice who already understands his standards.
The striker’s comments came in an official Rangers interview published on Tuesday, June 23, after McInnes was confirmed as men’s first-team manager last week.
Shankland joined his boyhood club before heading to the World Cup with Scotland, while McInnes has now followed him to Ibrox after leaving Hearts. Their shared history matters because the early weeks of this rebuild will be short on time and heavy on expectation.
Shankland link gives McInnes a head start
Rangers need McInnes to impose his ideas quickly, with pre-season beginning this month and Europa League qualifying dates already on the horizon. Shankland’s familiarity with the manager should help inside the dressing room as much as on the pitch.
The forward arrives as a proven Scottish Premiership scorer and a player with enough experience to absorb pressure around Ibrox. If McInnes is to make Rangers sharper, more direct and harder to play against, having a centre-forward who already knows his demands is a useful first bridge.
For supporters, the fresh significance is clear: Shankland is not just another summer addition. He is now part of the manager’s immediate support structure as Rangers try to turn a major reset into early momentum.
