Scottish summer malaise continues, but some room for optimism

August 7, 2026 No Comments

Scottish summer malaise continues, but some room for optimismImage source, SNSImage caption, This week’s report card reads two defeats, one win and a draw for Scottish clubs in EuropeByCharlotte CohenBBC Sport ScotlandPublished7 hours agoThe Scottish football summer malaise continued with a disappointing night for two Premiership clubs, while two others at least did their best to boost the mood.Following on from a disappointing World Cup for fans north of the border, it was a mixed start to European qualifying last midweek as Hearts dropped down from the Champions League to the Europa League qualifiers but Hibernian and Motherwell progressed in the Conference League.However, it was mostly a struggle this week as Hearts sustained another heavy away defeat, this time against Benfica, while Rangers entered the Europa League and stumbled to a 2-1 loss to Jagiellonia Bialystok in Poland.Hearts look bound for the Conference League play-off round and Rangers could join them if they cannot turn around their tie at Ibrox next Thursday.On a more positive note, Hibernian built a 2-1 lead over Shkendija to take to North Macedonia while Motherwell picked up a potentially valuable 1-1 draw against HJK Helsinki in Finland.Old habits haunt Rangers in early McInnes tenure

19 hours ago

Hearts & Rangers count cost of defeats

Rangers making same mistakes as last season – Derek McInnes

New Rangers manager Derek McInnes stated he had witnessed “a lot of what I thought Rangers were last season” and supporters agreed.

Peter: I’m sorry but I don’t see anything to get excited about after two games. The talent on the bench and the lack of talent on the pitch sums up a lot for me. This is going to be a long season.

Joseph: We need to give this man time and resources. The constant merry-go-round is not helping the club. We need a new defence – time and time again the players we have in that position are found wanting. Let the man rebuild this great club and return us to the top of Scottish football where we should be. He needs patience at a difficult time for everyone involved with club – fans, players and coaches.

Paul: It’s a case of deja vu again for this Rangers side. Carrying on from their failings last season, not only domestically, but in Europe too. It’s going to be a long and winding road ahead if they can’t beat a relatively poor and inexperienced side in Jagiellonia, albeit away from home. The only real positive note was the performance of the inspirational Findlay Curtis in the second half, but more work has still to be done at Ibrox in the return leg if they have any aspirations of salvaging this tie and progressing further in the tournament.

John: The loss of soft goals and a worrying lack of midfield creativity once again. Seems to be a recurring theme from last season that we fall behind to teams who then sit in, and our response is to just lump hopeful balls into the box, looking for a lucky break. Surely we should be better than this. We need to be.

Tom: The subs helped but the slow pace made us easy to defend against. Curtis was the main point of attack but we continually passed the ball out to Ross McCrorie so he could transfer it back to the left. Felt we kept Thelo Aasgard and Youssef Chermiti on for too long as both were poor. I expect us to struggle badly against Hibs.

Billy: What a big disappointment. The starting line-up was questionable. We signed a goalscorer in Lawrence Shankland, make him captain and then don’t start him in a game we need to score. Nico Raskin should have been on from the start. It will need to be some improvement next week if we are to get through.

Poor first half cost Hearts – Wouter Vrancken

As for Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken, he lamented a first-half collapse in their 6-1 first-leg defeat in Lisbon.

However, some fans saw grounds for optimism.

Paul: We probably deserved to be 3-0 down at half-time, but the final scoreline felt harsh and arguably flattered a fabulous Benfica side. I’m proud of how our lads fought back in the second half with gutsy, attractive play and a great goal but sadly conceding two late goals undermined the much improved competitiveness shown after having moved to a back three. I was encouraged by what I saw, especially after half-time, but we simply must stop gifting soft goals to opponents.

James: We expected to get thumped but there were some good performances from our players last night too. Calvin Miller, Beau Reus, Josh McPake and Tom Renaud all had good games. Benfica are a class team and great to watch. Next we have to concentrate on our league form but these games are great for getting the team together and getting up to full fitness for the season ahead.

Maxwell: I have, like many others, been hyper critical of Wouter Vrancken because we expect too much from a new manager/style of play and a bunch of lads sought out by algorithms. Yes, it’s painful, and it will continue to be painful, but if our new manager learns quickly, and I think he will, and gets rid of the dead wood, we all know who they are, maybe at the end of the year we will have an exciting team to watch.

Calum: Dundee United on Sunday really is a must-win for confidence now. There are some definite improvements to be made but, all told, could we as a fanbase please bear in mind that we’ve just played some Champions League regulars?

Lewis: Outclassed but mostly our own doing. Players doing stupid things inside the penalty area with no accountability proves we are missing a leader within the team. If nothing changes soon, we are in trouble.

Steve: We defend like a Sunday league team in stages and it’s decimating our confidence. I cannot believe how far this team has fallen from last season and it’s time to admit the Wouter Vrancken experiment will not work. We are so vulnerable in defence and tactically I genuinely worry for this team.

Encouraging signs for Hibs & Motherwell

Hibs fared best of the Scottish clubs but fans were a little disheartened.

David: A tough watch but got the win in the end. We lack creativity in the midfield without Jamie McGrath and need more direct wingers. I feel the recruitment has thrown David Gray under the bus this summer.

Lee: I feel that a run of results will be good for this squad. Gray needs this because at the moment Hibs fans are being guilty of showing signs of impatience, even when the team are on top. Fans are correct to have high expectations but they need to know when it is time to support and when it’s time to bring out the booing. Last night some of the support were guilty of being edgy and this only feeds on to the pitch and impacts players negatively.

Kev: Another scruffy performance from Hibs but a win is a win. Gray has to get more out of this group of players or his time at Easter Road will end very quickly.

Scott: For such an important game the team was flat and lacklustre in the first half. Hibs were in ‘don’t lose’ mode as usual. The second half showed improvement but we were fortunate to come away with a victory. We are a dreadful watch.

Gordon: No intensity, no pace, no urgency, excruciatingly slow in the build-up and constantly passing across the back four. Eye bleeding at times. Gray has to get them to improve all areas mentioned above and get them playing with much more urgency or he’s going to find himself under severe pressure.

Kieron: Yes we won but the performance was really poor. There’s a huge gap in that midfield, I was seeing players getting frustrated because they were looking up wanting to pass but no-one was showing for it, so instead we had to hit it long, which meant we lost the ball a lot. It’s as if they’re playing like they’ve never played with each other before.

Motherwell boss Alfred Johansson on draw with HJK Helsinki

As for Motherwell, their unbeaten start to the season continued, with their supporters buoyant.

James: Not a bad performance at all. The pitch looked poor. We looked good in possession but our weakened squad showed towards the end. Still, we’re unbeaten, and have a great chance next week but let’s take care of Falkirk first. We still really need an out-and-out goalscorer.

Gilbert: Brilliant result, can’t wait for the home game, should be a cracking match.

Alan: This is an excellent result and a fantastic building block for the next game. It is only half-time but plenty to play for. It’s particularly pleasing to see the manager giving the younger players time on the pitch and the whole approach by the manager (and players) is to be applauded.

James N: Another great result for the team. The manager is so confident and it brings out the best in the players. Onward to next week, let’s get a great result.

Gary: Great result but the job is only half done. We need a massive crowd at Fir Park to hopefully inspire the team to a massive tie against Freiburg. Alfred Johansson has made a great start.

David: It’s a reflection of the game in Scotland that we hail a European draw in Finland. Let’s take it, though, and ensure we do the business in the return leg at Fir Park. Freiburg await and with it great possibilities.

‘Still a lot to play for, not all doom and gloom’

Former Hibernian midfielder Scott Allan on BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast:

There’s still a lot to play for in the ties outside Hearts, which was was always going to be a big ask. Yes, we can talk about Scottish teams in Europe, but Benfica are one of the most elite teams in Europe. You look at some of the players they bring through year on year.

Rangers, on the other hand, I still feel they’ll come through that tie. No point messing about, it was a really poor performance on and off the ball again.

Hibs proved they could show some good European performances last season, I think they’ll be able to do that and come through the tie. So not all doom and gloom.

Podcast: European reaction on mixed night for Scottish clubs

07/08/26

Listen on Sounds

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