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Rangers' entrenched battle seems never-ending as fans kept guessing over key decision Three talking points from Ibrox side’s friendly victory over St Etienne Rangers made their first public appearance of pre-season as they defeated Saint-Etienne in front of a crowd of almost 25,000 at Ibrox. After a number of behind-closed doors matches, this was the first chance for supporters to cast an eye over Derek McInnes’ new-look side and the six players recruited this summer. Rangers ran out 2-1 victors thanks to penalties, one in each half, scored by Lawrence Shankland and Thelo Aasgaard. Here are three talking point from the match: Rangers’ beef with the SFA beef could go on for some time Taking potshots at figures of influence is not a new thing but the antipathy felt by Rangers, and their supporters, towards the Scottish FA feels quite entrenched at this point. A day after admonishing the club and its fans for their role in the melee that followed the Scottish Cup tie versus Celtic came the decision to hand down Derek McInnes a four-match touchline ban for comments made at the end of last season. It is presumably their rage at the former rather than the latter that prompted the Union Bears ultras to unveil a banner proclaiming “No Surrender Broxi, **** the SFA”, a reference to the Rangers mascot having its paws rapped for seemingly provoking the Celtic fans during that frenzied derby encounter in March. Regular chants of “**** the SFA” also rang out from the section housing the ultras who must have been roasting in their all-black matching uniforms on a balmy evening at Ibrox. With McInnes in as manager and Jim Gillespie the new chief executive, Rangers are now being fronted by two feisty characters who won’t take a step backwards if they feel they have been wronged, as McInnes certainly does over his ban. Should he lose his appeal, expect more vocal fireworks. Who will become Rangers captain? With James Tavernier moving on after 11 years and Lawrence Shankland arriving from Hearts, it looked for a while a straightforward decision for McInnes to ask the striker to take on the captaincy role he had performed for him at Tynecastle. The manager, though, seems to want to keep his options open as he gets to know his squad and tries to bed them in ahead of the new season. Dan Neil, the former Sunderland captain, led Rangers in one of their pre-season matches in Spain, while Shankland took the armband for another. Intriguingly, it was Ben Godfrey, the defender on loan from Atalanta, who led the team against Saint-Etienne, despite Shankland also starting, although it was noticeable that on more than one occasion the pair would congregate to discuss things, rather than Godfrey calling all the shots. The signs still point to Shankland taking the armband once the competitive action gets underway but McInnes, for now, is keeping everyone guessing. A big day for McInnes nine years on McInnes must have wondered whether he would ever get another chance to become Rangers manager after turning them down in 2017. Not many people get a second crack at their dream job and the former Hearts boss made sure he savoured the moment as he walked down the tunnel, suited and booted, to take charge of his first home game at Ibrox. He had been given the big build-up by the stadium announcer who urged the crowd to “make some noise for your new manager”. He chose not to milk it, instead slipping quietly into the dug-out, but later admitted it had felt quite special. “I've thought about that one for a long time,” he said. “I'm fully aware of the weight of this job and how much I want to do well. “I'm more thinking about that than having that little moment to myself. But, of course, for myself and my family, it was nice.” Comments Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.