Neither Russell Martin nor Danny Rohl were able to restore past glories in their short stints in Govan while McInnes was taking Hearts to the verge of immortality.

Much of the condemnation surrounding the Ibrox club’s failures last season came back to the same theme – they may be fluid and clinical going forward at times, but a soft underbelly put paid to hopes of success.

“I thought we gave up too many chances and gave teams too much encouragement,” the 55-year-old added post match in Poland.

“We’ve got to be honest and say we are guilty of beating ourselves tonight. And that’s no disrespect to our opponent because on transitions and counter-attack, it fuels them.”

Rangers were flailing in the opening 45 minutes as Jagiellonia cut them open with ease, capitalising on numerous lapses in concentration.

Twelve minutes into the game, Thelo Aasgaard tried an audacious spin on the edge of the hosts’ box, attempting to squeeze the ball through a small gap in the defence.

One minute later it was in the back of Rangers’ net following an impressive counter.

“There’s no bigger drain on confidence for any player, team, support than losing cheap goals,” McInnes said.

“There were mistakes for the goals, and I understand that can happen, but we have got to be far more stingy with our work, defend the goal with our lives, don’t give our opponent opportunities.

“At no cost is that ball going in our box, at no cost are they going to get a chance, and we’ve got to have a bit more of that approach to our work.”

The central defensive partnership of Dujon Sterling and Emmanuel Fernandez looked particularly shaky.

“If you spoke to McInnes right now without a microphone in front of him, and you asked him, ‘Do you trust Fernandez?’, there’s no way he says yes, no way,” former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday said on BBC Sportsound.

“But he doesn’t have an option at this moment in time to play someone else.

“I’m being very critical here, but I think Fernandez has every attribute to be a top, top central defender, yet it looks as if he hasn’t had the education growing up of the basics of being a central defender.”

North Carolina defensive coordinator Steve Belichick is going on medical leave, Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick told reporters Wednesday.

The 39-year-old son of the head coach came to North Carolina last season from Washington, where he was also DC. Before that, he worked for his father with the New England Patriots for about a decade.

Bill Belichick provided no details on Steve Belichick’s condition or a timetable for his return. Steve Belichick was scheduled to meet with reporters last week when North Carolina began preseason practice, but that session was canceled after athletic department officials said the coach wasn’t feeling well.

North Carolina’s defensive staff also includes Steve’s younger brother, Brian, at defensive backs coach, and former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco at defensive line coach. The Tar Heels’ defense performed well after some early struggles last season and ranked 25th in the country in yards per play allowed (4.94).

North Carolina’s second season under Bill Belichick, who won six Super Bowls with the Patriots, has already been off to a rocky start. Days before practice started, the university placed general manager and longtime Belichick confidant Michael Lombardi on paid administrative leave. School officials declined to give specifics, but did reveal the university is conducting an investigation related to Lombardi, who makes $1.5 million as college football’s highest-paid GM.

Three people briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly previously told The Athletic that Lombardi’s leave was connected to a human resources complaint.

Lombardi retained attorney Tom Mars, who said in a statement the longtime NFL executive “welcomes the opportunity to clear his name.”

“He is fully cooperating with UNC and expects the investigation will be swift, thorough, and fair,” Mars said. “Michael would ask that people have the decency to let the process run its course before jumping to any conclusions about the nature of the investigation or whether there’s any merit to whatever has been alleged.”

In addition to the HR complaint, the College Sports Commission also contacted UNC football about a potential investigation, two people briefed on the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Athletic, with Lombardi’s actions believed to be of interest. The CSC serves as the enforcement arm for potential name, image, and likeness violations and is also responsible for approving third-party deals for athletes.

Lombardi declined to comment when initially contacted by The Athletic.

North Carolina went 4-8 in its first season under Belichick and begins this season on Aug. 29 against TCU in Dublin, Ireland.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has designated a national day to commemorate the team’s 2026 World Cup semi-final victory over England.

The AFA announced that July 15 will be “National Football Teams Day” to mark Argentina’s late 2-1 win, which denied England a place in a first men’s World Cup final since 1966.

The defending world champions came from behind in Atlanta to secure their spot in the showpiece, with Enzo Fernandez equalising in the 85th minute before Lautaro Martinez scored a stoppage-time winner. Anthony Gordon had given England the lead earlier in the second half.

Lionel Scaloni’s side were subsequently beaten 1-0 by Spain in the World Cup final.

The proposal for the national day was approved unanimously by the AFA’s executive committee on Wednesday, three weeks after the victory. The AFA said July 15 had been selected to commemorate a “great and historic victory” which prompted celebrations across Argentina.

It added that the annual occasion would recognise all of the country’s national teams, including its youth, women’s, futsal and beach football sides, rather than just the senior men’s team.

The semi-final was the first meeting between Argentina and England in 21 years. The fixture carries added political significance and tension due to an ongoing dispute over the Falkland Islands.

At full time, Argentina players celebrated with a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, which translates to “The Falklands are Argentine”.

The Falklands is a British dependency which lies around 300 miles (480 km) off the east coast of mainland Argentina.

The dispute dates back to British invasions of Argentina in the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. Britain initially claimed the Falklands in 1774 and reasserted its rule in 1832. In 1982, Argentina’s military government invaded in an attempt to take the territory from the United Kingdom. The conflict lasted from April 2 to June 14 and ended with an Argentine surrender. In all, three civilians, 255 British and 649 Argentine troops died.

The team’s parading of the banner is the subject of a FIFA disciplinary investigation. The AFA, Argentina players Leandro Paredes, Nahuel Molina and Thiago Almada, plus coach Roberto Ayala, are also being investigated after the altercations that broke out at full time.

Argentina’s victory over England came 40 years after their quarter-final meeting at the 1986 World Cup, a match remembered for Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal and his famous second. Argentina also eliminated England at the last-16 stage of the 1998 edition, before England got the better of Argentina in the 2002 group stages.