Ian Murray claims Rangers first teamer cannot ‘handle’ Ibrox challenge
Former Rangers player Ian Murray has claimed that Florian Kamberi is not good enough to justify the club making a permanent move to sign him.
The 25-year-old arrived at Ibrox in January on a loan deal from Hibernian, but has scored just one goal and registered one assist since then, with both coming in a 2-2 draw against St. Johnstone.
And Murray, who is now manager of League One outfit Airdrieonians, believes that the forward was a panic buy who will not stand the test of time in Glasgow.
Speaking to the Daily Record, he said: “Kamberi looked like a last-minute panic signing for Rangers because of [Jermain] Defoe’s injury.
“I was surprised they went for him and I’ll be even more surprised if they want to keep him. I don’t think he has shown enough in the games I’ve seen him in.
“To play for Rangers in that position you need to be a special player. There have been guys who get 20 goals a season and can’t get a starting berth at Ibrox.
“It’s a competitive area of the pitch and I’m not sure Kamberi’s the type of guy who can handle not being the No.1 guy.”
Does Murray have a point here?
It would be out of line to make comments about Kamberi’s character without properly knowing the lad, and so it’s impossible to say whether or not he is the kind of player who will be happy playing second fiddle to Alfredo Morelos.
What we can do, however, is pass comment on what he has shown on the pitch so far, and there’s certainly enough to suggest that he could be a decent addition for Steven Gerrard’s men.
He may only have one goal and one assist to his name, but those relatively underwhelming stats aside, he’s done pretty well since making the move from Hibs.
So far this season he has averaged 5.8 successful dribbles per game, won 3.23 aerial duels, and made 27.18 accurate passes per 90 minutes, as per Wyscout.
All of those numbers are higher than Jermain Defoe‘s averages for the season, and provided Kamberi himself is happy with not starting every match, there’s no reason why he couldn’t be a handy addition to Gerrard’s ranks.
In other Rangers news, ‘Absolutely relentless’ – Kenny Miller issus stinging verdict on Gers ‘capitulation’.