Rangers fans have blasted midfielder Joe Aribo for his performance against St Johnstone on Saturday despite the Gers running out 1-0 winners at Ibrox.
Ryan Jack’s 37th-minute goal was enough to seal all three points for the Light Blues as they bounced back to winning ways and continued on their march towards winning their 55th Scottish league title.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Steven Gerrard’s men as they had to fight hard to grind out a result against Tommy Wright’s struggling Killie.
Aribo, 24, was once again named to start in the centre of the midfield but really didn’t seem to enjoy playing the deeper role.
It’s been that case for several weeks now while Jack and Scott Arfield have recovered from injuries but with both of them now back in action, Gerrard may opt to switch things up a bit.
Aribo’s shown that he doesn’t enjoy playing in the central role and is far better in the attack, behind a striker or even out wide.
According to stats by Wyscout, the Nigeria international completed just 79 per cent of his passes against Kilmarnock, which is way down on his season average of 87.1 per cent.
Aribo also had four touches inside the penalty area, completed eight of the 13 dribbles he attempted and hit the target with one of his two shots.
One of those shots came in the second half when Ryan Kent played in Aribo to have a one-on-one versus the Killie goalkeeper.
However, the ex-Charlton ace seemed to dally on the ball way too long before getting a shot out that eventually went wide of the goal.
It was a bit of a stinker from the midfielder and some Rangers fans are venting their frustration about his display on Twitter.
One has even called for him to “be allowed the freedom of the bench for a few weeks” as his performances continue to fall below expectations.
Here is a selection of their tweets:
Aribo is a liability in midfield Thankfully Arfield is fit again
— SportingIntegCo5088 (@IntegCo5088) February 14, 2021
Btw that was an awful miss from Aribo
— Baldy Barisic 31 🇭🇷 (@B_Barisic31) February 13, 2021
Shocking bust my coupon anaw. Feel for him to be honest before he was injured he was bang on form felt like we might have seen the best of him this season
— martin butler (@martybutts) February 13, 2021
Joe Aribo is a diddy. No nearly good enough. 🔴⚪️🔵….
— Sir Findo (@sirfindo) February 13, 2021
Aribo is clumsy, as they say all arms and legs, sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. But his lack of consistent basics is worrying, poor passes, poor retention, and the chance he had with maybe 10 or so mins to go today should have been mercilessly buried.
— The Cat of Ibrox (@pipsthecat) February 13, 2021
Rid rotten joe aribo … as ruthless as a new born Labrador
— chris graham (@chrisblue1982) February 13, 2021
Aribo is pish today @RangersFC
— marcmcinally (@marcmcinally) February 13, 2021
Aribo should be allowed the freedom of the bench for a few weeks.
— Marble Staircase (@dalmarnockrd) February 13, 2021
Aribo been a miss for weeks now big guy way off it
— billy carmichael (@billycarmicha14) February 13, 2021
In other Rangers news, Steven Naismith has sent a message to clubs over the SFA’s report about sexual abuse.
