Kemar must raise the Roofe v Braga if he wants to stay at Rangers
There was no doubting the star of the show as Rangers thumped St Mirren 4-0 on Sunday as Kemar Roofe bagged a hat-trick in Paisley.
The Jamaican, who was left out of his national side’s final three World Cup qualifiers in March, had the match ball wrapped up by the 50th minute as he gave the Light Blues a strong lead before Joe Aribo completed the scoring.
He has taken up the reins from Alfredo Morelos who has been ruled out for the season through injury having been the Gers’ top scorer so far this campaign.
Roofe struggled in the Old Firm derby last weekend and was subsequently dropped by Giovanni van Bronclhorst for the trip to Portugal to play Braga in the Europa League quarter-final first leg.
He couldn’t perform on the big stage but he was able to prove he can score the goals required to lead the Rangers attack against St Mirren on Sunday.
It’s all well and good scoring a hat-trick against teams like St Mirren who are among the lower sides in the Scottish Premiership but to be the leading man for the Gers, you have to do more on the nights that matter.
That includes this coming Thursday when Ibrox plays host to the return leg of the Europa League quarter-final.
If Roofe is able to recreate his hat-trick on Sunday against the Liga NOS side, then maybe van Bronckhorst will consider him worthy of challenging Morelos next season.
But if the Jamaican fails again when the pressure is on, then his time is probably up in Glasgow and the club should look to cash in and get rid while they can.
In other Rangers news, van Bronckhorst provided an update on injuries to two of his key players after they were forced off against St Mirren.