{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Rabbi Matondo slammed by Sky Sports pundit amid Rangers wages claim vs two Celtic stars combined
Kris Boyd has blasted Rabbi Matondo for contributing “absolutely nothing” to Rangers this season while presumably being on good wages.
The former Ibrox forward doesn’t appear to actually know what the summer signing from Schalke is paid in Glasgow but claims he “wouldn’t be surprised” if it was more than Celtic duo Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi put together.
As part of an all round hammering of the Rangers squad and recruitment since the SPFL title win in 2021 the Sky Sports pundit took aim at the 22-year-old winger after a difficult first season in Glasgow.
Boyd said in his Scottish Sun column: “If Rangers are going to win trophies again, they need better strikers at the club.
“The same goes for the wide areas as Ryan Kent also gets set to leave. Rabbi Matondo? I wouldn’t be surprised if his wages are more than Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate combined.
“What has he contributed this season? Absolutely nothing.”
Harsh?
It would be hard to argue that Matondo has hit the ground running at Ibrox after his £2.5million move last summer [Daily Record, 12 July] but as with so many of the new arrivals his season has been wrecked by injury.
Three months out with injury since the turn of the year hasn’t been conducive to making a major impact, and he was in and out of the side at best under Giovanni van Bronckhorst earlier in the season.
There have been some suggestions that he could be a useful player for Micheal Beale going forward with his appearances in recent weeks, but currently the manager has too many who can be useful and not many who are always vital.
It is probably unfair to make assumptions about Matondo’s contract compared to the two Japanese recruits at Parkhead, but Boyd’s point stands that Hatate and Kyogo form part of a superior recruitment process under Ange Postecoglou than has been seen since the title was won under Steven Gerrard.
On paper the likes of Tom Lawrence and John Souttar should be players who can be effective but neither have played much at all due to long-term absences, while Antonio Colak started the season well but yet another untimely injury in the winter stalled his progress and he has struggled to get back in under Beale.
There have been positive signs from Todd Cantwell, Nico Raskin, and Malik Tillman, but none yet appear capable of carrying the team on their back and the latter may not even be at Ibrox next season.
So in the wake of a third-straight Old Firm defeat this summer’s recruitment simply has to surpass last year’s if next season is to be an improvement.
In other Rangers news, the Light Blues were snubbed by a transfer target despite holding a meeting with the club.