Sam Lammers start to life with Rangers demonstrates Michael Beale recruitment issue at Ibrox
Sam Lammers was one of Michael Beale’s first signings in what was a busy summer of incomings for Rangers but hasn’t proven to be worth the investment so far at Ibrox.
The Dutchman has only managed to find the net once in four appearances in the Scottish Premiership and was dropped from the starting XI for the first Old Firm derby of the season as he has struggled to hit the ground running in Glasgow.
In the 240 minutes that he has played since making the move to Scotland, he has only created one chance for his teammates and registered 1.58 expected goals, with his finishing rate a genuine concern in the early stages of the season [Fotmob].
Lammers has only managed to have three shots on target this season, meaning an incredibly poor 38 per cent of his attempts trouble the goalkeeper. During Alfredo Morelos’ final season at Ibrox, where he was well below the standard expected, he registered 50 per cent of his shots on target.
The Dutchman has also already missed two big chances in the domestic league season, when partnered with Cyriel Dessers (four) and Danilo (2) it starts to become clear why Beale’s side hasn’t been winning many matches this season.
Shouldn’t be a shock
When looking at Lammers’ career before joining Rangers, his poor goalscoring record really shouldn’t come as a shock. When compared to forwards in Europe’s big five leagues in the last year, he falls in the second percentile for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes [Fbref].
What is even more concerning is the fact he has managed to underperform his incredibly low expected goals of 0.21 per game, which is still in the bottom seven per cent of all of his positional peers in Europe.
Although he often does play as a more removed forward, the fact he only averages 3.76 touches in the opposition penalty area shows how little he picks up good goalscoring positions during games, while both his expected assists and actual assists are low.
It is a worrying sign when examining a forwards scouting report, that the stats where he performs the best are all in defence, with his worst area of the pitch being in the final third.
It raises the question, what did Beale and his team see in the 26-year-old to make them believe that he was the right option to be part of the revolution of his front line? While he may not have only been brought for his goals, so far he’s showing very little to demonstrate he belongs at Ibrox.
Hopefully, as he settles he may well find his feet a bit more regularly, but at the moment you have to wonder how long Lammers will last at Rangers.
In other Rangers news, Barry Ferguson has told Rangers to cash in one player before his contract ends