By George Overhill

18th Sep, 2023 | 7:10pm

Michael Beale needs Sam Lammers to 'come good' after Rangers move as 'really strange' verdict issued - Chris Jack

Sam Lammers doesn’t get into the best Rangers side if everyone is fit and it is “hard to see” him starting at his best position as number 10, according to Chris Jack.

The Herald journalist said on the Rangers Review YouTube channel on 18 September that it’s “really strange” the summer signing from Sampdoria is not producing when he had looked encouraging during preseason

The Dutchman has made 10 total appearances for the Light Blues so far, scoring once and assisting once, but Jack says Micheal Beale needs him to “come good”.

Asked if Lammers will do so Jack said (25m 35s): “Well he has to doesn’t he? If you’re Micheal Beale and you’ve spent money on him, put faith in him, you’re going to need Lammers to come good.

“Right now if everyone’s fit I don’t think he gets in Rangers best side. There’s still this debate over what his best position actually is… I don’t see him as a natural number nine, doesn’t carry enough of a goal threat. He had his chance in the Old Firm game that he squandered.

“It’s really strange because I thought preseason he showed up well, there were glimpses there… I think that number 10 is his best position but is he the best options Rangers have in there? They’ve got Tom Lawrence coming back in… once Todd Cantwell’s fit I think that’s his best position… so for me it’s hard to see that Lammers is a starter.”

Let down

Most of the summer arrivals have yet to fully click at Ibrox yet so there is clearly still time for Lammers to settle and improve, even if others have shown more signs of doing so.

There were obvious questions raised about his scoring record as Beale went after him in the summer, with the 26-year-old having only netted nine times in total across the past four seasons combined.

But he was supposed to offer a lot more than simply goals in the manager’s plans for him, so the fact that he hasn’t produced much of anything so far is clearly a concern.

Costing £3.5million [Daily Record, 15 June] he doesn’t have the cover of being a handy pick-up on a free transfer or a bargain signing on an expiring contract and will have to produce.

There is hope still, and Rabbi Matondo’s belated emergence as a weapon for Rangers this season following a disappointing debut campaign after his £3m arrival a year ago [Football Scotland] shows that.

But the Welsh winger, as with Ridvan Yilmaz, has been out injured for significant periods, so if Lammers remains fit and still struggles it will start to turn the spotlight onto Beale for potentially sourcing the wrong target.

In other Rangers news, an ex-ref has revealed he was “really irked” by controversy in the Old Firm derby after Celtic got the benefit of another decision this week.