Rangers news as Stephen Craigan slams Cyriel Dessers with damning comparison
Stephen Craigan has slammed Rangers forward Cyriel Dessers for his start to life at Ibrox and in particular his display against Motherwell.
The Nigerian forward got his first Scottish Premiership goal of the season in his fifth appearance since arriving in Glasgow from Cremonese this summer, courtesy of a big deflection in Sunday’s (24 September) contest.
But as Rangers were booed as they left the field by the Ibrox crowd due to their poor performance, former Motherwell defender Craigan was left questioning just how much better Dessers was than The Steelmen’s striker Theo Bair, who had only scored once in 38 appearances for St Johnstone last season.
Speaking on Sportsound, as quoted by the Daily Record (25 September) Craigan said: “Was there any real difference between Theo Bair this afternoon and Cyriel Dessers, barring the goal?
“Not really. I mean, if they switched sides, would you say he stands out more than him? No, you wouldn’t have.”
When host Richard Gordon then suggested Rangers fans wouldn’t have been happy to see their side try and Bair this summer, Craigan replied: “They wouldn’t have but I am not too sure Motherwell fans would have been delighted if they signed Cyriel Dessers, watching his performances up to this point.”
Struggles
Rangers’ new forwards’ struggles have been well documented so far this season, with all of Abdallah Sima, Sam Lammers, Danilo and Dessers taking more time than was expected to find their feet at Ibrox after making the summer switch.
Dessers especially has failed to impress during his appearances in Light Blue and Michael Beale and has begun to use the Nigerian forward more sparingly in recent weeks and despite his goal in Sunday’s win, he still looked a far cry from what the Ibrox supporters were hoping for when they signed their new centre-forward.
According to Fotmob the 28-year-old only managed 22 touches before he was substituted after 67 minutes, having a total of three shots, completing nine passes and winning one of his six duels all while managing to be caught offside three times.
Although goals are the most important currency and Dessers did manage to finally open his Scottish Premiership account, the rest of his underlying stats are worryingly similar to Blair’s minor involvement in the game, as suggested by Craigan.
Rangers spent a lot of money to bring Dessers to Ibrox this summer and they’ll be hoping his slightly lucky goal will be the start of an improved run of form for the forward, otherwise, this could be one of their worst signings in a hotly contested summer of poor moves.
In other Rangers news, Michael Beale has shared Rabbi Matondo’s injury against Motherwell looks like a bad one