Keith Jackson claims ‘hapless’ Cyriel Dessers at fault for Michael Beale sack at Rangers
Keith Jackson has lashed out at the players who arrived at Ibrox over the summer, naming Cyriel Dessers primarily after Michael Beale was finally sacked at Rangers.
The Daily Record journalist labelled Dessers “hapless” and claimed him as the poster boy for the Ibrox club’s terrible summer transfer window, although he is not alone among the disappointing new arrivals.
Jackon stated that the squad has got no stronger than it was last season, despite a £13million spend on nine different players under Beale’s supervision, which ultimately contributed to the Englishman losing his job.
Writing in his column for the Daily Record on 2 October, Jackson lamented the new signings, claiming: “They may have been recruited with a fanfare of trumpets during the summer but they’ve been hitting bum notes on a consistent basis ever since.
“Of them all, Cyriel Dessers has become the poster boy for a recruitment drive gone horribly wrong. But the hapless Nigerian is far from the only new man struggling to find his feet.
“If this malaise was contained to the performance level of Dessers alone then Beale’s judgement – or his credentials to make such expensive decisions – wouldn’t have cost him his job after less than 12 months in charge. On the contrary, Cyriel Dessers alone wasn’t the only issue. Beale forked out for a job lot of serial duffers.
“And, by doing so, he took a team which was deemed unfit for purpose in Scotland’s Premiership in the first place and downgraded it substantially.”
The start of the downfall
Ultimately it has proved true that Beale’s summer recruitment was the start of his downfall as Rangers boss. When you’re backed so heavily and unreservedly by the board, you need to prove the decisions are the right ones. This was never the case here.
The likes of Dessers and Lammers were singled out, but the truth is only Jack Butland and arguably Abdallah Sima can hold their heads high after a shocking season for the nine new Ibrox arrivals.
As Jackson, rather hilariously, wrote: “Dessers and Danilo are making some Rangers fans pine for the days when a half-arsed Alfredo Morelos could hardly squeeze into his shorts and when Antonio Colak was considered as the Colombian’s backup.”
It was more than just the new arrivals at Rangers though, and the lack of arrivals in certain positions, that made things look even worse. Relying on Rabbi Matondo and Scott Wright as starting wingers when both were expected to be moved on is simply a complete failure of judgment.
Whoever is next through the door is going to have to make things work with the players already at the club though, with the January transfer window still a couple of months away.
Big changes are needed at Ibrox and Auchenhowie.
In other Rangers news, an issue has already emerged in the search for a new manager.