Time for Rangers to cut their losses on Cyriel Dessers in January after latest horror show
If you’d ask most Rangers fans around 5.15pm on Saturday August 5 what the mood surrounding the club would be in early October, even the most pessimistic of supporter would not have guessed it would be like this.
The Gers were just about to kick off their Scottish Premiership campaign at Kilmarnock under Michael Beale, who had signed nine new players in a bid to overhaul fierce Glasgow rivals Celtic in the title race.
Five of those new faces started that game, including a completely new-look forward line. Alas, Rangers were beaten 1-0 and since then things haven’t really got any better.
A 3-1 defeat at home to Aberdeen last time out was the end of the line for Michael Beale but his stand-in Steven Davis fared little better as Rangers suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat away at Aris Limassol in the Europa League on Thursday (5 October).
One theme that emerged from both games was just how completely out of his depth Cyriel Dessers looked leading the line for Rangers.
Against Aberdeen, Dessers was given a score of 6.1 by SofaScore, a match in which he missed two “big chances”, won just three of 12 duels and lost possession on seven occasions.
He was described by Daily Record (2 October) journalist Keith Jackson as “hapless” and a “poster boy for a recruitment drive gone horribly wrong”.
A harsh assessment it may seem but undeniably it appears a pretty fair one. Dessers did little to improve his standing with another horror show performance against Limassol.
He scored a little higher on SocaScore this time, a 6.3, but incredibly failed to register a single shot of any time at goal during the fixture. He won only three of 10 duels and gave the ball away 12 times.
Rangers forked out a reported £4.5million to sign Dessers from Cremonese in July (Daily Mail) but he has just one Scottish Premiership goal to his name, averaging 1.2 shots on target per match, and missing six ‘big chances’.
It is a move that just simply has not worked out. A change of manager might bring out an upturn in form, but in reality Rangers should already be thinking about cutting their losses and moving Dessers on in January.
In other Rangers news, an update has emerged on the final managerial shortlist at Ibrox amid Frank Lampard rumours.