BBC Sportscene pundit offers ‘fantastic’ verdict on Abdallah Sima after goal for Rangers v St Mirren
BBC Sportscene pundit and former Scotland international Chris Iwulemo has heaped praise on Rangers forward Abdallah Sima after his recent goalscoring form.
The striker scored against St Mirren on 8 October to take his tally to seven for the season despite the up-and-down form of his team, with Iwulemo claiming he should be judged purely on his goal return.
Most of the summer signings at Ibrox have fallen short of expectations and come in for heavy criticism, including Sima, but the BBC pundit claims you cannot question his recent performances.
Speaking live on BBC Sportscene [8 October, 19:00], Iwulemo expressed his praise for the forward: “It’s not a bad return. As a striker, you’re going to be judged alone on the goals that you’re scoring.
“This [his goal v St Mirren] is a fantastic goal, it’s driven across, the ball’s bouncing, he makes a good connection just to make sure that he hits the target and [Zachary] Hemming doesn’t have any chance at his near post.
“He’s been brought in to score goals. It’s a massive club, there’s a lot of expectation there, and at the minute the players are underachieving, but you can’t really question Sima.”
Performances going unnoticed
Of the summer signings to arrive under Michael Beale, Jack Butland has been the only one to come in for any particular praise, with the below-par performances of the likes of Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers coming in for particular scrutiny, while Sima seems to have flown under the radar.
His pace and forward-thinking nature have been a standout, particularly in the Scottish League Cup clash with Livingston where he terrorised the defence, but his performance against St Mirren has shown what he can do yet again with a tidy finish into the bottom corner.
Ultimately, as Iwulemo says, forwards will be judged on their goalscoring, and with seven already this season despite the turbulent form of the club, you have to consider Sima one of the successful Ibrox arrivals.
The hope will be that his goals can help the team push on from here and that his stepping up will help his teammates improve too as they look to make amends for their poor early-season form.
In other Rangers news, a manager domino effect may have begun at Ibrox.