George Overhill

Sun 29 October 2023 21:10, UK

Michael Stewart repeatedly tore into struggling forward Sam Lammers during Rangers’ dramatic late comeback victory against Hearts at Ibrox.

Speaking live on BBC Sportsound on Sunday (29 October) the pundit questioned why the summer signing from Sampdoria continues to play for the Light Blues despite not doing much of anything for the club.

When Cyriel Dessers was replaced at half-time by Philippe Clement, then again when Todd Cantwell was taken off in the second half, Stewart was “astonished” that Lammers remained on the pitch after producing “next to nothing” before he was belatedly withdrawn.

Early in the second half Stewart said (4.11pm): “There’s a few out there who are fortunate they’ve not been hooked at half time as well.

“Sam Lammers has to start doing something in a Rangers jersey or you’ve got to say, ‘Why’s he continuing to play?'”

When Cantwell went off for Ross McCausland he said (4.40pm): “Cantwell’s not had one of his best games, I’ve got to be honest, but still you think to yourself, ‘Who’s most capable of making something happen? Is it going to be Cantwell or Lammers?’

“Cantwell can go quite comfortably and play that little bit more narrow as a 10, and McCausland’s obviously going to play in a wide area. I am astonished that Sam Lammers has stayed on the park there.”

When the Dutchman did finally go off Stewart said (4.46pm): “He’s clearly low on confidence. He’ll know himself that the supporters are not convinced by him so far.

“It’s not a case of asking for him to be taken off. You’re just looking at the game and thinking to yourself, from Rangers’ perspective, Philippe Clement has left him on the park until this stage and made a few substitutions before that.

“I’m just surprised by that because some of the guys who’ve come off were offering more in the game and had a better chance of actually getting something. Lammers has lasted a fair chunk of that game and done next to nothing.”

Out of the firing line

Stewart isn’t scared to be harsh about Rangers players but in this case he frankly has a point, because of all the underwhelming summer arrivals Lammers has probably been the most disappointing.

Dessers has probably got more criticism because he is more noticeable but he at least has been getting involved in the game to a greater degree.

There were actually a couple of early flashes of the quality that Lammers must have for Michael Beale to have spent a reported £3.5million on him [Daily Record, 15 June], with a few decent aerial passes and some nice touches.

But as Rangers toiled he shrunk and, as too often, the game was largely passing him by, which probably explains why he hasn’t been in focus as much because it is easy to overlook him.

There was no shortage of players underperforming against Hearts, as the home side reached the 90th minute a goal down, with even the likes of in-form Abdallah Sima failing to have an impact.

But Lammers’ prime contribution as his side were chasing the game was to skew a close-range shot over the bar to take the chance from a teammate behind him.

Beale, and now Clement, have shown faith in him but it hasn’t had the desired effect, so if he is going to come good in Glasgow it looks like he needs to be taken out of the limelight for a bit.

In other Rangers news, transfers may well be on the cards at Ibrox after Clement saw the scale of the task he has on his hands.