George Overhill

Sun 29 October 2023 14:37, UK

Sam Lammers has made the Rangers starting XI for the third game out of three under Philippe Clement as the manager looks to have made a mistake with the summer signing ahead of kick off against Hearts on Sunday (29 October).

When the Belgian boss arrived to find somewhat of an injury crisis at Ibrox, and needed to see his new charges in action to decipher what he had at his disposal, it was probably fair enough to give the former Sampdoria man a shot.

But the Dutchman has done little more in two games under Clement so far than he did for the man who signed him in Michael Beale, so it feels like he needs a spell out of the side to regroup with others now available.

Todd Cantwell wasn’t ready to start the 4-0 win over Hibs last weekend but made the XI for the Sparta Prague trip and now for Hearts, while all of Jose Cifuentes, Kieran Dowell and Danilo are now back in the squad.

Scott Wright may be somewhat of an underwhelming figure for the Light Blues but the wide man was handed a start in Clement’s first game and also remains available.

So it seems like a missed opportunity to send a message to Lammers that his lack of impact isn’t cutting it yet at Ibrox to name him in the starting line up once more.

Part of the issue this term under Beale was a distinct lack of pace and width, so with Lammers offering little of either while largely seeing games bypass him since his arrival it would surely be better to have Cantwell at number 10 and Wright on the wing if the manager is going for the usual 4-2-3-1 formation.

Perhaps, as with Cyriel Dessers up front, Clement is hoping to boost Lammers’ confidence with a show of faith in him, but unlike the Nigerian international who has at least scored for the new boss already there doesn’t appear to have been much of a response yet.

Cue Lammers having the game of his life against the Jambos to prove this all wrong, but he hasn’t looked comfortable in a Rangers shirt at all yet this year despite featuring heavily, so with other options increasingly becoming available it feels like it is doing more harm than good to keep starting him.

Clement needs to ensure he builds up as much momentum in his early games as possible so anyone who isn’t producing a reaction to the managerial change would be better off taking a back seat, for now at least.

In other Rangers news, an official club partner has mooted serious questions after “concerning” news on a missing Light Blues ace.