Philippe Clement must replace Sam Lammers with Tom Lawrence after dismal first half for Rangers vs Aris Limassol
Philippe Clement’s decision to start Sam Lammers backfired in the first half for Rangers and he surely has to replace him at the break.
The struggling Dutchman has offered next to nothing in attack as the Light Blues came in after 45 minutes behind at Ibrox.
The Belgian’s team selection raised a few eyebrows ahead of kick-off as he reacted to the 1-1 draw at Aberdeen to drop Tom Lawrence from the starting XI, in favour of Lammers rather than youngster Ross McCausland.
Following an average start to the game the home side went behind after being caught on the break through Shavy Babicka after 28 minutes as Todd Cantwell lost possession.
An obviously unimpressed Clement reacted by replacing the Englishman with McCausland before the half, to boos from the Ibrox stands.
But Lammers has been even more ineffective and surely has to be switched for Lawrence at the break, not least with the young winger now on out wide and the Light Blues badly needing to improve in attack.
According to stats from SofaScore Lammers is the worst performing Rangers player still on the pitch with a 6.1 rating, after failing to win a single duel on the ground from seven (0%), while losing possession 11 times, committing three fouls and not finding a target with one cross or long pass respectively.
His pass completion percentage is barely above half (57%), finding a teammate on only eight occasions, while he hasn’t registered an attempt on goal, largely because he missed his kick so badly with an early opportunity that the ball went backwards out of the box.
A similarly skewed effort just before the half went harmlessly wide, only for the former Atalanta man to be rescued by an offside flag, before he managed to pick up a booking in stoppage time to complete a miserable showing.
Clement appears to want to let the summer signing play himself into form this season, having given him plenty of game time since his arrival, but with a key 45 minutes ahead he has to rectify his mistake in starting him for a crucial night in the Europa League.
In other Rangers news, a former Celtic boss has slammed one “really, really horrendous” Light Blues ace for what he did recently.