Rangers should have signed Lawrence Shankland to solve Ibrox problem
Rangers should have signed Lawrence Shankland in the summer to solve the club’s forward problems, according to Tom English.
Speaking on the Scottish Football Podcast on Wednesday (13 December), the BBC Scotland chief sports writer questioned whether the Gers can rely on Cyriel Dessers and Kemar Roofe.
That is why he believes the Light Blues should have signed the 28-year-old Hearts captain in the summer after none of their forwards have found any real form of note so far this season.
“Danilo looks to me like a good player, but he’s a work in progress,” said English. “It might be a long work in progress. He’s only scored four league goals, so that is not prolific. He’s got other goals, but he’s not prolific.
“Cyriel Dessers has got five in the league, so he’s ahead of Danilo, even though a lot of people would say Danilo is much better, and he probably is. Abdallah Sima is the one. They could put him through the middle, but then you take him away from his best position where he’s been very, very effective.
“There’s Kemar Roofe. But can you rely on him? What’s his state of fitness at the moment? He started four league games in a season-and-a-half. I think it’s 13 league games in two-and-a-half seasons. For me, Roofe is the best of them if they’re all fit, but you’d need a full report from the medics to confirm that he’s fit.
“It is a problem and that’s why they should have gone and got Lawrence Shankland in the summer. There you go.”
Knows the league
It’s all well and good Rangers trying to bring players in from across Europe in search of bargain deals, but Shankland was a signing that was staring them in the face.
Sometimes you need to sign players who know what the division is all about and the forward certainly fits into that category after scoring 40 goals in 70 appearances for Hearts.
The Gers spent £4.5million to bring in the 29-year-old Cyriel Dessers, who is actually a year older than the Scotland international.
It doesn’t feel like Shankland is the kind of signing the Blues are likely to make anymore after chairman John Bennett recently made it clear that the club are now looking to bring in younger players who they could sell on for a profit in the future.
The forward position is still an area they potentially need to strengthen, though, after it has been revealed that Danilo is now set to face several months out through injury.
In other Rangers news, Clement has been left baffled by an SFA decision as an Ibrox fine is to be paid within days.