Rangers: 40-goal Lawrence Shankland claim made after Cyriel Dessers issue haunts Ibrox
Cyriel Dessers is not “the answer” for Rangers because he doesn’t score enough of his chances and Lawrence Shankland could net 40 in this side, says Tam McManus.
The pundit said on PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show (4 March), after the 2-1 home defeat to Motherwell, that the Light Blues’ number nine failing to convert first-half opportunities came back to haunt them.
Dessers has scored 16 times in his debut season so far at Ibrox having struggled initially after his summer move.
Neil Lennon asked (12m 55s): “Does the lack of a consistent goalscorer for Rangers per se make the difference in a game like that?”
McManus answered: “Yeah I think so. Dessers has obviously scored a number of goals this season but it looks as if he needs three, four, five chances a game. He’s getting that at the minute because Rangers are creating a lot of chances.
“But a Kris Boyd type, a Lawrence Shankland, I think they’d have 30 or 40 goals for Rangers, the amount of chances he misses. It came back to haunt them at the weekend because although Motherwell took the lead Rangers created four, five, six good chances in the first half at 1-0 down.
“I don’t think Dessers is the answer. He’s scoring goals but he should be scoring more goals.”
Lawrence Shankland the missing piece at Rangers?
The Hearts captain may have done the Light Blues a favour even though the much-anticipated January move never happened by scoring in the defeat of Celtic at the weekend but the fact that he remains at Tynecastle may be more telling in the title race.
His continued form in front of goal this season (27 and counting) makes it easy to assume that he would be a success at Ibrox.
Philippe Clement opted to direct big money towards Mohamed Diomande in the winter window instead, and the Ivorian has already shown why with two key goals and a strong start to life in Glasgow.
Dessers has improved a great deal since his early-season difficulties under Michael Beale, and his goals may yet be enough to win a league title but those he doesn’t score could also prevent it.
Top quality strikers such as Andy Cole and Gonzalo Higuain had similar reputations for misses even as they racked up big scoring totals, and the Nigerian looks to have the same habit.
Boyd himself has highlighted the fact that Shankland would follow in his own footsteps better than the current Gers number nine, and any time Clement’s side fail to win between now and the summer it will likely come to the fore while potentially increasing the chances that a move for the Scot is subsequently made.
In other Rangers news, an Ibrox-linked teenage sensation has been labelled a “huge talent” after transfer speculation started up.
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