Michael Stewart cannot believe ‘Criminal’ Jefte footage in Rangers loss v Motherwell
Michael Stewart could not believe his eyes as footage of Jefte emerged as Rangers crashed to a 2-1 defeat against Motherwell on Saturday.
Barry Ferguson lost his first game at Ibrox, with Luke Armstrong and Thomas Sparrow scoring within half-an-hour to hand the Steelmen all three points.
Cyriel Dessers scored a consolation goal in the second half, but it was the Brazilian defender who caught the eye for all the wrong reasons, yet again.
Jefte embarrasses himself for Rangers
Jefte was the subject of shock links to Chelsea in recent weeks, but his defending to allow Sparrow clean through on goal was nowhere near Premier League level.
Speaking on BBC Sportscene on 1 March as footage emerged, the outspoken pundit could not believe what he was watching from the defender.
“What Jefte is doing, I have got no idea,” Stewart said.
“He’s actually tucking in and making that ball to Sparrow even easier, you see it here when he’s got the ball, if you don’t recognise this before, he turns and twists and looks in all sorts of the wrong directions, Jefte.
“We’ve seen this a number of times this season, where defensively, he doesn’t have any instinct, that is just criminal.”
Barry Ferguson raging at Ibrox
Given his success at Ibrox throughout his playing career, Ferguson cannot probably believe his eyes at some of the players currently playing for Rangers.
Going through the squad, you could probably pick out at least 50 per cent of them that are nowhere near good enough to wear that famous blue shirt.
Jefte is one of those, and if Chelsea or anyone else came knocking with decent money, most fans would drive him out of Glasgow immediately.
The defending and positional sense of the left-back is nothing short of shocking and this isn’t the first time it has been easily exposed this season.
| Jefte 2024/25 | Played | Goals | Assists |
| 25 (1) | 0 | 2 |
Looking at those attacking stats, he has been no help in the final third either, leaving many scratching their heads as to why he is still being picked.
Ridvan Yilmaz is fit and available, yet is being forced to play at right-back or from the bench, rarely starting in his favoured position.
With transfer links refusing to go away from Turkey, he will need to be trusted quickly or Rangers will be left with Jefte as their only option on the left.
The Brazilian is not good enough, it’s time to be brutal this summer already.