Cyriel Dessers branded 'embarrassing' v Motherwell as Rangers transfer exit mooted

Cyriel Dessers was branded "embarrassing" for his open-goal miss as Rangers played out a dreadful first half against Motherwell, by David Edgar.

The Heart & Hand Podcast host reacted via X on 3 November after the Gers striker skewed the rebound from a Mohamed Diomande shot wide with the goal gaping in stoppage time before the interval.

The Light Blues came back to win 2-1 with an improved second-half showing to lift a tiny bit of the pressure on manager Philippe Clement, with Dessers netting the equaliser in the 50th minute, but Edgar suggested the forward needs to be sold.

After the miss before the break he wrote: "Dessers is simply embarrassing... Been saying since summer he should go."

Philippe Clement struggles continue at Rangers

The first 45 minutes at Hampden were almost bad enough to get any manager fired, let alone one who came into the game under huge pressure already.

Dessers had two big chances and missed both of them, while Jefte's defending, or complete lack-thereof, allowed former Light Blues midfielder Andy Halliday to put Motherwell in front.

James Tavernier was having an all-round nightmare, while Tom Lawrence went off early with another injury, as issues spread throughout the side.

Dessers, to his credit, produced his one positive moment at a key time as he finished off a nice move involving Vaclav Cerny and Connor Barron after the break, but his afternoon otherwise was a bad one.

The Nigerian has been a regular target for criticism during his time at Ibrox, often as much for the failings if others as his own.

And again it was so hard to categorise him at the national stadium when his performance was largely terrible, yet he netted the crucial goal that dragged his side back into the tie.

But Danilo's burst to draw the entire Motherwell back line out of position for Nedim Bajrami's late, deflected winner, suggests the Brazilian might finally be back to full fitness, and if so it might mean a spell on the sidelines for Dessers.

The Light Blues were thought to be ready to sell the latter during the summer but widespread interest didn't materialise into suitable offers [Rangers Review, 3 July].

And had they let him go then they would have been forced to spend the opening weeks of the season without any available strikers, so despite his obvious weaknesses, he turned out to be key, just as he arguably did at Hampden.

In other Rangers news, an incredible Clement exit verdict has emerged from a senior Ibrox figure this season.

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