You know you’re on the right track when even Rangers player Chris Sutton is praising you.
Although Cyriel Dessers has come a long way since Philippe Clement took over as manager at Ibrox after Mick Beale retired, the striker’s
misfiring display during Saturday’s disastrous 3-2 loss at Ross County raised more concerns than it did answers.
Okay, Dessers isn’t exactly a killer either, even though he’s definitely not the “dud” he seemed to be at the beginning of the season, to use
Sutton’s words. The £4.5 million summer acquisition from Cremonese dealt a potentially devastating blow to Rangers’ title chances at
Dingwall, where he could have and perhaps should have scored a hat-trick.
The inability of Rangers to sign a striker in the January transfer window has received a lot of attention; Clement wanted one, but Fabio
Silva was the closest he could find. One can’t help but wonder how things might have gone differently for the Glasgow giants this weekend
if Lawrence Shankland had been starting in place of Dessers.
Did Rangers miss a trick not signing Lawrence Shankland
About a day ago, Hearts defeated Livingston 4-2 with the Scotland international scoring one and setting up two more. Dessers has scored
17 goals this season, while Shankland has now scored 28.
Shankland’s abilities were observed up close at Tynecastle by Livi boss David Martindale, who is confident that the Hearts captain would
have been an enormous success on Glasgow’s blue side.
According to Martindale, “I think he would be unbelievable for them,” as reported by the Daily Record. “However, some of the sporting
directors have extensive knowledge of other nations, while we have in-depth knowledge of Scottish football.”
Martindale wonders if Rangers – rather than bringing in Dessers, Danilo and Sam Lammers, three players who made their name in the
Netherlands – would have been better served looking closer to home for new additions.
The success of Celtic under Ange Postecoglou – Japanese imports Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi both scoring in the 3-0 thrashing of St
Mirren – is something their cross-city rivals are yet to replicate.
“Observe Ange Postecoglou, who brought in a lot of players from the J League since he had experience in that market. Due to their
knowledge of what works and what doesn’t there, Australian guys have helped Hearts recently achieve success, says Martindale.
“I believe Shankland could score thirty goals a season for Rangers or Celtic, but it really depends on their preferred style of play.” The
management must desire him first and foremost, yet they can have different priorities. Football is evolving.
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