Glasgow Rangers continued their dismal campaign when they were beaten 2-0 by Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership last weekend, failing to shorten the gap to their rivals at the top of the table.
The Scottish giants, excluding penalties, have lost in normal time in five of their last ten matches in all competitions, and have now lost seven times in the league.
Barry Ferguson replaced Philippe Clement earlier this year to become the interim head coach until the end of the season, and results like this are not doing his chances of landing the job permanently any favours.
The Scottish boss has lost two of his five Premiership matches in charge and the team have conceded a staggering 11 goals in those five matches.
Defending has not been the only issue for the Light Blues in recent weeks, or over the course of the campaign, though, as they missing chances has also been a problem, with centre-forward Cyriel Dessers being a serial offender in front of goal.
Why Cyriel Dessers has cost Rangers this season
The Nigeria international joined the club from Cremonese in the summer of 2023, signed by Michael Beale, and has failed to offer consistency in his finishing in front of goal over the past two seasons.
Dessers missed a whopping 29 ‘big chances’ on his way to 18 goals in the Premiership and the Europa League last term, and he has missed 26 ‘big chances’ in those two competitions so far this season.
Minutes
90
90
88
Shots
1
12
4
Shots on target
0
9
1
Big chances missed
0
5
2
Goals
0
1
0
Duels won
1/11
4/8
3/8
As you can see in the table above, the experienced forward has been particularly wasteful with the chances that have come his way in the last few matches, scoring one goal and missing seven ‘big chances’ from 17 shots on goal.
Dessers missed two huge opportunities to find the back of the net in the 2-0 defeat to Hibernian, which could have changed the game to either put Rangers ahead to pull it back to 2-2 to set the team up to find a winner late on.
His missed chances mean that the Gers often fail to capitalise on the pressure they put on opposition defences, which then provides them with more opportunities to go up the other end and score – as Hibs did last weekend.
That is why Dessers’ wasteful finishing, which has been a theme throughout his Ibrox career, has cost the Light Blues this season, and why the club must address that position in the upcoming summer transfer window.
The Scottish giants, however, once let go of a young prospect who has since developed into being an upgrade on the Nigerian forward in the present-day – Ryan Hardie.
Why Rangers sold Ryan Hardie
The centre-forward came up through the academy system in Glasgow and first broke into the senior side when Rangers were in the Championship in the 2014/15 campaign, scoring two goals in five league matches.
Hardie went on loan to Raith Rovers in the following season and scored an eye-catching six goals in ten Championship games, before spending time at St Mirren and Raith Rovers on loan in the second tier in the 2016/17 season – scoring nine goals in 34 matches.
His impressive form as a young striker out on loan led to him being a part of Steven Gerrard’s first-team squad in the first half of the 2017/18 campaign, playing seven Premiership matches but only being on the pitch for 55 minutes.
His lack of minutes on the pitch led to him spending the following 18 months on loan at Livingston, a season of which was in the Premiership. He scored seven goals in 21 Premiership matches for the relegation-threatened side in the 2018/19 campaign.
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However, Hardie’s form on loan at Livingston was not enough to convince Gerrard that he had a long-term future at Ibrox under him, which led to a permanent move to Blackpool in England for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2019.
This meant that the Scottish attacker moved on from Glasgow after a return of two goals in 17 first-team matches for the club, spread across multiple seasons and leagues, but the Gers may, now, look back on him as one that got away from them.
Why Ryan Hardie is an upgrade on Cyriel Dessers
Hardie, who scored a winning goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup earlier this season, currently plays for Plymouth Argyle, who he signed for six months after joining Blackpool.
In his time with the English side, the former Rangers academy graduate has scored 72 goals and provided 23 assists in 243 matches in all competitions, helping the club to go from League Two to the Championship.
His Transfermarkt value has soared from £214k at the time of his Gers exit in 2019 to £1.5m at the time of writing, an increase of 601% – showing that the Scottish giants did not get maximum value out of him.
Since Plymouth were promoted to the second tier in England, Hardie has provided a reliable presence in front of goal to give his team a fighting chance of staying up, most recently scoring a brace in a 2-1 win over Norwich City last weekend.
The 28-year-old marksman, who was dubbed “incredible” by former boss Ian Foster, has been delivering quality for a team challenging at the bottom of their respective league, whilst Dessers has been less-than-impressive in front of goal for a team that should be challenging for titles.
Starts
55
46
Goals
20
28
Big chances missed
22
44
Shots per game
1.9
2.5
Shots
142
167
Big chances created
7
10
Assists
7
6
As you can see in the table above, Dessers has missed twice as many ‘big chances’ as Hardie, despite starting fewer matches, but only scored eight more goals.
These statistics suggest that the Scottish striker would currently have more goals than the Nigerian forward if he had been presented with the consistent stream of huge openings that Dessers has had in the Premiership over the past two seasons.
Hardie has proven his worth with Plymouth in the Championship, becoming a regular scorer in the English second tier, and has done so in a team that has not created many ‘big chances’ for him – compared to the amount Rangers create for their forward.
Therefore, the former Gers gem could have been an upgrade on Dessers if he had stayed at the club because of his ability to find the back of the net at an impressive rate without missing as many ‘big chances’ as the Beale signing, who is consistently letting his side down.
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