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By: Abiodun Adewale
Nigerian striker Cyriel Dessers has improved under coach Philippe Clement since arriving at Glasgow Rangers but still needs to get better with his finishing having stopped making “stupid runs” and “constantly being offside”, says former Rangers midfielder Derek Ferguson.
Dessers is Rangers’ second-highest goal scorer in the league this season with 16 goals, one behind captain James Tavernier.
Aside from the league, he has six more goals in other competitions, as well as eight assists across board – an impressive return which is a stark contrast of how he started life at Ibrox. In total, he has 22 goals and eight assists in 52 games.
After joining them for around €5m from Cremonese last summer, the 29-year-old didn’t hit the ground running as quickly as possible, scoring only two goals in his first 10 games.
Thanks to another goal in their 5-2 comeback win over Dundee United on Tuesday night, Ferguson believes the Nigerian has shown real quality as they chase the Scottish Premier League and the League Cup.
“Dessers is an interesting one because I hear people saying, ‘Oh he gives you 100 per cent, he gives it everything’. Well, he bloody well should because that’s your job as soon as you cross the white line, that’s a given,” the former Rangers man told Ibrox News.
“But he’s shown at moments that he has that quality, but at times you just don’t know what you’re going to get.
“He’s like Marmite, you love him then you hate him, you don’t know. But I think Dessers has got better under Clement, because earlier on in the season he was getting caught offside, making stupid runs.
“He’s starting to think about the game a wee bit better, but his finishing, of course, he needs to have that calm head in front of goal.”
With just one round of matches left in the league, Rangers seem to have lost the title race to Celtic, who lead them with three points and could possibly extend that with a win at Kilmarnock, but both teams will come up against each other in the Scottish Cup final May 25.