Barry Ferguson knows that enigmatic Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers has the power to frustrate and mesmerise in equal measure.
Dessers is the talk of Rangers fans after scoring a late winner against Dundee on his 100th appearance for the club, capping a quite remarkable 4-3 comeback win at Dens Park.
Dessers might’ve grabbed the headlines for his heroics in the City of Discovery, but had the striker not latched onto James Tavernier’s through ball, the reaction would’ve been starkly different.
Cyriel Dessers spurned a host of chances, having 12 shots in a match which for many sums up the striker’s profligate nature.
But Barry Ferguson insists that whilst fans might grumble, Dessers never shies away from his responsibilities and keeps coming back for more, time and again.
Barry Ferguson responds to Cyriel Dessers criticism
Interim Rangers manager Ferguson has praised Dessers for the striker’s attitude ever since the ex-Rangers captain and his team came in through the door at Ibrox.
Ferguson insists that Dessers is a hard-worker and keen learner who doesn’t let heavy scrutiny weigh him down and continues to prove people wrong.
It’s this attitude which is central to the Dessers conundrum, with Ferguson also reckoning some are ignoring the role Trevor Carson played in thwarting the Ibrox hitman.
”You have to give the goalkeeper credit, he made some really good saves,” Ferguson told the press at full-time.
”But one thing about the big man, he has been a joy to work with, and he is a brilliant worker, a brilliant listener. He wants to improve even at his age.
“He puts himself in brilliant positions, he can get frustrated and start feeling sorry for himself, but he keeps going. He got his reward with the winner.
“Even before I took the job I always said the big guy would keep going. If he got criticism from fans and the media the big man just rolls his sleeves up. I didn’t think it would affect him and it never affected him. He kept going. If you have that type of character then you get your rewards in the end.”
Rangers target potential Cyriel Dessers replacement
The glowing commendation of Cyriel Dessers comes at a time when Rangers are reportedly targeting a potential replacement.
The January window saw Dessers linked with a Rangers exit and clubs from across Europe and the Middle East reportedly interested in his services.
Dessers has ‘unfinished business’ at Rangers however and is certainly not in any rush to leave the club after two years in Glasgow which haven’t always gone to plan.
Now on 23 goals for the season, Dessers is Rangers’ top scorer and Kris Boyd has criticised two Rangers players for not stepping up to shoulder the burden of goalscoring responsibility.
But ahead of the summer we expect yet more speculation around the striker, who at 30-years-old is one of the more experienced players in the squad.
Rangers have been linked to Dor Turgeman, a 21-year-old Israeli striker in the Cyriel Dessers mould who is turning up trees at Maccabi Tel Aviv.
But Dessers’ late heroics against Dundee prove that whilst it doesn’t always come off for the current Rangers number nine, he can still make a difference when it matters.
