Umar Sadiq’s departure now has to be seen as inevitable.
The Nigerian forward has yet to score for Rangers in a competitive match for the club. Added to that, he hasn’t been seen in any of the four match-day squads since Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup semi-final.
It now says a lot that the likes of Dapo Mebude and Serge Atakayi have been making squads ahead of him. Steven Gerrard seems to have lost his trust in the lanky forward to make an impact in match-day squads.
This is a sore one to take for Sadiq, who will feel he did impress in the match against Aberdeen. The on-loan Roma man held the ball up well and brought others into play nicely. Where he let himself down, however, was THAT dive when through on goal.
It’s become a bit of a bad joke at this stage now. Whenever anyone thinks of Sadiq against Aberdeen, they instantly think of the dive. All of the hard work he put in before that goes unnoticed, and he only has himself to blame for that.
Time to head home?
Questions must now be asked about whether Sadiq should just be sent back to Roma. It’s unfair on the player to have to stay somewhere he isn’t wanted when he can go back to his parent club and sort out his future.
Sadiq will never displace Alfredo Morelos or Kyle Lafferty at this point. Too much fan anger is pointed towards him for the semi-final defeat to the Dons. That was his big chance, and he simply failed to take it.
It’s been a total disaster from the start with Sadiq. He’s now made just one start and appeared on only three occasions has he appeared from the bench. He wasn’t trusted at the best of times, and now it appears his time is up.
If Rangers are looking for a new striker in January, and it appears they are, then Sadiq’s time would appear up. It seems as though, however, that that time has already arrived.
