It’s hard to remember any player come into Rangers to the barrage of criticism that Cyriel Dessers faced up to.
The Belgian-born Nigerian striker had it tough from the off at Rangers as Michael Beale’s summer rebuild failed to get off to a flying start.
Cyriel Dessers wasn’t faultless in the entire thing.
When you join Rangers for close to £5m, as Dessers did from Cremonese, then you need to start producing immediately.
But as the Rangers team toiled and Dessers fluffed his lines in front of goal, criticism of the striker alongside fellow signing Sam Lammers intensified.
Now, the big hitman has hit back at the ‘abuse’ he suffered at the hands of Rangers fans with Dessers insisting that he was always going to show his best after he settled.
Dessers calls out Rangers ‘abuse’
Speaking to Sky Sports, Cyriel Dessers has explained his start to life at Rangers was fraught with challenges.
“The start was not easy,” said Dessers. “Not only for me, I think for the whole team, the whole club probably.
“I’ve been through a really hard period in that time personally.
“You arrive here and the amount of, I think that’s the right word, abuse, sometimes still is abuse, is unbelievable.
“But I always said it, let me settle down, let me move in, let me get used to this league, let me get used to this country, let me get used to this country, let me get everything in my head straight, then I will show that I think that I can be a good striker for Rangers.
“These first months until this manager came I think I scored three goals. Since he’s here I think I’ve scored 18 plus five assists.
“I think those stats a little bit, they tell my story.
“I think overall it hasn’t been a bad season personally for me but I don’t really care too much about personal accolades, I just want trophies and team victories.
“That’s what I work for every day.”
Rangers striker starts to win over fans
It’s fair to say that with his 22 goals this season Cyriel Dessers has won over a large chunk of the Rangers support.
With fellow strikers Kemar Roofe and Danilo both injured for the bulk of the season, the big man has also had to bear the brunt of the club’s goalscoring responsibilities.
It’s been a tough campaign for everyone at Rangers but let’s hope Cyriel Dessers can learn from it and grow into the next season.
Rangers isn’t for everyone, and whilst we’re not condoning unacceptable abuse, to play here you have to have thick skin and it’s part and parcel of why the club has been successful in the past.
The question is, is Cyriel Dessers the man to fire us to success in the future?
The striker’s performance in the upcoming Scottish Cup Final will go a long way to answering that question.
