Derek Ferguson was not pleased by something he saw from Rangers striker Youssef Chermiti, even though he bagged a hat-trick against Hearts.
Rangers beat Hearts 4-2 on Sunday at Ibrox to ensure that the latter’s lead at the top of the table was cut to just two points.
Despite his struggles against Motherwell, Danny Rohl opted to start Chermiti, and that proved to be a decision that paid off.
Ryan Naderi also started alongside him, but he may not be available to take on Livingston this weekend.
Derek Ferguson not impressed with Youssef Chermiti faking an injury
Before a free kick in the game against Hearts, the Portuguese striker was on the floor, potentially buying time for his team and disrupting the opposition’s rhythm.
However, that was not seen too kindly by Ferguson, who thought of it as him faking an injury.
He has urged the striker to get up and grab the game by the scruff of its neck rather than get involved in the play-acting side of things.
Ferguson also did not like the lack of aggression in the Motherwell game, where Chermiti missed a few decent chances.
The former Gers midfielder told Open Goal: “He’s only 21, so we will see the peak and the troughs, but we can only go by what we’ve seen, and that’s what we were commenting on last week.
“The free kick one where he’s faking a wee bit injury. Get yourself up.
“I didn’t see that aggressiveness in him [vs Motherwell], and when you go to places like that and if you’re going to win titles, you need to go and fight your corner at times.”
Chermiti has been an enigma for Rangers
While Ferguson does make some sense, he himself stated that Chermiti is only 21, and it is a big responsibility to lead the line for Rangers.
The striker has been enigmatic, surely, but this is his first campaign at Ibrox, and he’s also living up to a heavy price tag.
The least ex-pros, especially those who have played for the club, can do is to support him and give him the backing that he needs.
At the end of the season, if he does end up with 10-15 league goals and the Gers have won the title, nobody will be mentioning any of his big misses, but will instead look at him as one of the driving forces.
