Playing Umar Sadiq against Aberdeen may now be dead in the water after Sunday’s win at Hamilton.
We stated in the past that we felt Sadiq had to start against Accies to have any chance of featuring against the Dons. The Nigerian forward has been a massive failure so far during his loan stint from Roma.
In fairness, he did make the match-day squad, but he was an unused substitute in the 4-1 win at Hamilton. Yet, there was a moment in the match that really showed Steven Gerrard’s lack of faith in the front-man.
When Steven Boyd rattled home an equaliser to make it 1-1, Rangers’ chances of success were on a knife-edge. They needed a goal desperately and had a couple of subs available in order to find it.
Sadiq, you had to imagine, was the obvious choice given that he was the only available striker not playing. Instead, however, Gerrard turned to Eros Grezda and latterly Ross McCrorie to come on and make an impact. Whilst neither did much, it remains a bitter blow for Sadiq, and proves the lack of faith Gerrard has in him.
If a manager isn’t willing to turn to a striker when in desperate need of a goal, it says a lot about his feelings on that striker. Morelos stayed on the park and won two penalties before scoring the fourth goal.
Needed the chance
With both Morelos and Kyle Lafferty suspended for Sunday’s game against Aberdeen at Hampden, Sadiq could’ve done with that chance at Hamilton. A goal or a positive cameo could’ve set himself up nicely for the trip to Hampden. Instead, however, he’s still nowhere near the first-team as midfielders continue to get brought on ahead of him when in search for a goal.
There’s now little to no chance that Sadiq gets picked for Sunday. Aberdeen remain one of the toughest sides in the division, and Sadiq’s failure to even make consistent appearances this season will see him benched or worse for the Betfred Cup semi-final clash.
So far, Sadiq has made just three competitive appearances for Rangers. All of them, however, have come from the bench. Despite the odd impressive performance for the under-20s, the Nigerian is struggling to see any minutes.
Gerrard has made some scathing analytical views of his front-man in the past. The Gers manager claimed recently that Sadiq has to improve on “everything” if he’s to be in contention.
It appears, even a week before the game, that he’s failed to do that.
