Statistics can be manipulated to support almost any argument, but there is no doubting that Philippe Clement’s job has been made easier for him at Rangers in recent weeks.
A squad that was struggling to score goals and find any fluidity in attack, is now one that looks like the Ibrox faithful can trust and get behind, despite the painfully slow start to the season.
The manager might need to do a bit more work to regain trust, however, the impact of Hamza Igamane in a Rangers shirt has given him something to cheer about.
Hamza Igamane statistics back up Rangers start claims
Cyriel Dessers’ 15 goal contributions from open play in 23 games is impressive on paper, but his numbers don’t tell anywhere near the full story.
His last start for Rangers saw him touch the ball just eight times against Dundee United before being hooked at half-time with Igamane showing his more experienced teammate how it should be done.
Against Ross County, the young Moroccan, 22, touched the ball 60 times, made three key passes, had a 75% dribble success rate, won 5/9 duels and 2/4 aerial duels on top of his three shots and his fine opening goal.
That, is how a Rangers forward should play.
He might be inexperienced, but what performances can Dessers point to against better opposition to stake his claim to start against either Spurs or Celtic this week?
Both games will have a large amount of Rangers fans at them so there shouldn’t be an issue there for Igamane, that he made his debut at Parkhead and looked like he was out for a kick-about with his mates should have been the only clue that was needed to show that Clement had a talent on his hands.
| Cyriel Dessers | Danilo | Hamza Igamane | |
| Appearances | 23 | 7 | 14 |
| Minutes (Total) | 1544 | 240 | 474 |
| Goals | 12 | 2 | 4 |
| Assists | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Goals/Assists per minute | 102 | 80 | 94.8 |
What word does Clement not want to use for Igamane?
It isn’t just his four goals and an assist in four games that make him undroppable, it is how he has played.
Clement might not like it, but there is only one word to describe him, as told in his post match press conference – talisman:
“I don’t like the word talisman because it means if he’s not playing we cannot win games, said the Gers boss of Igamane’s impact.
“We don’t want to create a team like that because then it becomes easier for opponents.
“We need this competition and you see everybody’s pushing each other in that way.
“Hamza scored goals now in the last weeks, Danny scored goals, Cyriel scored goals, and that’s what you need to be a top team playing every three days in four competitions.”
