Kyle Lafferty’s start at Ibrox has been nowhere near what anybody would’ve imagined.
There was much controversy surrounding the former Hearts star’s return to Glasgow. His acrimonious departure when Rangers went into liquidation led to a lot of anger directed towards Lafferty.
It was down to the big Northern Irishman to start performing and getting those fans onside once more. To be frank, he’s failed to do that so far this season.
He’s now made 10 appearances for the club since leaving from Hearts in a big move in the summer. He was to help take the burden off of Alfredo Morelos in the final third. To say he hasn’t done that would be a huge understatement.
So far the big striker has netted just four goals in those 10 appearances. Two of them came in his debut Premiership match against Motherwell. Since then, he’s netted just one domestic goal against St Johnstone.
There was huge controversy surrounding the Gers star after the latest international break. Lafferty refused to join up with the squad at the last minute because of injury. It caused a ridiculous saga that saw the Northern Irish FA block him from playing against Hamilton two weeks ago.
Stop-start
Since he’s arrived at Ibrox, to be fair to him, it’s been a stop-start time for him. If it’s not been injuries holding him back, it’s been the form of Morelos.
But Lafferty cannot take that for granted and think his job is just to play back-up. He has to step up and start releasing some of burden off of the 13-goal man.
With Umar Sadiq having failed to take his big chance and Andy Dallas still not getting his chance, Lafferty is the man Steven Gerrard will want to step up.
It’s important to recognise that it’s only been a start for the Northern Irishman. He’ll have plenty of time to get his form back and start making an impact before he’s written off.
He arrived already on the back foot with elements of the supporters, however. It was important he kicked on early and had them behind his back as opposed to on it.
So far, however, his goal:game ratio has been supremely disappointing. Gerrard is likely to give him more chances in the future, and it’s down to the big forward to start taking them.
