Marvin Bartley has expertly exemplified why some Rangers stars deserve more stick than the amount Cyriel Dessers takes.
It’s clear the Nigerian striker isn’t universally loved at Rangers with many fans criticising his ability since signing for the Ibrox side last summer.
Despite his tendency to miss sitters and failure to hold up the ball effectively in games, Dessers scored 22 goals in all competitions last season and that cannot be sniffed at.
That prompted interest from several clubs at the start of this summer, namely PAOK and allegedly suitors in France, Italy, Spain and Saudi Arabia.
Speculation died down once the season kicked off, but Italian journalist Luca Bendoni surprisingly revealed on Tuesday evening that Dessers was in fact very close to leaving Rangers early in the summer.
He said Rangers and Atlanta United were close to agreeing a £4.6m deal for Dessers but the move collapsed because the striker simply wasn’t interested.
Bartley has been reacting to the transfer revelation on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard and thinks Dessers has now proved with the Atlanta rejection that he is fully committed to Rangers and fans should applaud him for that.
The Englishman then said that is in complete contrast to some Rangers stars currently at the club who are showing almost no will to fight for the cause of the club.
Bartley defends Dessers before Rangers jibe
Bartley said live on air: “He’s (Dessers) spoken about it many times how much he is enjoying it at Rangers Football Club. And you hear a lot of players, regardless of the team they’re playing for, saying how much they enjoy it until a bid comes in and they can get out of there.
“As I said, it would have been easy for him to say ‘that’s enough for me’, especially after what happened in the European game when we saw him shouting in the middle of the pitch and showing his frustration.
“But that is clearly frustration of a man who cares. He gets a hard time as centre-forwards do, there’s a lot of pressure put upon them. But he is obviously here for the long run and prove to people he can do it.
“I think he went a long way in doing that last season with the goals he scored and he wants to make an impact at the football club.
“So I think if you’re a fan of Rangers, you can only be delighted with what he has shown because there’s other players at that football club at this moment in time who show they have zero commitment to the cause.”
Todd Cantwell indirectly shamed
Bartley may not have named him but it’s clear he is referring to Todd Cantwell, the midfielder who has been bombed from the first-team after handing in a transfer request.
Cantwell was generally appreciated by Rangers fans for his creativity and passion for playing for the jersey. But clearly, it was all just a facade and Cantwell in fact doesn’t really care about giving his all in Govan.
Bartley was right to aim the subtle jibe at the likes of Cantwell after praising Dessers, who has come in for a lot of stick and will no doubt continue to this season.
But for what he has offered last season in terms of his goal output and at the beginning of this campaign, he should be heralded.
And the cherry on the icing on the cake is his loyalty to Rangers after rejecting a lucrative switch to the MLS.
