No one could accuse Barry Ferguson of shying away from the big decisions since returning to Rangers as interim boss a couple of weeks back.
The Ibrox legend promised to raise standards again, and it was telling that both Clinton Nsiala and Robin Propper were hauled off in successive matches before the second-half even begun in his first two games in charge.
Nsiala lasted only 31 minutes at Kilmarnock. Propper, meanwhile, was one of three half-time substitutions made by Barry Ferguson as Motherwell triumphed at Ibrox.
Then, as Ferguson went tactics board to tactics board with the legendary Jose Mourinho and emerged victorious, the former Clyde and Kelty Hearts boss got the desired effect from his new-look 3-4-2-1 system with Connor Barron recalled and Hamza Igamane dropped to the bench.
At this stage, it would be difficult to argue with any of the decision Ferguson has made in the Rangers dugout, no matter how brutal they may have appeared at the time.
The Nigeria supporters are less understanding, however, when it comes to Cyriel Dessers’ omission from the national team squad ahead of the March international break.
Cyriel Dessers left out as Nigeria fans back in-form Rangers striker
Exactly one year since his last Nigeria outing – and his last Nigeria goal – the expectation was that Dessers would be back in the squad.
Not so, as it turned out.
Eric Chelle will take charge of the Super Eagles for the very first time against Rwanda and Zimbabwe in this month’s World Cup qualifiers. And, like Ferguson at Rangers, the new man at the helm is clearly not afraid to ruffle some feathers.
Chelle inherits a talented yet underachieving Nigeria outfit sitting fifth in a six-team qualification group. On paper, a frontline containing the likes of Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, Bayer Leverkusen’s Nathan Telle and Victor Boniface, Victor Osimhen of Galatasaray and Umar Sadiq – the Rangers flop is back in form at Valencia – is up there with the best in all of African football.
Yet, Chelle’s omission of a centre-forward just one shy of 30 goal contributions for the season ensures the Ivory Coast-born tactician is already facing some questions ahead of his Nigeria debut.
Dessers omission ‘an injustice’ ahead of crucial World Cup qualifiers
‘I feel so bad for Cyriel Dessers,’ one Super Eagles supporter writes on X. ‘Sad’.
‘The NFF [Nigerian Football Federation] hasn’t been fair to Dessers’, another agrees, with Club Brugge enforcer Raphael Onyeka another surprise omission on the back of his excellent Champions League display against Aston Villa a week prior.
‘Cyril Dessers and Frank Onyeka not being called up is a criminal offence,’ one fan argues.
‘I would pick Dessers over Umar Sadiq for sure!’
‘Why was Cyril Dessers ignored?’
‘Dessers deserves to be invited. Not having him is like an injustice.’
‘What do they really want Cyril Dessers to do to get into the Super Eagles squad? Man has done everything humanly possible, yet still can get into a 23-man squad.’
On the other hand, Dessers’ striking rival Hamza Igamane is expected to be in Morocco’s senior squad for the first time this month. Nico Raskin has done his Belgium hopes no harm. John Souttar and Liam Kelly, meanwhile, were confirmed in Steve Clarke’s Scotland selection on Tuesday.
Yet, while they often say that the manager knows best, a poor start to Chelle’s Nigeria reign as Cyriel Dessers watches on from afar may have an already sceptical fanbase wondering if that really is the case after all.
