Rangers boss Philippe Clement has admitted that he has seen Cyriel Dessers play much better than he has at Ibrox.
Rangers have another new manager with Philippe Clement getting down to work in Glasgow.
Clement arrived as Michael Beale’s replacement on Sunday, agreeing a deal until the summer of 2027.
Rangers will hopefully be committed to Clement for a while after the relatively brief reigns of Beale and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Clement has a decent track record with Genk and Club Brugge, whilst he did a decent job at Monaco before his axe in the summer.
Philippe Clement comments on Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers
Clement now inherits a Rangers squad which was looked pretty disjointed in the opening weeks of the season.
Summer signings haven’t impressed and nobody sums that up more than striker Cyriel Dessers.
The Nigerian international arrived from Cremonese in a hefty summer deal worth up to €6.5million (£5.6million).
Rangers needed an instant impact from the 28-year-old but he has looked completely shot of confidence in a Gers shirt.
Dessers has managed only one goal in seven league games for Rangers and three goals across 15 games in all competitions.
A Belgian-born forward, Dessers may hope that Clement can now help get the best out of him – but he won’t get preferential treatment.
Clement told a press conference this afternoon that he thinks Dessers was better at Feyenoord than he has been at Rangers – and better than he was in Belgium.
Clement added that Dessers won’t receive more coaching attention or focus just because he was born in Belgium, but clearly believes that he can offer much more to Rangers.
“I’ve seen Cyriel doing a better job in Holland than he did in Belgium also. I’ve seen him play much better in Feyenoord than he did until now here,” said Clement. “He’s somebody to work with but there is no difference, to be clear about that, because he’s a Belgian guy, that he gets more attention or I put more effort in him, or my staff, because it’s not only me.”
“All the players are at the same level in that way; if you’re Belgian or Scottish or British or whatever, or if you’re 32 or 18, we will put effort in everybody, that’s really important. Then we will see the guys who are in the best shape at that moment. We have a lot of games, so it’s impossible to play with the same 11 players all the time, so we need a big squad where everyone is really ready to perform.
How did Dessers fare in Belgium?
Dessers hails from Tongeren in Belgium and spent time in the youth ranks at Sint-Truiden.
The burly striker emerged with OH Leuven but played just twice before a spell with Lokeren, where he scored seven times in 29 games.
Dessers’ best football came in the Netherlands before returning to Belgium with Genk back in 2020.
The move really didn’t work out as Dessers scored just 11 goals in 43 games, meaning he never really impressed in Belgian football.
Now struggling in Scotland too, Dessers will hope to kick on under Clement and get back amongst the goals at Ibrox.
