As Rangers toiled in the second half of the potentially season-defining 0-0 draw with Aberdeen at Ibrox, the club’s backroom staff looked to Liverpool loanee Sheyi Ojo.
With Rangers in dire need of some spark, authority and creativity, Steven Gerrard saw fit to bring on a player who has lacked all of the above since probably about September.
Ojo is clearly struggling for confidence but more than that, the winger lacked drive and commitment in what was a particularly woeful 20-minute cameo amongst his growing backlog of them.
If someone was to make a “highlight” reel of Ojo’s brief appearance on the Ibrox turf, it would do absolutely nothing to challenge the growing ire being directed at the winger.
He lacked the guile to go past players, with the club desperate for something from the right he also struggled to find anyone with a pass or cross.
At one point, after losing the ball on the cusp of the Aberdeen box, Ojo went down feigning injury such was his embarrassment.
This was with Rangers in dire need of an opening goal with the clock ticking down.
Let’s not talk about him passing it out for an Aberdeen goal kick either.
There’s no need to make the Liverpool loanee a scapegoat – he wasn’t the only player not at the races and hiding out on the pitch.
The only players who just about get pass marks are Allan McGregor and Borna Barisic, who was still short of his usual best.
But questions also need to be asked of Steven Gerrard’s insistence in bringing Ojo on to change games when, to date, he hasn’t come off the bench to change any.
With the fans desperate for a goal at Ibrox, his uninterested and timid cameo seemed to have the opposite of the desired effect. At least Scott Arfield was trying before he was replaced for 22-year-old.
The club’s supporters reacted to the winger’s poor performance on Twitter after the disappointing result:
https://twitter.com/PeterMu23361779/status/1223662159344869376
https://twitter.com/cw1873/status/1223657832605720576
https://twitter.com/ADunn1872/status/1223660310395072513
https://twitter.com/Giezpeace/status/1223663269707231234
https://twitter.com/S_Rodgers10/status/1223658633717846018
https://twitter.com/MBS1872/status/1223651554919620608
