If there has been one bright spark for Rangers during a traumatic couple of weeks, it’s been the form of Abdallah Sima. Piercing through the gloom like the north star on a cloudy October night, the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee has five goals in his last six games, including four in his last four. And, yet, there remains a nagging feeling that Abdallah Sima still has so much more to offer.
With that in mind, the potential (or perhaps ‘likely’) appointment of Philippe Clement as Rangers’ new head coach could be the key to unlocking that particular puzzle.
Sima needs only look at the often-dazzling performances he coaxed out of Emmanuel Dennis at Club Brugge – where the 49-year-old celebrated a pair of Belgian league titles – and the former Sparta Prague forward will be counting down the days until Clement is confirmed as Mick Beale’s replacement.
Abdallah Sima in excellent form for Rangers
Sima is, after all, perhaps the player in Rangers’ squad who most closely resembles Dennis; a right-footed forward arguably at his most effective out on the left, using his jinking footwork and fierce shooting to good effect when cutting in from the flank.
Their relationship may have sourced towards the end of their time together at Brugge but, during two seasons under Clement, Dennis scored 16 goals – three of those coming against Real Madrid and Manchester United – while being linked with a reported £23 million move to the likes of Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund.
Clement scored twice as Brugge claimed a famous draw at the Bernebeu. He then netted a stunning lob vs Man United a few months later.
“You never know in advance which players will explode,” Clement said of the now-Nottingham Forest forward, who would take the Premier League by storm during a brief spell at Watford after leaving Belgium (Het Nieuwsblad).
“Dennis is someone who is unpredictable, even for the opponent.”
Philippe Clement a leading candidate for Rangers job
Comments such as these could certainly be applied to Sima too. The Senegal international is ‘unpredictable’, certainly. Sometimes it seems as if even he doesn’t know what he’s about to do next, let alone his marker.
But if Clement can do with Sima like he did with Dennis and harness all that raw, unfiltered talent, then the most in-form member of the Rangers squad could soon be reddening the faces of those expecting his recent purple patch to come to a shuddering halt.
