St Mirren defender Marcus Fraser has been on the winning side against Rangers not once but twice this season.
Rangers were defeated 2-1 by the Paisley Saints back in December when Caolan Boyd-Munce popped up in the last minute to compile Philippe Clement’s away day misery.
And it was St Mirren who dealt the fatal blow to the doomed Rangers manager, the Saints’ 2-0 victory at Ibrox officially the end of the line for the Belgian boss.
Marcus Fraser played in both games for St Mirren but admits that despite overcoming Rangers, one player stood out more than all the others.
Marcus Fraser hails ‘clever’ Cyriel Dessers
Cyriel Dessers has flip-flopped between the role of hero and villain over his two seasons in Glasgow.
Whilst the Nigerian international popped up with a late winner against Dundee at Dens Park, Dessers was criticised for spurning a host of chances before the goal.
In the weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Hibs, coincidentally Rangers’ fifth straight defeat at home, Dessers fluffed two good opportunities to pull the Gers level at 1-0.
But whilst the criticism continues, Marcus Fraser has singled out Cyriel Dessers as the stand-out player in the Rangers team.
”I always think Dessers has been quite good,” Fraser explains to Open Goal.
”I feel as if his movement is really good, he kind of plays on the shoulder. He always gets chances, whether he puts them away sometimes it’s different.
”But I feel Dessers always tries to get the long balls on the diagonals or whatever, on the last man of the defence. I think he is a threat.
”He obviously hasn’t scored as many goals as he’d probably like but I like Dessers.”
Whilst Dessers might be heavily criticised for his finishing, the former Feyenoord striker has been hailed by the Saints defender for his ‘clever’ movement.
“He kind of always tries to peel off obviously left and right,” said Fraser.
”(I played) directly up against him as well but no I always think his movement is quite clever as well.”
What do Cyriel Dessers’ Scottish Premiership stats say about Rangers performance?
Cyriel Dessers splits opinion with Rangers fans and pundits alike certainly mixed on the hitman in recent weeks.
Gordon Dalziel has praised Cyriel whilst former Rangers defender Carlos Cuellar singled out Dessers alongside Vaclav Cerny as being the Gers’ two danger men heading into the Europa League clash with Athletic Club.
But the hitman’s underlying stats point to a player who is not performing at his optimum level this season and someone who Rangers should probably expect a little more from.
In terms of goals, Dessers has 12 strikes in the Scottish Premiership with an xG of 12.47, meaning he’s technically underperforming, something which backs up suggestions the hitman scores the opportunities which are technically harder.
Dessers has also made 64 shots with 32 on target and 140 touches in the opposition box, but it’s in the combative areas of his game that Cyriel is losing out.
The striker has won just 34.5% of his duels (60 in total) whilst the percentage is even lower in the air (32.9% and 23 in total).
This paints the picture of a forward who has struggled with the physicality of the Scottish Premiership this season.
The hitman’s passing percentage of 73.8% and total passes of 180 also suggests that Dessers has been isolated at the top of the park for Rangers.
