New Rangers signings never get long to settle into the club with strikers in partular being under scrutiny from the moment they step on the pitch, something that Cyriel Dessers has found out the hard way.
Club legends like Ally McCoist and Mark Hateley even had to put up with the odd boo from the Ibrox faithful and they feature in many fans’ greatest XI as a formidable strike pairing.
One thing that Philippe Clement has managed to achieve since arriving as the new Rangers boss is get more out players that Michael Beale was struggling to get a tune out of, Cyriel Dessers being one of them.
Rangers starting to see the best of Cyriel Dessers
The problem that the big Nigerian international has is that he will always be judged on two things.
- The reported transfer fee of £4.3m plus add-ons.
- How many goals he scores.
Now, he can’t do anything about number one, it isn’t his fault that Beale paid so much money for a striker who is now 29-years old and with no sell-on value.
But what he can do is concentrate on something that he seems to have rediscovered, how to score goals.
Rangers will have to cope without Danilo for the foreseeable future but with eight goals and five assists, Cyriel Dessers is now on a goal or assist every two games.
That record is even better when you take into consideration minutes played.
Much like £12m man Tore Andre Flo.
There was nothing he could do about the exorbitant fee paid by Sir David Murray to Chelsea.
The towering Norwegian arrived with a goal every three games as his record and left with a goal every two games as well as numerous assists to his various strike partners.
Was he value for money? No.
But he did leave with a more than respectable record and Rangers have to hope that Cyriel Dessers can do something similar.
The encouraging thing is, he arrived injured and was clearly unfit but, in the last couple of games that he has started, he has led the line well and done what mattered most – scored goals.
Will he ever be worth the transfer fee paid?
Probably not, but with four goals in his last six league games added to his goal and assist against Real Betis, there are early signs that he might be, at least, the player that we saw leading the line for Feyenoord on their way to the Europa Conference League final.
