Glasgow Rangers failed to secure the first piece of silverware of the Scottish season as they lost on penalties in the final of the League Cup at Hampden Park on Sunday.
The Ibrox giants travelled to the national stadium in good spirit after holding Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night.
Their confidence showed in the opening 45 minutes as they went into the break at 1-0 up, after Nedim Bajrami pounced on a mistake from Greg Taylor and found the back of the net, after he teed up Hamza Igamane for a shot that was saved.
Taylor and Daizen Maeda scored the goals to put Celtic 2-1 up in the second 45, though, only for Mohamed Diomande to bring Rangers straight back into the match at 2-2.
There were then two goals in two minutes as Nicolas Kuhn’s goal was cancelled out by an 87th-minute header from Danilo, who forced extra-time for the Gers.
This means that they will need to win the Scottish Premiership title, the SFA Cup, or the Europa League to secure a trophy this season, and they could use the January transfer window to shape their squad ahead of a push for silverware in the second half of the campaign.
Star who could be sold by Rangers in January
One player who should be on the chopping block is centre-forward Cyriel Dessers, who has failed to prove that he can be a reliable number nine for the club over the past 18 months or so.
His time at Ibrox is, perhaps, best summed up by the fact that – despite coming off the bench and being fresh – he was either not selected or did not nominate himself to take one of the five penalties for Rangers in the shootout.
Ridvan Yilmaz, who has only scored two goals in 58 matches for the club, and goalkeeper Jack Butland both stepped up to take spot-kicks instead of the Nigeria international, whilst James Tavernier, Danilo, and Ianis Hagi, who all scored, were obvious picks.
Either Philippe Clement did not trust Dessers to deliver in a decisive moment for Rangers, or the striker did not have the confidence to trust himself in that moment, which is concerning no matter how you look at it.
The Scottish giants reportedly paid a fee of £4.5m to sign the forward from Cremonese last year and he is one of the senior players in the squad, at the age of 30, which is why it is so disappointing that he did not step up when the club needed someone to find the back of the net in the shoot-out.
However, it does remain to be seen whether or not there will be any clubs that are willing to come in and offer Dessers a way out of Ibrox in the January transfer window.
Cyriel Dessers' form Rangers
The experienced forward has scored 34 goals in 80 matches in all competitions for Rangers since the start of last season, which is far from a dismal return for a striker.
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However, it is also not outstanding and when you consider the quality of chances that his teammates have provided him with, it is fair to say that Dessers should have many more goals for the club.
In the Scottish Premiership, the Nigerian flop has scored 22 goals and missed a whopping 33 ‘big chances’ in his Rangers career, which shows that he has been incredibly wasteful with the high-quality creativity that his fellow attackers have produced.
Appearances
7
6
xG
0.57
3.98
Goals
1
1
Big chances missed
0
7
Duel success rate
26%
33%
As you can see in the table above, Dessers has not stepped up for Rangers in the Europa League, either, with two goals from the best part of five xG since the start of last season.
Therefore, Clement should finally cash in on the unreliable striker when the January transfer window opens for business, but he is far from the only one.
The Belgian head coach should also be looking to move on attacking midfielder Kieran Dowell, who has failed to make much of an impact during his time at Ibrox.
Why Rangers should sell Kieran Dowell
The former Everton gem came on for the final 15 minutes of extra-time in the League Cup final but did nothing of note and was not involved in the penalty shoot-out.
Despite his incredibly short time on the pitch, Glasgow World handed him a fairly harsh rating of 1/10 and wrote that the number ten ‘offered nothing’ to the team off the bench.
Unfortunately, ‘offered nothing’ almost sums up his entire time at Rangers, on the pitch, since his move to Ibrox on a free transfer from Norwich City in the summer of 2022.
Dowell has only scored two goals and provided two assists in 30 appearances in all competitions since the start of last season, and he has missed 26 matches through injury in that time.
This shows that he has been unreliable on the pitch, with only four goal contributions as an attacking midfielder in 30 matches, whilst the Englishman has also been unreliable from a fitness perspective, almost missing as many games as he has played.
Appearances
10
Starts
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Dribbles completed
3
As you can see in the table above, Dowell has rarely been used by Clement in the Premiership this season, and has not got much back from the midfielder when he has been on the pitch.
With all of this in mind, the Belgian head coach must finally cash in on the former Norwich star when the January transfer window, as the Gers cannot rely on him or Dessers to provide consistent quality on the pitch moving forward.
Selling both players, if there are teams willing to buy them, could also open the door for Nils Koppen and Clement to dip into the market to sign players that they do trust, to improve the team ahead of the second half of the season.
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