Glasgow Rangers head coach Danny Rohl should be relatively pleased with his start to life in the dugout at Ibrox, with four wins out of four in the Scottish Premiership so far.
The Light Blues beat Livingston 2-1 at Ibrox in a controversial clash in their first game back after the international break, as no penalty was awarded for handball against Emmanuel Fernandez, who also scored the opening goal in the match.
Rangers got the job done, though, and claimed all three points thanks to a second-half strike from Mohamed Diomande, who tapped into an empty net at the back post.
The Ivorian central midfielder had an open goal in front of him because Bojan Miovski made a brilliant run over the top and poked the ball to Diomande as the goalkeeper came out to meet him.
It was a moment of real quality from the Macedonia international to help clinch all three points for the Scottish giants on Saturday, after what has been a difficult start to the campaign.
The Light Blues bolstered their attacking ranks with the £8m signing of Youssef Chermiti and the £4.2m signing of Miovski in the summer, and supporters may need to be patient with both of them.
Why Rangers fans need to be patient with Miovski and Chermiti
Rangers splashed the cash to bring those two centre-forwards to Ibrox, particularly Chermiti, and you can understand why some supporters may not be happy with what they have produced so far this season.
Both strikers have only scored one goal so far in the Scottish Premiership under Russell Martin, Stevie Smith, and Danny Rohl combined, which shows that they have rarely provided much in the way of quality in the final third.
Appearances
9
7
Goals
1
1
Minutes per goal
551
231
Big chances created
1
0
Assists
1
1
Duel success rate
33%
39%
As you can see in the table above, Chermiti and Miovski have both failed to offer value for money in the league since their respective big-money moves from Everton and Girona in the summer.
Rangers and their supporters should still have some patience, though, because Miovski is a proven Premiership goalscorer who can offer quality if he hits his stride.
The left-footed attacker, as shown in the graphic below, was a prolific scorer during his time with Aberdeen, before his move to Spain last year, and this suggests that there is still hope that he can turn his Ibrox career around.
Chermiti does not have the same history of goalscoring, having failed to score a single first-team goal in two seasons with Everton, that Miovski behind him has to suggest that he will come good, but the Portuguese striker is only 21.
The former Toffees flop has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and signed a long-term contract at Ibrox, which is why there may need to be patience with him to allow him to flourish as a player. It is not his fault that former sporting director Kevin Thelwell spent £8m on him, and he should be given a chance to prove his worth in the years to come.
Whilst patience is needed with Miovski and Chermiti, who were both permanent additions signed to long contracts, there are some other summer signings who should not be awarded the same patience.
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Nasser Djiga was brought in on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers during the summer transfer window in an attempt to bolster Russell Martin’s defence, but he has been an even bigger waste of time than the two strikers.
Why Djiga has been a worse Rangers signing than Miovski and Chermiti
The Burkina Faso international is only on loan from the Premier League side until the end of the season and the club do not have an option to make the deal permanent next summer.
That means, as it stands, the central defender should only be judged on his performances in the short-term because he is not a player who the Light Blues will benefit from if he develops and improves by the end of the campaign, as he will be off down south to England again.
Therefore, on current performance levels, Djiga looks to be an even bigger waste of time than Miovski and Chermiti, because he is not delivering quality on the pitch for Rangers in the present.
Livingston
90
Dundee
8
Roma
90
Celtic
102
Hibernian
90
Kilmarnock
0
Brann
76
Dundee United
0
Falkirk
90
Sturm Graz
0
The Wolves loanee, as shown by the table above, has been in and out of the side in recent weeks and months, which has been because of his inconsistent performances.
Injuries to John Souttar and Derek Cornelius provided him with a chance to impress against Livingston, but his error for Tete Yengi’s equaliser was described as “appalling” defending by reporter Tom English, as the centre-back allowed the forward to run off the back of him to score from a long pass.
That mistake against Livingston on Saturday is far from the first one that he has made in a Rangers shirt. Four Lads Had A Dream claimed that he
“genuinely looks lost” during the 3-1 defeat to Celtic in the semi-final of the League Cup earlier this month.
Djiga also got off to a poor start to life at Ibrox in August. He was sent off in a 1-1 draw with Dundee at Ibrox before making a ‘disastrous’ error at the start of the club’s Champions League play-off qualifier against Club Brugge.
These examples show that the central defender has been an unreliable performer for the Light Blues throughout the season, for both Martin and Rohl, which is why he has been a dismal signing on current evidence.
That is also why he has been an even bigger waste of time than Miovski and Chermiti, because the two strikers were permanent signings on multi-year deals and have time to turn things around, whilst Djiga was a season-long loan signing who should be making an instant impact.
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Unless the Wolves loanee can drastically turn his form around and prove himself to be a reliable figure at the back for Rohl, he may go down as one of the worst signings of the Thelwell era, which lasted one summer.
