Particularly in Scottish football, failing to provide evidence for your claims is a surefire way to come seen as foolish. The receipts are kept up here.
Michael Beale’s attempts to strengthen Rangers’ assault were, to put it mildly, unsuccessful. The goal of the costly summer hiring spree was to move the Light Blues up a gear and closer to Celtic. It didn’t, and in the less than a year since he swanned back in, all it accomplished was send Beale hurtling down the marble staircase and out the door. After getting the Ibrox heave ho, he’s managed to charm himself into a new contract at Sunderland, although their supporters don’t seem to be convinced at first.
Even while Beale insisted he hadn’t spent nearly as much as was being reported—a claim that proved to be baseless once the club finances were made public—that didn’t imply he had put together his new-look Gers team on a tight budget. After Alfredo Morelos left on a free transfer, big money was spent on the people tasked with taking his place in the goals.
To bring in Cyriel Dessers, Sam Lammers, and Danilo from Cremonese, Atalanta, and Feyenoord, respectively, more than £12 million was spent. Before going to Glasgow, the Brazilian ‘boasted’ a record of 14 goals in his previous three seasons. Lammers, poor fellow, had only achieved three goals in his previous four campaigns; in the same period, Dessers had hit twelve.
Something is off when you spend that kind of money for data like that. Someone had questioned Beale about why he was looking at some of the frequent scorers in the area. Bojan Miovski helped propel Aberdeen to Europe, Kevin Nisbet set records at Hibs, and Lawrence Shankland broke records at Hearts.
Although they “had a look,” the Rangers manager claimed that “no-one out there is better than what we have.” Who knows if that was conceit or snobbery? However, we now understand that Beale was just incorrect.
It is now undeniable that Abdallah Sima has accomplished 12 goals thus far. However, the Senegalese player wasn’t a long-term addition and was brought in wide. It will require money to make that happen, and his form hasn’t really improved since Philippe Clement entered the picture to clean up the mess.
Lammers’ numbers immediately stand out. Yes, he hasn’t always played as a striker and has come in and out of the starting lineup. However, he has a history of blowing huge opportunities, and he hasn’t exactly played little. Two aims is simply insufficient. Dessers had a rough beginning, but it appears like things are improving today. He has scored four in his previous five games.
On the other hand, Danilo appeared to play the part early on before losing interest. He had to miss a few games due to a facial injury, but he won’t be adding to his total anytime soon as he requires surgery for a knee issue. If you compare them, Beale’s dismissal of Premiership poachers becomes even more outrageous, raising doubts about the value of the money spent.
Shankland broke the 20 goal mark in a season last year, becoming the first Hearts striker to do so since John Robertson in the early 1990s. He went eight games without a goal at the beginning of this season, but he’s already halfway to the 28 goals he scored the previous season.
This season, he and Miovski are competing goal for goal. If this information about Celtic’s interest in the Dons hitman is true, it partly undermines Beale’s disparaging remark. Both are easily surpassing the combined scoring of any two of the three Rangers frontmen, and if Dessers doesn’t keep up the pace, they’ll soon surpass the total of all three.
Nisbet has played the fewest games out of the six, thus even though he is somewhat behind Dessers in terms of goals, his numbers are still comparable. Only his credentials are further supported by the fact that he hit 12 in 20 last season for Hibs despite missing the first half of the season due to a major knee injury.
Now, the trio from Ibrox might very well go on to score runs and end the season having validated Beale’s confidence. It is improbable based on historical facts, and it is not very credible to say that a manager change would have been necessary to get them firing at a level that was acceptable for Londoners. Clement might feel the same way, saying he prefers to purchase abroad. However, you get the impression that, should that be his preference, he’ll be more successful at hiring from outside.
