Glasgow Rangers will enter 2025 trailing their fiercest rivals by 14 points in the race for the Premiership title after a 2-2 draw against Motherwell.
Defeat to Celtic on Thursday surely should mark the last straw for Philippe Clement, but will the Ibrox board act and remove him from his position?
Only time will tell on that front, but his squad of players aren’t exactly performing to the ability required, that’s for sure.
Against the Steelmen, far too many anonymous shirts failed to contribute in what was a must-win match, most notably Cyriel Dessers.
Cyriel Dessers' dismal display vs Motherwell
Following the 2-1 loss to St Mirren on Boxing Day, Clement rotated some of his squad, which saw Dessers come into the starting XI in place of Hamza Igamane, much to the displeasure of the Ibrox faithful.
Unsurprisingly, the Nigerian striker lasted only 45 minutes as the Light Blues shipped two first half goals to head into the interval trailing 2-0.
Stat
Highest Ranked
Accurate passes
Robin Propper (70)
Key passes
Ridvan Yilmaz (5)
Touches
Robin Propper (96)
Shots on target
Tawanda Maswanhise, Hamza Igamane and Vaclav Cerny (2)
Ground duels won
Ridvan Yilmaz (8)
Dessers managed to complete five passes while taking just 15 touches of the ball. The striker even found time to miss two big chances. He wasn’t exactly helped by Kieran Dowell, who was operating on the right flank, but it was a dismal showing by the 29-year-old.
Dessers even lost six of his seven duels contested along with losing the ball five times and this was clearly enough for Clement, who brought on Igamane for the second half.
It wasn’t just the centre-forward who let the manager down, as Jack Butland also delivered a shaky performance and he has looked far from his best at times this season.
Jack Butland is costing Clement dearly
Last season, Butland was in such good form that he was touted for an England recall after a few years away from the national side.
On the basis of his performances this season, he won’t be a name mentioned by Thomas Tuchel. That’s a certainty. Across 28 games in all competitions, Butland has kept 13 clean sheets, conceding 25 goals, but he has looked shaky in recent weeks.
Against St Mirren on Boxing Day, Butland clattered into Greg Kiltie in his box and the home side duly scored the resulting penalty on their way to victory.
Butland was spared his blushes after punching the ball into his net against the Steelmen, as a foul against Tony Watt was spotted by VAR, but he struggled throughout.
Journalist Josh Bunting even criticised the goalkeeper, saying:
“What is Jack Butland doing for that Motherwell goal. So far out of his goal in no man’s land. The shot also creeps under him. That’s a dreadful goal for them to concede, Butland in a real rut of form at the moment as well. So shaky with each passing game.”
Dessers may be poor in front of goal in the final third, but is Butland the real problem for Rangers?
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