Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has called on striker Umar Sadiq to greatly improve if he is to have a chance of making it at Ibrox.
In the wake of Wednesday night’s match at home to Ayr United, Gerrard dropped a bit of a bombshell with regards to Sadiq, claiming he would have to ‘improve an awful lot’ to feature in next month’s semi-final against Aberdeen.
The suspension of Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty’s cup-tied status means the Gers are looking a bit short in attack ahead of the Hampden clash.
Now though, Gerrard has given more in depth thoughts about Sadiq’s development in his pre-match press conference ahead of today’s clash with Livingston.
As quoted by The Daily Mail, the Ibrox boss said:
He needs to do more.
We understand he is a young player. I’ve spoken to him numerous times one-on-one. He’s had individual training. We’ve done everything as a staff to help him.
But you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work it out. He hasn’t had much game-time. He’s frustrated by that. But as a player, when that’s not happening, the only player who can sort it out is yourself. The one person who can sort it out is Umar.
He needs to push himself in every single department. He needs to realise he is at a big club. Competition for places is big in every single position.
If he wants more minutes and more game-time, he has got to push. He’s got to show me he is the best in training, the best No 9. That’s not happening right now.
Gerrard hasn’t exactly rushed to criticism of any Rangers player since joining at the start of the season, which gives a bit of weight to judgement of Sadiq’s spell so far at the club.
The Nigerian forward joined on loan from Roma in the summer but has made just three substitute appearances and hasn’t been seen in action for over a month.
The chances of him making a big impact this season seem slim going on Gerrard’s comments, but hopefully he can respond to Gerrard’s call for harder work.
What do you make of Gerrard’s comments on Sadiq? Have your say in the comments below…