Patience is a virtue ill afforded to Rangers strikers and in particular ones that have just been signed for multi-million pound fees but a stark reminder was issued by Cedric Itten on Sunday after recent murmurings doubting his ability to make the grade at Ibrox began to surface.
The Swiss international hit a quick fire double in the last 15 minutes of the 5-1 win over Motherwell at Fir Park and almost instantly allayed any fears that he doesn’t have what it takes to wear the famous Light Blue jersey.
The £2.7m signing from St Gallen has just two starting appearances under Steven Gerrard, one against Kilmarnock where he played the first half on the right of the attack – he looked infinitely more at home when he moved into the middle for the second half – and against Lincoln Red Imps where service was in short supply.
With very little opportunity in his 200 or so minutes to make an impression, the knives were already out from some in the support, but the fourth goal on Sunday displayed everything that the towering striker is about.
Cedric Itten opened his account for Rangers with this strike 💥
Watch live on Sky Sports Football 📺 pic.twitter.com/uCBIjrQwYf
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 27, 2020
After dropping to the half-way line to chest an Allan McGregor goal kick down for Glen Kamara, he then spun round and made a bee-line for the box before checking and receiving a Scott Arfield pass with his back to goal, one-touch, followed by a pivot and volley that arrowed into Trevor Carson’s top corner in the Motherwell goal and his scoring duck was broken.
Will Itten go on to be a hit for Rangers?
Yes
No
He finished last season as second top goal scorer in the Swiss Super League so being written off as early as a couple of games into his career at Rangers was premature to say the least, with Kemar Roofe injured he should get the chance to get more minutes under his belt before the next international break but at least he has shown – emphatically – that he knows where the goals are, not that some of us were ever in any doubt.