As in the case of Calvin Bassey, sometimes we forget just how inexperienced Malik Tillman is. Yes, he is a full international, however, in terms of senior appearances, the 20-year old is learning on the job at Rangers.
Tillman has two goals and two assists in the league so far from a little over 600 minutes of football, a decent return that will only get better with a run of games and if he continues the form that he showed against Aberdeen.
He has looked a lot better in recent games, working harder out of possession and playing a key role in creating chances. Exactly what we need with so many playmakers currently unavailable.
Speaking after the 4-1 win, John Lundstram was quick to praise the youngster who had made just seven senior appearances for Bayern Munich before heading to Ibrox:
“He’s massive for us and he’s a young kid. People need to stick behind him, lift him up and encourage him.
“Tell him how good he can be and how good he is. Because he’s phenomenal, his talent is up there with one of the best young talents I’ve seen. Stick with him, rather than saying he needs to be dropped if he has one bad game.”
Tillman, on Saturday, looked as close to a Joe Aribo replacement as I’ve seen this season. There will be games where it doesn’t come off for him but he was linking well with the midfield and Aberdeen never really managed to get a hold of him. It was also good to see him use his 6ft 2inch frame to full effect.
If he can produce this level of consistency then the option-to-buy clause will be a no-brainer at the end of the season.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad is hanging by a thread just now so players like Tillman will be hugely important, a confidence-boosting win, and performance, couldn’t have come at a better time – let’s hope that he has a few more of them up his sleeve in the coming weeks.