Saturday’s Old Firm derby was a strange one in that the man of the match was, largely, kept quiet by one of the other’s best players.
Liel Abada scored two goals from the edge of the six-yard box despite Borna Barisic being one of our only players to not let themselves down and, almost, redeeming himself for his horror show in the 3-0 defeat in February. On most occasions though, if you are the match winner, you are walking away with the champagne.
Being in the right place at the right time is not an accident and it is a habit that some of our forwards just don’t seem to be able to grasp and it is this that is seeing them suffer in comparison to their city rivals and costing us points in the process.
Ryan Kent, Scott Wright, Rabbi Matondo and Fashion Sakala have zero goals between them so far this season, compare this to the 12 of Jota, Abada, Daizen Maeda and James Forrest and it’s pretty clear where our attacking problems lie, although it’s a little harsh on Sakala given his limited game time – anyway, you get my point.
At the top of this list is Kent, who seems undroppable from his left-wing berth, however, if he hasn’t agreed to a new deal or given an indication that he is willing to sign one, should Giovanni van Bronckhorst consider other options?
Three goals in the whole of last season, despite a successful campaign the season before with 13 is a far from acceptable return for a Rangers forward and, at 25-years old, he should be approaching his peak not having to be told where he should be attacking to improve his, and his team’s chances, of getting on the scoresheet.
Outside of the box, Kent is as good as they come, his assist numbers support that, but inside, he needs to take a leaf out of Abada’s book. Sometimes having a poor game is irrelevant if your name is on the scoresheet and you walk away with three points.