The two sides of ‘bulletproof’ Rangers striker Dessers

On the Rangers bench recently, Cyriel Dessers has spent more time than he would have liked.

Partly it’s down to the rise of Hamza Igamane. Partly it’s down to the striker’s own inconsistency. And it has sparked rumors about his Ibrox future.

The Nigerian started and finished the Scottish Cup win over Fraserburgh with a 5-0 start. He has been linked with moves away this month.

It was a fruitful afternoon for Dessers, with a hat-trick, an assist, a shot of the captain’s armband, and the BBC Scotland player-of-the-match award.

Highland League part-timers Fraserburgh put up a fight, particularly in the first half.

Given the chances that the Ibrox side will create, it would be expected for a Rangers striker to net against that level of opponent.

In the early stages of this win, Dessers was presented with a glaring opportunity. He somehow skewed it off-target.

The offside flag went up but the goal, had it come, may well have stood.

Moment to moment you just don’t know what you’ll get from Dessers.

That’s 16 goals for the season in mid-January, with a shot conversion rate of 27.5%.

Another 22 last season after joining from Cremonese in the summer of 2023 is not to be sniffed at either. However, that had a 16.5% strike rate. That’s a fair amount of missed chances.

Although his numbers are more than respectable, manager Philippe Clement must be left with a blank because he still manages to deceive his own supporters.

“I think it’s just the life of striker, you will miss some chances”, Dessers told BBC Scotland after the Fraserburgh game.

Another Rangers fan has occasionally had to deal with the fanfare of Captain James Tavernier.

After the game, he praised Dessers’ ability to “always rise above” the noise and expressed his satisfaction that his team-mate had been given a reward for his efforts.

Former Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield, part of BBC Scotland’s punditry team for the game, echoed those sentiments.

“I think 25, 000 in here love him and 25, 000 don’t but he comes across as very relatable, very likeable”, Arfield said. “And he looks like a good team-mate.

” Any good striker that misses a chance, they don’t care. They’ve got this, this selfishness. He goes back for more and that’s what you want. “

Additionally, Arfield and Tavernier made an intriguing comparison to a player he and Tavernier both played for at Ibrox.

Alfredo Morelos and I played together, and he genuinely didn’t care how bad we played. He simply kept coming back for more, which was his greatest quality.

“I was a player that might have that wee level of, maybe, insecurity, but the best people haven’t got it.

Rangers fans, what do you make of Cyriel Dessers?

Is he a player you’d like to keep at Ibrox? Or is it time to depart?