Former Rangers stalwart backs Dessers to thrive next season

By Jessica Elliot

The Nigerian striker split the Ibrox faithful down the middle in his opening campaign (Image: Getty Images)

Cyriel Dessers will score 40 goals next season, predicts Rangers legend Iain Ferguson.

The former Rangers midfielder (pictured above) thinks Dessers will kick on next season, given the opportunity (Image: Getty Images)

Speaking to the Scottish Sun, Ferguson said: “Everything now is about stats and if you look at his, they're good. Scoring 22 goals is a respectable total. Plenty of strikers would be happy for that in a season. If he took penalties, he'd be around 30.

“And having got to know Scottish football and what he's up against, if he has a better strike rate, he could go out next season and get 40. Of course, everything you hear about him is that he gets a lot of chances and misses them. But that applies to a lot of strikers. Maybe he hasn't scored as many as he and a lot of supporters would have liked.

“But the Rangers centre forward's jersey is a big one to fill and that's why I think he's not had a bad season. What I like about him is that he stands up to be counted. There's plenty about him to admire. He doesn't hide if he’s having a bad day. He always gives 100 per cent, he puts a shift in, and he gets himself into positions.

“If you look back over the season, he's scored goals in big games - the double in the semi-final that got Rangers through to the Scottish Cup final, [the goals] against Servette in the Champions League, away to Betis in the Europa League.

Dessers has scored some decisive goals in Europe (Image: Getty Images)

“But I work in the lounges on matchdays, and the one thing you can guarantee is that if you have a group of guys around a table, you'll get vastly differing opinions. You'll never get agreement among supporters and that's been the case with Dessers.”

And that’s the truest part of it all. No Rangers supporter can come to a decisive conclusion on whether Dessers is the striker that they need.

The Nigerian joined the Gers last summer for £4.5m and after some missed chances in the early days, he was written off by a lot of the support. Despite this, he eventually bagged a few and ended his first season in Glasgow with 22 goals to his name.

Philippe Clement has a big decision on his hands as to whether he wants to trust Dessers to lead the line next campaign, but either way, it’s bound to split opinion among fans.