The former Rangers assistant coach believes their marquee summer signing needs to improve his consistency out-with the big games.
Eight of Youssef Chermiti’s nine SPFL Premiership goals this season have came against Hearts and Celtic - but Gary McAllister is wanting more from the Rangers number nine.
The Portuguese Under-21 International was a risky summer addition for the Light Blues, costing them around £10m despite only having three professional goals to his name. As the season draws on, Chermiti has improved vastly and now has the reputation of being a big game player, having scored a brace of braces against Celtic and a hat trick against Hearts in last month’s top of the table Ibrox clash.
While his recent performances against the title race contenders have shown that he can produce in big moments, his lack of fire power against the other nine teams has been a cause of concern. McAllister would like to see Chermiti doing more against the league’s more ‘unfashionable’ teams as the title race approaches the nitty-gritty stages.
Chermiti has to produce in ‘every game’ - McAllister
He told Grosvenor: “The goals he scored against the Old Firm and against Hearts tell you he’s very capable. A lot of players have doubts about whether they can produce in the big games, but he’s shown he can do that. The thing he’s got to work on is producing that level more consistently.
“Motivation comes from the manager and your team-mates, but when you go to unfashionable places on a Tuesday night where the stadium isn’t like Ibrox or Tynecastle or Celtic Park, a lot of that motivation has to come from yourself. It’s the duty of the player to get himself up for those games. If he’s going to be Rangers’ number nine, he carries the responsibility of producing in every game.
“His drop-off can be quite big. When he plays well, he looks really promising, but he’s still young, and that’s something he’ll learn along the way with the help of the coaching staff and the manager. If he’s going to be one of the players responsible for winning games, he has to show a bit of leadership.”
Rangers striker dilemma
Last season, Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane were both prolific in front of goal, while on loan winger Vaclav Cerny also chipped in with his fair share. Chermiti and Bojan Miovski have a combined 13 league goals this season, while January signing Ryan Naderi is yet to get off the mark. Comparatively speaking, Dessers and Igamane score 29 goals between them last season.
In their most recent outing, it was left back Tuur Rommens who got the winner against St Mirren in Paisley as Chermiti missed several big chances. The Light Blues have had to rely on goals from everywhere this season, including centre back Emmanuel Fernandez, who has chipped in with five. With just eight games to go in the league, Danny Rohl will need to start getting the best out of the £10m man against everyone, or it could cost them dearly in the title race.
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