Hooked £3.5m flop who gave ball away 45% of the time faces Motherwell axe - opinion
12/28/2024 02:30 PM
Rangers will be glad to have an immediate chance to put right the shambles that was served up against St Mirren with another short trip to face Motherwell.
Distance doesn't seem to be the problem, leaving Ibrox is, with away form still fans' biggest complaint when talking about the future of Philippe Clement as manager.
The Rangers boss made the mistake of rotating the wrong players in his squad, with one player going to be lucky to keep his place in the team that starts against Motherwell.
Why Nedim Bajrami saw early Rangers axe
Nedim Bajrami arrived with a sterling reputation and has shown flashes of what he is capable of at international level and in early appearances for the Light Blues.
Signed to be first choice No.10, the 25-year old has yet to display the creativity and dominance expected from a £3.5m acquisition.
His numbers against St Mirren paint the picture.
Hooked at half-time, Bajrami had an anonymous 22 touches of the ball but still gave it away 10 times (45%), had no successful aerial duels or tackles and won just one out of four ground duels.
With only 11 accurate passes, it was no surprise to see Bajrami on the bench for the second period.
For context, Ianis Hagi had two key passes, made 44/50 passes, had two shots blocked and had 100% success with his four long balls.
Clement tries to swerve Bajrami criticism
Clement hinted at why Bajrami was subbed, trying not to single him and Connor Barron out:
“So, I made two changes and it’s not about the two guys, it was the whole team," said Clement.
"I could have made eight or nine changes maybe. And [then] you lose the game because in the second half, you see what you want to see.
"You see the football you want to see, you see the intensity you want to see, you see the duels you want to see, you see the chances you want to see.
"The only thing that we missed there is to score two, three, four goals, which we could have done."
Bajrami is clearly a talented player, however, he was miles off it against St Mirren in terms of intensity and desire, the very basics needed in the SPFL.
