The ambition for any transfer window is to come out of it stronger than you went into it. At Ibrox, that is not just a target, it is non-negotiable.
How many areas of the Rangers squad does that apply to? When it comes to centre forward, the eye test is supported by the black and white. Rangers are weaker, they have downgraded and they have regressed.
It has cost them already this season. It cost them on Sunday. The danger, the fear, the likelihood, is that it will cost them between now and the end of the campaign. The bottom line – in both football and financial terms – could be considerable at that stage.
Read more:
- 'I'm really, really excited by this manager' - Aarons backs Rohl for Rangers success
- Rangers to seek SFA explanation over Auston Trusty challenge in defeat to Celtic
Right now, Rangers are not getting value for money. Not even close to it. Indeed, if the Ibrox board had kept the receipts then supporters would happily return Youssef Chermiti and Bojan Miovski to their respective sellers.
The deals for Hamza Igamane and Cyriel Dessers gave Kevin Thelwell, the sporting director, and then head coach Russell Martin money to play with. A deal worth more than £4million was put in place to sign Miovski from Girona. The fee of £8million, which could rise into eight figures, for Chermiti makes him the second most expensive signing in the club’s history.
A return of three goals between them so far is not exactly what chairman Andrew Cavenagh would have had in mind when he opened his chequebook. That is the same tally that Danilo – himself a £6million acquisition two-and-a-half years ago – has netted as the shortcomings in the final third have been evident during a largely dreadful opening stint to the season.
At this point last term, Dessers had scored eight goals. Numbers nine and ten also came in this week 12 months ago – against Olympiakos and Hearts – and a brace against Kilmarnock kept him on track to a total of 29. The previous season, he scored 25 times in all competitions for Rangers.
Igamane, meanwhile, did not get up to speed until several weeks into the campaign. He ended his first term in European football with 16 goals, and he has nine already for Lille following his move in the summer. Every time the ball hits the net, Rangers fans wince and wonder what might have been.
The point in the comparison is not to suggest that Dessers and Igamane should have been retained or that they were perfect solutions to a long-standing problem. The Nigerian was happy to make the switch to Panathinaikos and had more than his fair share of critics within the support, while the Moroccan had been angling for a departure since the start of the summer and was always going to be a quick flip.
The issue is not that they were allowed to move on. It is how they have been replaced. Once again, spending money has not been the issue at Ibrox, but spending it wisely has been. When you add in the 19 goals that Vaclav Cerny scored during his loan spell, it shows the end product that Rangers lost in one summer. Outside of Djeidi Gassama, himself an erratic performer at times but the scorer of five goals to date, none of the forward-thinking players, the difference makers, have come anywhere near hitting the required level.
Chermiti has one goal from 516 minutes of football across the Premiership, Europa League and Premier Sports Cup. Miovski has two goals having played two-and-a-half hours’ more football, while Danilo has more game time than both and one more strike to his credit.
The comparison to Dessers and Igamane is obvious given that it is the most recent reference point. Again, the trend is downwards. Dessers (0.58 Xg/90) and Igamane (0.35 xG/90) both carried a greater threat last season than Chermiti (0.1 xG/90), Miovski (0.28 Xg/90) and Danilo (0.2 xG/90) have this term. Chance creation has been a real issue of late, and all three strikers have significantly fewer shots per 90 than Dessers and Igamane in teams that were not exactly free-flowing under Philippe Clement and then Barry Ferguson.
At Hampden on Sunday, it was chance conversion that was the issue. Gassama and Nico Raskin were both guilty in that regard too. Even with ten men, Rohl’s side fashioned enough opportunities to win the game and their failure to do so speaks to the wider problem of Rangers continually being unable to ask questions of Celtic when they are fragile and there to be beaten. Can the teachings of Rohl improve those that he has inherited to the levels of those that came before at Ibrox?
The narrative around Chermiti has been largely negative since he put pen-to-paper on a four-year deal after leaving Everton. His performance against Celtic did little to change the feeling that the Portuguese is in the wrong movie right now and two moments – the first a low shot that was put the wrong side of the target and the second an opening at the back post – summed up a forward who has shown few attributes to suggest he is capable of fulfilling his billing this season.
He celebrated his goal against Kilmarnock with a talking hands gesture towards the Ibrox crowd. He is, of course, entitled to bite back if he perceives that the criticism has been unfair this term, but responding in that moment showed his immaturity. Maybe wait until you have done something in a blue shirt before you have a pop back at a support who are expecting to see a whole lot more from a striker who carries his price tag.
Thelwell justified the acquisition last month by stating that Chermiti would eventually have been transferred for a fee that Rangers could not afford. It was a case of now or never. That argument was fine when Igamane was being plucked out of his homeland for £1.7million. When you are signing a player from the Premier League for that kind of money, it is obvious that there is going to be a demand on Chermiti to be one of the top players in Scotland, not just at Ibrox.
Cavenagh insisted Rangers did not look at Chermiti and think ‘he has to be the best player on the pitch’ and that they ‘don’t have the expectation that he walks in as one of the more expensive signings and instantly has to be productive.’
It is a stance that supporters find hard to fathom. If Miovski and Danilo had been able to carry the burden, the spotlight would not be shining as brightly on the most expensive acquisition of the summer. Their own failings have exacerbated the Chermiti situation.
Thelwell spoke about Chermiti being able to ‘develop into a top striker here’ and Martin pinpointed his ‘huge potential’. The problem is, though, that Rangers needed an oven ready, good to go No.9 that was primed to lead the charge for silverware right now, not one that could be good, that could score goals, that could be sold for a profit down the line.
Bojan Miovski is up and running in the blue of @RangersFC! 🔵
His first goal puts the home side in a commanding position heading in to the break 👏#PremierSportsCup | @spfl pic.twitter.com/mFPBBchMpt— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) September 20, 2025
If Miovski was meant to be that man, then that only adds to the issues at Ibrox. His first season at Aberdeen saw him return 18 goals from 43 appearances, while the strike rate was one in two second time around. Girona paid almost £7million for him as a result but then took a hit after just two goals and two assists in his only La Liga campaign.
Thelwell and Martin spoke about Miovski’s Premiership experience as a valuable factor for Rangers this term. His first goal came in the League Cup win over Hibernian, and he netted at Falkirk in what proved to be Martin’s last game as head coach.
Rohl has yet to see the best of him in the 3-4-3 formation that has been utilised over the last hat-trick of matches. Right now, it looks like either Chermiti or Miovski rather than both at the same time, with Danilo’s greater comfort on the ball giving him the advantage in one of the supporting roles.
Rohl has succeeded in making Rangers harder to play against and harder to play through. Making them more creative and more clinical is a much tougher task, however. It was one that he referenced in the aftermath of the Old Firm defeat.
“I think we have to be more clinical in both boxes, to win games I think this is also crucial,” Rohl said. “We saw on Wednesday a performance where we had not so many chances against us, we were very clinical with these two more moments, and I think in such big games it's about clinical in both boxes. And of course we have to improve, this is a big part. But at the moment I will focus on this part where we make the step forward and this is what I see at the moment.”
Read more:
- Why semi-final defeat captured Rangers' clear and ovbious shortcoming since summer
- Referee calls questioned, costly misses and Hampden heartache as Rangers lose derby
Rohl emerged from the wins over Kilmarnock and Hibernian with plaudits. The fingers of blame could not be pointed at him in Bergen. While it could be argued that the team selection was wrong on Sunday, he deserves credit for his changes and the second half recovery before Rangers ran out of steam.
It was an afternoon that showed what he is up against in Old Firm terms, but more importantly reaffirmed the limitations of what he has inherited. This is a squad that has been assembled at great cost that has not justified the outlay.
There is no area of the group that is more noticeable in than at centre-forward. Rangers are weaker not stronger. Rohl must be counting down the days to January and a window that Rangers must emerge in a better position from.
Share