Sport
Sky Sports pundits blasts flop Rangers pair amid delight at new arrivals
Kris Boyd is delighted that the Rangers recruitment has bounced back to correct the mistakes made in signing Sam Lammers and Jose Cifuentes.
The Sky Sports pundit blasted the on-loan duo as “howlers” in his Scottish Sun column but singled out January replacements Fabio Silva and Mohamed Diomande as excellent additions after both shone in the 2-2 draw away to Benfica.
Both arrived on initial loans, with the midfielder’s move set to become permanent in the summer. Boyd believes the “tenacious” Diomande has put Nico Raskin and Ryan Jack on notice, while Silva “shone” in the injured Abdallah Sima’s role on the left in Portugal.
He said: “The displays of Diomande and Silva in Lisbon on Thursday night may well have propelled Gers towards the last eight of the Europa League.
“I’ve had plenty of pops at them over the years for their recruitment. Even last summer, they signed a couple of howlers in Jose Cifuentes and Sam Lammers.
“Seven months on, neither is even at the club any more. But January seems to have been another matter altogether… Diomande and Silva are starting to show valuable additions CAN be landed in the middle of the season.”
Sam Lammers and Jose Cifuentes branded Rangers ‘howlers’ by Kris Boyd
Recruitment has often been a stick to beat the board with at Ibrox and the major overhaul in the summer appeared to be little different when the season got off to a miserable start.
The outstanding form of Jack Butland, the emergence of Dujon Sterling, arguably the development of Cyriel Dessers, but above all the replacement of Michael Beale with Philippe Clement has helped change that.
But Lammers and Cifuentes have to go down as misses in the transfer market whichever way it’s looked at, so the club do deserve credit for addressing the situation so quickly.
Too often players kick about in squads without contributing much when they need a move as much as anything, and while both are only on loan at present the Ecuadorian is expected to complete a permanent move and it would be no surprise if the Dutchman ultimately did as well.
Big money went towards Diomande when the obvious target for it might have been Lawrence Shankland or another proven goalscorer, while Silva’s early loan has proven to be more important than could have even been expected at the time after injuries to key man Sima and the third excellent January addition Oscar Cortes.
The squad still looks incomplete after just one midseason window for Clement but improvements have undoubtedly been made, which is helping the Belgian get more out of the unit and continue to fight for three further trophies.
