Sutton shares Rangers squad assessment after what he’s seen

Chris Sutton has praised the improvements made by Rangers under Philippe Clement, with Cyriel Dessers used as an ideal example.

Rangers have been a team transformed since Clement succeeded Michael Beale in the Ibrox dugout in mid-October.

Dessers is one of many who have improved drastically, having scored eight and assisted three in his past 13 appearances.

As Sutton pointed out in his column for the Daily Record [17 February], it was not so long ago that Dessers was being written off.

“Clement has got the senior players doing the business and bringing something out in boys that were tagged as not up to it,” Sutton said.

“Cyriel Dessers is case in point. The Nigerian was being hounded as an out-and-out dud in the first weeks of the season.

“Now he’s scoring goals regularly. Important goals, into the bargain.”

Cyriel Dessers finding his feet for Rangers

After netting twice in the 3-1 win over Ross County in midweek, Dessers now has 13 goals and 35 outings this season.

That is still not a remarkable return, but four goals in the past five of those games shows he is constantly improving in front of goal.

Gers fans still have reservations as to whether Dessers is good enough to lead the line in crunch European and domestic fixtures.

However, there is no doubt that he is good enough to lead the title charge on the basis of the past couple of months.

Bringing in someone like Lawrence Shankland in the summer still makes sense, but Dessers is no longer the flop he looked to be at one stage.

Indeed, if he can continue at the level he has over the past couple of months – just short of a goal involvement per game – it may well be that he is the man to lead the line for a while longer yet.