Antonio Colak’s early season Rangers form was “absolutely unsustainable”, says Kenny Miller who believes his team are now suffering from the inevitable drop in goals.
The Croatian made the starting striker’s spot his own after arriving nine the summer, scoring 13 goals in 19 games already. A run of 10 in his first nine Scottish Premiership fixtures saw him shoot to the top of the scoring charts as the Gers’ new number nine looked unstoppable as he scored goals for fun.
But the frontman hasn’t scored in his last two games and with Alfredo Morelos still not up to speed, Gio van Bronckhorst ’s side have looked laboured in their attempts to break the opposition down. They needed a 91st minute leveller from John Lundstram to salvage a point against ten-man Livingston at Ibrox on Saturday after making hard work of seeing off Dundee in the Premier Sports Cup last midweek.
Miller knew Colak was never going to keep taking the majority of chances Rangers were creating. And that’s being felt now.
“I don’t think they look like scoring,” he told BBC Radio Scotland. “They aren’t creating enough chances. When you talk about the Hearts result, the Ross County and St Mirren; Antonio Colak ’s conversion rate of chances was absolutely unsustainable. He was scoring pretty much every opportunity they got.
“When you look at yesterday’s game, he had three or four half chances. One he got across the defender at the front post and got a big toe on it and it just sneaked past. He had two headers second half just go over the bar. An acrobatic scissor kick just past the post. Those type of things were going in. Rangers have not been creating a lot of chances and getting the forward the right service.”
Miller also believes the club have failed to recruit properly on the right hand side of attack. With and out-of-form Ryan Kent a fixture on the left, a number of his team-mates have been deployed on the opposite flank to little effect.
“A lot’s been made of the recruitment over the last three transfer windows,” said Miller. “I’m looking at the right side of Rangers attack - the place where they needed to add goals - they signed Tom Lawrence and he’s injured. The injuries now are stacking up and definitely affecting this team.
“But I’m looking at guys that have played this position, not even over the last season-and-a-half. Aribo, Arfield, Ramsey, Wright, Sakala, Tillman, Matondo and Lawrence. This has been a problem position for Rangers for a few seasons now. Longer than a few seasons.
“There has been recruitment done on it but no-one is nailing it down. When you’ve got Ryan Kent on the other side, who’s en ever-present there, he’s not firing. There’s no getting away from it. A lot’s been made of his form this season. A Giovanni said, there’s something missing. A spark.”
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