Leon Balogun has spoken out about the unfair criticism Rangers teammate Cyriel Dessers receives - and he's got a clear message for the naysayers.
Balogun hears the constant chat around the Rangers striker, who has a decent return of 16 goals from 33 appearances this season, and insists going as far as booing the player is "extremely disrespectful."
Dessers has fallen behind Moroccan forward Hamza Igamane in manager Philippe Clement's pecking order, with a January transfer exit not ruled out.
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“We’ve had it here in the past when a player comes on and gets booed or a player comes off and gets clapped off in a sarcastic way," the experienced Rangers centre-back told the Counter Attack Podcast.
“I don’t condone that at all because it’s the same player you want to score or defend better. You can criticise them heavily, but watch the language. It is extremely disrespectful.
“Some fans would say their performance was disrespectful but if you see the effort [they put in] then you can’t put that on disrespect because he has tried his best. It’s all you can do.
“You can criticise his quality but it’s all about how you do things in life and certain things are off limits for me, so that’s poor.
“I’ve witnessed it - not against me personally - but it’s always tough.
"He’s a great guy. I think just for the way he dealt with his situation, he's got some big balls on him, honestly.
“He had to endure a few things that I don't wish this on any player. It's not nice. And the way he dealt with it, hats off.
“If you see him as well, like you saw the reaction from the players, everybody was really happy for him because we know he went through a rough patch.
“But he's in the gym every day working hard. It's just maybe that what he does on the pitch is maybe not what the supporters really want to see.
“He had a spell where he didn't score as much. And that's all, again, that's fair enough. And if you probably speak to him about it, even as a supporter, you'll be like, you know what, hands up, you're right. I should have done better or I should have scored more goals.”
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Dessers was jeered by some sections of the Light Blues' support once again when he was introduced as a second half substitute against Aberdeen last week.
Yet the Nigeria internationalist responded by scoring Rangers' third goal to secure the victory and then followed that short but successful cameo up by netting a hat-trick during a Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at home to Fraserburgh.
Reflecting on the latest incident involving his countryman Dessers, Balogun stated: “I remember when it happened because it was a corner and me and Nico Raskin, we were straight over because we thought that it actually came, I'm not going to say it was the Union bears, because I don't know who it was.
“It came from that stand, that section, just behind the opposition's goal. Me and Nico were straight over saying ‘what's going on? Like, no, don't do that’.
“That was our reaction on the pitch. I don't know how much it helped, but again, I understand both sides. I try to understand both sides because yes, you are frustrated about certain things with whether it's Cyriel or another player. That's your right.
“But can you maybe think about the way you express it? And again, he's on the pitch now. I think it was still 1-0.
“Ultimately, you want him to score. So there was a time where he played week in, week out. And maybe these things happen when he was subbed off or something. And then I'm thinking to myself, okay, you're not happy with him.
"Fair enough. Because there were also reasons for it. And that's okay, cool.
“That's football, right? But at the same time, if you know he will start again, what can you do in order to make sure he feels better about himself?
“This is not to criticise all the fans, but it's just like one thought I'm trying to put out there because let's even just take another player.
“If it's anyone else and you know he's gonna play again, you want him to perform for you. Make it work for the time being at least."
