In a candid assessment of Rangers' performance under manager Philippe Clement, former player Andy Halliday has highlighted Cyriel Dessers as the sole man to show marked improvement since the coaching transition from Michael Beale last October.
Halliday, who proudly donned the Rangers jersey from 2015 to 2020, pointed out that Dessers has elevated his game significantly following Beale's departure despite the team's overall struggles.
Dessers managed to break the 20-goal mark last season, a notable achievement considering the regular criticism he faced and the numerous opportunities he squandered that could have boosted his tally even further.
His resilience and ability to adapt has been evident, particularly in the wake of a challenging start to the 2024/25 season for the Light Blues, with Sunday's bruising 3-0 loss to rivals Celtic ensuring the gap at the Scottish Premiership summit is already five points after four matches.
However, Halliday's observations suggest that Dessers stands alone in terms of development under Clement. The current Motherwell midfielder argues the team has not seen the same level of progress from other players who remained beyond the managerial change last season.
This stark contrast raises questions about the effectiveness of Clement's position at Rangers - even though he is contracted until summer 2028 - and the overall morale within the squad.
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"I'd argue maybe Dessers," Halliday told Clyde 1 Super Scoreboard
"I thought when he first came in under Michael Beale he came under a lot of criticism and the goals weren't quite as regular or consistent as they have been since Philippe Clement came in. Other than that you'd probably struggle to say any more so Dessers is probably the main one.
"Yeah, in terms of his interview in the press I don't know if that's him trying to defend his team or players. He mentions a couple of chances at the start of the game that were offside, so even if they go in it's 0-0.
"In terms of possession, there's possession with a purpose. Celtic were creating clear chances with it, Rangers were a little bit passive. Where I don't blame him, you talked about implementing his tactics, I'm not having for a minute that Clement's tactics were high-press Celtic for 10 minutes and if we go 1-0 down we'll sit off.
"That, for me, was the players being spooked to going 1-0 down and then not being able to regain control of the game."
