Pundit Gordon Duncan clashed with a Rangers fan after he called for Cyriel Dessers and Connor Goldson to be dropped following defeat to Benfica.
The Gers crashed out of Europe after a 1-0 defeat at Ibrox to the Portuguese giants, in a tired performance from the injury-hit squad.
But one fan believes that two players in particular were to blame and need to fall out of the squad when calling in to the Clyde 1 Superscorebard show (15 March).
“I think Dessers needs dropped, and I think Goldson needs to go aswell,” he said. “I know he wasn’t involved in the goal but it’s telling that you can see he’s not up to it anymore.”
But responding to the caller, Duncan defended Dessers and claimed he’s become a scapegoat for fans.
“There’s an inevitability that when Rangers don’t get a good result, Cyriel Dessers will get part of the blame,” he said. “That theme was set in motion a long time ago.
“However that doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to point out that he probably didn’t carry as much of a threat last night as Rangers would have liked.”
Rangers fan may have a point, but so does Duncan
There’s no doubting that Dessers has become a bit of a scapegoat among fans, and his goal return suggests he hasn’t been as bad as people are making out.
But at the same time the striker has regularly missed big chances in games and the goal tally he has has come in spite of his best efforts to fail, rather than because he hasn’t been.
With a fully-fit and reliable goalscorer up front there is an argument that Rangers could be even further ahead of Celtic in the title race, and considering the way the tie with Benfica played out they could well have progressed too.
But that doesn’t mean he is the sole reason and having an alternative up front may have changed nothing, so fans need to get behind him until the end of the season at least where it can then be re-evaluated.
As for Goldson, he’s been solid for years and is still one of the best defenders in the country so while he is not immune from criticism asking him to be dropped when there are no suitable alternatives just seems crazy.
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