Glasgow Rangers lost for the third time in six league matches as they were beaten 2-0 by Hibernian at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
Goals from Dylan Levitt and Martin Boyle either side of half-time secured all three points for the away side in front of a frustrated home support.
Barry Ferguson is in interim charge until the end of the season and this current run of results in the league is not doing his chances of landing the job permanently any good.
The Scottish boss has to be ruthless with his team selections in the final weeks of the 2024/25 campaign, and one player who should be dropped after the Hibernian loss is Mohamed Diomande.
Why Mohamed Diomande should be dropped
The Ivorian attacking midfielder lined up as the number ten behind Cyriel Dessers at Ibrox on Saturday and failed to offer enough in possession to make a difference in the match.
Diomande did not register a key pass or a shot on target, with one shot that was blocked, in 75 minutes on the pitch before Ferguson decided to withdraw him from the field.
The left-footed whiz did win four of his eight duels – holding his own in physical battles – but that did not make up for his complete lack of impact at the top end of the pitch, which is why the manager should take him out of the starting XI.
Diomande, however, was not the worst player on the pitch for Rangers. Dessers was even worse than the former Danish league star and must finally be dropped from the team.
Why Cyriel Dessers must be dropped
The Nigeria international has started each of the last six league matches and played all bar two minutes of those games, resulting in three defeats for Rangers.
Ferguson must, now, finally take him out of the starting XI after another dismal display at the top end of the pitch from the former Cremonese marksman, who had even fewer touches (24) than goalkeeper Jack Butland (33) yet still managed to spurn more than one opening to score.
Dessers was even worse than Diomande because he was incredibly wasteful in front of goal in the defeat to Hibs, missing two ‘big chances’ without creating a single chance for his teammates.
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Unlike the midfielder, the Nigerian forward also failed to hold his own in his physical duels, losing five of his eight battles, which shows that the Hibs defenders had an easy afternoon against him.
Minutes
90
90
88
Shots
1
12
4
Shots on target
0
9
1
Big chances missed
0
5
2
Goals
0
1
0
Duels won
1/11
4/8
3/8
As you can see in the table above, Dessers has struggled across his last three starts in the division against Celtic, Dundee, and Hibernian – scoring once from 17 shots.
Seven ‘big chances’ missed and one goal in his last two appearances tells a worrying story for Rangers, as their number nine is not good enough in the vital moments to be a reliable figure in front of goal for the club.
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Therefore, Ferguson must be ruthless and drop Dessers from the starting line-up to show that consistently missing huge opportunities is not rewarded with more playing time.