£7m Rangers duo have been so poor they make Miovski & Chermiti look good
Glasgow Rangers head coach Danny Rohl still may not know who his first-choice number nine is at Ibrox, despite being nine matches into his reign in the Scottish Premiership.
Bojan Miovski looked nailed on to be that player after he scored three goals in two matches against Kilmarnock and Ferencvaros, including a spectacular overhead kick in the latter.
However, the Macedonia international then lost 11 of his 13 duels, per Sofascore, against Hearts and journalist Joshua Barrie noted that Rohl was “frustrated” with his hold-up play in the game.
Who Rangers' first-choice striker should be
Youssef Chermiti came off the bench to score a consolation goal late on against Hearts in the 2-1 defeat at Tynecastle, his second goal in all competitions this season.
The Portugal U21 international has put himself in contention to return to the starting line-up against Motherwell with that strike, especially with how poor Miovski’s hold-up play was.
Despite that goal off the bench against Hearts, though, it still seems like the former Aberdeen centre-forward is the best option for Rohl to go with as his first-choice number nine in the here and now.
25/26 Premiership
Miovski
Chermiti
Appearances
22
19
Goals
5
2
Big chances missed
7
5
Big chances created
1
0
Assists
1
1
Successful dribbles
7
5
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Miovski has been far more impressive in front of goal on the whole this season, with more than twice as many goals, but both strikers have failed to deliver consistent quality.
Whilst Chermiti and Miovski are yet to prove themselves to be amazing signings due to their lack of goals, there is a Rangers duo signed in the summer who make them look good by comparison.
The £7m Rangers flops who make Chermiti and Miovski look good
Former sporting director Kevin Thelwell was given the resources to complete a squad overhaul for Russell Martin in the summer transfer window, and £7m was spent on a pair who have flopped badly so far.
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The Light Blues signed right winger Oliver Antman for a fee of at least £3.5m from Go Ahead Eagles and attacking midfielder Thelo Aasgaard for a fee of £3.5m from Luton Town.
For a combined outlay of £7m, Rangers surely expected an immediate impact, with goals and assists, from the two attacking midfielders this season, but that has not been how it has played out.
Per Sofascore, Aasgaard has produced one goal and two assists in 25 appearances in all competitions for Rangers. That is made even less impressive by the fact that his assists were a pass to Djeidi Gassama on the halfway line before his long-range strike against Kilmarnock and a long clearance up the pitch that Chermiti scored from against Hearts.
Antman, meanwhile, has produced no goals and two assists in 20 appearances in all competitions for the Light Blues. His only goal contribution in the Premiership so far was his cross for James Tavernier’s goal in the clip above.
This means that the £7m pairing have combined for just one goal and four assists in 45 games between them, which is a dismal return from two attacking players, particularly given the nature of Aasgaard’s aforementioned assists.
All competitions
Player
Goals
Assists
Bojan Miovski
5
1
Youssef Chermiti
2
1
Thelo Aasgaard
1
2
Oliver Antman
0
2
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Chermiti and Miovski have at least combined for seven goals and two assists in their time on the pitch this season for the Gers, seven times as many goals as Antman and Aasgaard have produced.
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Whilst the two strikers have not been amazing performers, given that neither have provided consistently in front of goal, their combined output looks good by comparison to the other signings made by Thelwell.
Antman was ruled out for eight weeks with a muscle injury at the start of this month, which means that it will be a while before he is able to get back on the pitch to prove people wrong and show that he was worth the £3.5m that was spent on him.
Aasgaard, meanwhile, needs to start showing an improvement in his performance level immediately, because the Norway international has not offered anywhere near enough quality as an attacking midfielder.
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