Jermain Defoe turned 42 on Monday. Cue the social media outpouring from some of his old clubs posting clips of his greatest strikes in their colours. There were plenty to choose from to be fair.
Three hundred and five club goals with another 20 for England thrown into the bargain. Rangers never bothered with a post. Fair enough it’s not exactly a landmark birthday and in the great realm of Gers’ icons Defoe, despite playing his part in a league title winning team four years ago, won’t ever be troubling the Ibrox Hall of Fame.
But it’s also maybe just as well the TikTok/Insta/Facebook bods avoided a greetings reel for the former Spurs hero given the form of the man currently entrusted with bulging the net for the Light Blues. There’s some engagements on social media you really don’t want to be encouraging no matter how good they might be for hits.
Unfortunately for Cyriel Dessers his recent form has been more “you tube” than YouTube and any showreels in his name in years to come are more likely to be of his misses than goals. Which admittedly still sounds unfair for a man who has netted 29 times in 63 games for the club.
But the Nigeria international continues to be an utter mystery. Brilliant one moment. Brutal the next. And that’s simply not good enough for a side with serious intentions of mounting a title challenge – especially one which is five points off the top two spots after just seven matches.
It’s now four games without a goal for Dessers. Presented with a free header five yards out and between the posts with the score locked at 0-0 against St Johnstone on Sunday night he somehow contrived to not even hit the target. A week earlier he failed to bulge the net from even closer in, although at least that one forced Hibs keeper Josef Bursik into a good save. But these are big misses at times of games that will send anxiety through the stands and crank up the tension in his team mates.
When he did last score five games ago – with a double in the cup win over Dundee – they were classic one touch striker finishes. It’s almost as if Dessers struggles when he has too much time to think. And that’s a big problem if Rangers are serious about challenging Celtic and Aberdeen this season.
Those Defoe moments on social media were a stark reminder of a man who was a natural born finisher for every club he represented. But the most telling thing for Rangers is that, due to his age, the Englishman wasn’t even the first, second or third choice striker in the season they last won the league.
He was the impact sub behind Alfredo Morelos, Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten. Imagine that luxury now? Yet that’s exactly what’s required to become champions. Dessers’ competition for his starting slot consists of a project player in Hamza Igamane and a £6m striker who appears to be jinxed by injury in Danilo. If Rangers have any intentions of challenging for title then they need to invest in a striker you can hang your hat on in January.
Someone who will stare the goalkeeper out in a one-on-one before passing the ball into the bottom corner. Someone who will hit the net not the hoardings behind it when presented with a header five yards out. Someone who can hold the ball in and get his team up the park rather than chasing after a dodgy first touch.
Forget another defender or even a midfielder who can cope with the heat of the battle in Old Firm derbies. It’s the number nine that’s the glaring issue for Clement. In two months’ time Dessers will hit a landmark. The big three-oh.
It’s the kind of figure Rangers fans could realistically expect their first choice striker to be hitting in goals. But right now that looks about as likely as a Jermain Defoe statue outside the Emirates or Stamford Bridge.
More worrying for Rangers, it’s just as unthinkable that if their striking options stay as they are for the remainder of the season they won’t any chance of lifting the Premiership silverware.