“You don’t sign Defoe not to play him”

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“You don’t sign Defoe not to play him”


Regular readers will remember we postulated this concept vividly when the signing of the ex-England international was announced – after all, given the hype, his reputation and everything else attached it appeared to be a fair point.

Well, if the past five or so matches are anything to go by, yes, you do. Sort of.

It seems Jermain Defoe has been signed for depth, for quality options, and to cover Alfredo Morelos’ various absences. Occasionally he’ll partner him too, as he did for his effective cameo last night, but we can, it seems, observe that Jermain Defoe is not a starter and seems quite happy to play a healthy bit-part role.

The fact is Defoe has goals in him – he hadn’t put one away since the first half of this year, but at Rangers he’s scored 3 in 5, which is honestly as much as anyone could have asked from a 36-year old striker.

He won’t hold the ball up much, he won’t win much in the air and he probably won’t earn a lot of fouls – but what he will do, when called upon, is put the ball in the net and link up better than expected with Morelos.

Defoe left Bournemouth in search of first team football, and while he’s certainly a bench player more often than not at Ibrox, Steven Gerrard is managing Defoe well – giving him a heavy and healthy involvement but not shoehorning him into a role he can’t deliver.

Yes, he was the man up top recently during Morelos’ suspension, but while results were mixed for him in that role, he’s definitely contributing. And the balance of keeping him happy while not giving him a starting jersey every match seems to be perfect.

We were uncertain of his role, of how Gerrard would fit him in – he seemed an almost unnecessary signing in a way, and even a couple of weeks ago we were puzzled as to his purpose or reason for signing.

It appears a lot more clear now, and Stevie has managed him rather well.

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7 COMMENTS

  1. I would say that Defoe has done very little in a way but his return of 5 goals is excellent given his limited minutes of the pitch and I suspect he might even have the best minutes to goals ratio in the country. I don't mean it in a bad way but if we are prepared to effectively play with 10 men and hope to get the ball to Defoe to nab a goal then he can be a big success. But was the same not true of Windass?

  2. Also in January there was still a risk that someone might make an offer for Morelos that the Board couldn’t refuse. Also Lafferty had a series of injuries and problems. So SG has taken out insurance which will include giving Defoe some game time. Same with Davis. We seem to be back in profit. A win on Sunday and we are on our way. Next season we will be much stronger. Oh and do you think Lennon,s luck will hold this weekend in Edinburgh.What a welcome awaits him. Last night Hearts man deserved to get sent off. Exactly same foul as Celtic guy did against Hibs. Sportscene called it right last night but said nothing re Celtic player. Scott Brown was given yellow for studs into Hearts man. Everyone said ref was right.But certainly much worse than McGregor at Aberdeen. And Morelos was powder puff compared to Brown. Yep, refs are judging Gers by different standards.

    • Back in profit mate Phil the chancer has it out there today and the timmys are running with it that we are back in to get a loan of even more cash than previously from Close Brothers. This joker better telling lies again or we are in Sep shit. Fuckin Phil the liar .

  3. Defoe oozes class – the value he is bringing to the overall set up should not be underestimated. If our young players ( not just the strikers) can’t learn from this guy, they might as well pack up and go. He’s meticulous in his training, can play ANY forward role (check some of his Sunderland performances) and his conditioning is outstanding. Don’t worry about him running out of steam, especially with the way he’s being managed. And has anyone noticed he also seems to be enjoying himself!

  4. Defoe – Still a Wee Topper of a Player! 👍🏻

    Scoring Goals …We can't ask more than that

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