Rangers fans have delivered their verdict on Malik Tillman as the German-born American’s Rangers loan goes into its closing stage, and that verdict couldn’t be more mixed.
The Bayern playmaker, 20, has mostly impressed the majority of supporters since arriving at Ibrox from Bavaria in the summer, but has also come under some criticism over attitude, application and decision-making, plus his tendency not to produce in big matches.
And in a straw poll on Ibrox Noise, our readers were far from in agreement over their opinion of Tillman.
Many fans wanted to bring him in permanently, citing that while he has a few rough edges, he will be ‘worth a fortune’ in a few years, and has great resale value. Others vaguely agreed but baulked at the reported £4.5M-£6M transfer fee it would cost to get his permanent signature.
However, a sizable portion absolutely weren’t interested, reasoning the cost was too high, he goes missing in too many big matches, and he’s got a bad attitude.
While Ibrox Noise couldn’t be more on the side of those not interested in permanently recruiting him, it does show that, while we know Rangers fans are fickle, Tillman is certainly a divisive player and it’s far from a strong majority who want him on Rangers’ books permanently.
Michael Beale has made the claim that he 100% wants the American, but then he’s also said Ryan Jack is a 100% starter so we know what utter rubbish the manager talks most of the time. Indeed, the only time Beale was ever slightly negative on a player was about Rabbi Matondo, and that’s a hard one to spin any other way without looking like a used-car salesman.
But Tillman is a gamble. He’s had two big contributions at Ibrox – one was the assist for Antonio Colak in Holland, a huge assist which got us into the Champions League, and the second was the curious number of headers he’s scored.
Unfortunately he lacks consistency, good decision-making, physical presence, pace, and a work ethic. He gives off the impression he thinks he’s ‘better than that’ and off the pitch criticised former Giovanni van Bronckhorst in an unacceptable manner, while bigging up himself to Bayern and not really committing to Rangers.
He is of course, a boy, but then age is no excuse – your personality is your personality and we don’t see other players of his age behaving in that way.
But we digress.
He’s not a player we feel like we need, we have players in his position with better work ethic and who we already own.
But there a lot of fans who do want him.
It will be the club’s decision at the end of the day.