We admit it, it was a very mischevous headline, sorry, but from what you can see of the CV, Rabbi Matondo has rather undelivered at Ibrox.
We’re talking an 11-cap Wales international at just 22, with experience of the German Bundesliga, the English Championship and the Belgian Jupiler Pro.
10 goals and two assists in 27 in Belgium is good for one of his age, and while two goals in 32 in the Bundesliga is not so impressive, Schalke are a desperate team who always hang around the bottom four of the league. Matondo has also shone for the Man City U21, with 11 goals and 5 assists in 31.
In short, the kid has an excellent CV, and when one looks at his numbers and his reputation, it’s very, very good, and we can see why our scouts wanted him.
It absolutely hasn’t worked out at Ibrox yet, but ‘while it was only St Mirren’, Matondo shone on his cameo last week, with Ryan Kent nowhere to be seen and the Wales international managing an assist, which is more than Kenty’s done of late.
Are we agreeing with Rangers peers who say give the kid a chance?
Yes, we are. We see no harm now that the league is mostly gone (Celtic’s slip up was probably immaterial) in giving players like him the stage to impress.
It’s not like we’ve got easy games coming up, Rangers will face the top five plus Celtic twice over the next 6 (or 7) matches, so if Rangers and Michael Beale want to check out the mettle of guys like Matondo, now is absolutely the time.
There’s a cup defence to play for, but it’s not like our attackers have been shining against Celtic lately, with James Tavernier left to do all the scoring. So if there’s a time to give Matondo the shout, it’s now.
Would we start him v Aberdeen?
Yes, we would. He did enough v St Mirren to give Beale reason to – the worst that happens is he struggles and it doesn’t work. But the best that happens is we finally see, properly, why Rangers signed this lad.
The data for him is good, even this horrific season in his career has still yielded 5 assists in 22 appearances which is ok for someone who hasn’t settled too well.
We will not slate Michael Beale if he picks Matondo at Pittodrie.