Rating the Rangers after Killie – how are the new boys settling?

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Rating the Rangers after Killie – how are the new boys settling?
Kieran Dowell in action v Killie (Credit Rangers FC)

It is of course incredibly early days and these will all be subject to rigorous change (we hope, in some cases) but Ibrox Noise is going to have an early ratings for preseason combined with Kilmarnock re: the new signings.

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It was hard to rate in friendlies, but adding a serious match to them does help, so without further ado, here we go:

Jack Butland:

Has done nothing wrong, and until Killie was unable to really showcase himself, but we definitely saw a glimpse of his talent at Rugby Park. Big, decisive, coming for cross balls, good with the ball at his feet and able to make a save – in one match he’s already impressed more than the hapless Jon McLaughlin has his whole career. It’s a solid 7 so far.

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Dujon Sterling:

Curiously overlooked for Killie, we’ve seen just 20 minutes of him, and in those twenty minutes he impressed infinitely more than the man he replaced. Solid on the ball, positionally sound, defensively focused and able to get forward, signs were good. So naturally he was nowhere to be seen on match day. 7

Leon Balogun:

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Benched to give the Ducker his place back, Balogun has been pretty much faultless all preseason, and we do wonder how much he’d have helped beside Souttar, the rearguard we’d hoped to see. He’s a total pro, no Maldini, but does not let his team down. 7

Kieran Dowell:

One half decent display v lower league opponents in Hamburg, but that’s it. He’s been rank average in every other match, and the same v Killie. Looking every inch the player Ibrox Noise believed we’d signed. Not the type to elevate the team. 5

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Jose Cifuentes:

N/A

Abdallah Sima:

Ibrox Noise warned hugely against this signing, but he’s been worse than even we feared. Abysmal. Can’t dribble, has no awareness, has no skill, and offers absolutely nothing. Passing level was the worst of all the starters v Killie and just looks lost. Thank God it’s a loan. 4

Sam Lammers:

We thought he had a solid one v Killie, and the stats back that up to an extent – dribbled more than any other Rangers player and was barking loudly at other players trying to make things happen. Lost the ball a few times. His passing was also admittedly poor and it was an overall step down from preseason, but he wasn’t as horrible as so many fans and media want to pin him as and he worked harder than most. Add to that a good preseason and we give him an overall 6

Danilo:

One nice touch was all he mustered in his cameo. Looks technical proficient but nowhere near enough to judge him on. N/A

Cyriel Dessers:

Struggling with the system, which isn’t playing any more to his strengths than Beale would have alleged it would to Colak, hence selling him. Looks absolutely lost as to how to play, or what this manager wants. Been very, very poor and cutting a frustrated figure already. 4

You will all probably claim Lammers has been absolutely rubbish, in a bit of revisionism after you all reckoned he shone in preseason, but aside that, we don’t think there will be a lot of disagreement on these ratings.

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