So obviously, all the talk today is about Youssef Messi, sorry, Chermiti. The hat trick hero once again showed up in a gigantic match. It was a bizarre triple goal. It defied every ounce of form he has shown this season amid the Youssef Chermiti enigma.
Ibrox Noise is amused by the whole Chermiti angle. Let us be clear. His stats this season are abominable for a £2M striker. Never mind a £11M striker. Including the hat trick it’s 9 goals in 29 matches. Before the hat trick it was obviously 6 goals in 28.
But weirdly enough, he is showing up in (some) big, epic domestic encounters. He is getting the job done in those matches.
Against Celtic, he got the unexpected brace. No one saw that coming. Likewise, against Hearts, he got an extremely unexpected hat trick. Even fewer people saw that coming. Even one or two of those goals was more than half decent.
Big Games and Strange Patterns
There is no question that Chermiti is a finisher at the right moment. He does have a goal in him. There is no question.
But we are not jumping on the Chermiti hype train just yet. He scored three goals in one big match. That is not enough in the bigger picture.
He has five goals against Hearts and Celtic. We are not ignoring that. However, we are also focusing on the many matches where he did not show up. Motherwell, for example. His miss cost us a lot of agency in the title race.
This player has made 29 appearances for Rangers. Scoring in two of those matches is not worthy of praise. What would be worthy is regular goals. It is that simple.
Numbers Do Not Lie
His stats this campaign are not good enough for a £2M striker. We have said that before. They are certainly not good enough for the price tag on his head.
We are not buying into the hype and are not easily fooled by a stopped clock working twice a day. Nor are we buying into a one hit wonder. We are not buying into a two hit wonder either!
Some Rangers fans always say give him a chance. Those are the same fans who overreact to one good match. This is the fickle nature of football support.
They demand one thing. Then they overreact when something contradicts it. We are used to this mentality.
We are not digging at Rangers fans but we do observe the inconsistent views/behaviour. But the fact remains. Chermiti has not delivered this season.
Value and Expectations
Two bizarre aberrations do not count as value for £11M. Not for us. We are not taking his moment away either. He had a great match and of course got an assist as well. He deserved the praise for that match and we are not p*ssing on that.
There is no question he won the match. Ryan Naderi was nowhere. But Chermiti has performed too few times to earn/deserve major credit overall.
He did not show up at Motherwell and was a shambles. He missed an open goal.
When manager Danny Rohl backed him, fans groaned in disgust. Now they call him the best thing since sliced bread. We do not subscribe to that.
Chirmiti has a strange knack. Some players have it. They are awful in most matches. Then they show up in big encounters.
Historical Comparisons
We have seen this before. Malik Tillman was one example. He did little in many matches. Then he appeared big time against PSV Eindhoven. He provided the winning assist. That took us into the Champions League.
Going further back, Alex McLeish trusted Hamed Namouchi. The Moroccan often showed up in big games. He offered more there than against St Mirren, for example.
Some players are like this. Chermiti seems to be another one.
But £11M value. Maybe not.
Final Thoughts
We are not going to hate the boy. We do not despise him for goodness’ sake. However, we still resent his criticism of fans after Kilmarnock.
He had played terribly. Then he scored once. He attacked supporters. We remember that.
Many fans forget these things. We do not.
That said, we will not completely attack him either. If he keeps scoring, we may change our minds.
But until then, he remains far far too expensive for what we have signed. The Youssef Chermiti enigma will continue.
Sorry about that.