We had immensely high hopes for Andreas Skov Olsen on Ibrox Noise. The Danish international has an outstanding CV in part, albeit a poor one in others. Nevertheless, Ibrox Noise, like most other fans, hoped for the outstanding Skov Olsen that we had seen with Denmark and Club Brugge to sign on the dotted line at Rangers. Alas, we have received the Wolfsburg one.
He looks sluggish, lost, and extremely out of pace. This is no longer match fitness. He has had eight appearances and has looked exactly the same. It is abundantly clear that this is not a permanent signing that will take place unless Rangers get him at a drastically reduced price. We cannot quite fathom how a player who has hit his levels of stats for his country looks this lost at Rangers.
Pressure
This is a high pressure club. Rangers are must win. Skov Olsen would have known that. But he looks completely out of his depth and frankly a bit lost. Skov Olsen is not someone that we expect to have a weak personality. He is a reasonably well travelled player. But he just looks like a lamb. He looks soft, modest, and really lacking in any grit, power, or determination. There is a distinct absence of hunger here with this lad. It is a dire shame.
He has three assists and goals in eight appearances. That is not the worst numbers of all time. But it is hardly the vintage of a £15M attacker. He just has not delivered. We are now deep into March. That is well over a month. It is six or seven weeks that Rangers have had this lad. He just has not kicked up the gear yet.
Debut
Ibrox Noise was generous with Skov Olsen’s debut. It was okay. It was reasonable. We gave it a solid 7 or 8 out of 10. But that is as good as he has been. There has been nothing else apart from the key assists and goals. Now of course those in themselves are the currency of football. So it is a bit harsh to criticise a player who has at least delivered some.
But the simple fact is that as a winger, attacker, and playmaker, he looks absolutely lacking in threat or drive. There is no pace and is no aggression. There is no overlapping. All he really does is very similar to what DeMarcus Beasley did back in the day. He holds the ball up wide as an anchor. Then he kind of cuts back or passes into the middle. There is no penetration. There is no, dare we say it, Ryan Kent esque driving at defenders and getting the ball in.
Kent
Rangers fans did not know what they had with Ryan Kent. Ibrox Noise did. He was a dangerous winger who, of course, lost his way at the end and left rather in ignominy. But at his peak for the club he was excellent. He was worth the £7.5M that we had spent.
Look at Skov Olsen in comparison. There is just no rage there or anger. There is no aggression or impetus in his play. It is very passive and flat. Consequently, unless Rangers can get a hugely discounted deal on this boy, this is not someone we will sign.
He is already at the point of being a benchwarmer. Yes, he is still starting every match, but he is not producing it. He risks, unless he remarkably picks up his level, being dropped. His form has gone absolutely rotten.
His Wolfsburg period was terrible and the Bologna one was not much better. That was the big sign that was alarm bells and a red flag. Ibrox Noise did point that out. But we were utterly convinced he would deliver the Club Brugge level of performance. He just has not. It has been the Wolfsburg and Bologna one.
Mitigation
Now of course there is a mitigating factor here. We also mentioned this with regards to Michael Beale and Philippe Clement. We were in favour of both of those managers. But we overlooked the fact that they had excelled at clubs where the pressure was not that high.
QPR is not exactly a high pressure club. Club Brugge is nowhere near the pressure of Rangers. Both of them crashed and burned eventually under the pressure at Ibrox.
Skov Olsen, of course, also excelled at Club Brugge. Once again we found ourselves comparing like for like. We compared Brugge with Rangers and thought he would do that at Ibrox. But the pressure is not the same. We did not think that would necessarily apply to players in the way that it does to managers. But it does.
Either way, Skov Olsen has not done it at Rangers and has not shone. Unless he dramatically picks up his game in the coming days, weeks, or months, there is no way that this club will make that one permanent.