Ryan Naderi might just be the worst striker the Rangers have had in decades. There, we said it. This absolutely farcical £5M gamble might be good at running about like a headless chicken, but finesse on the ball and scoring goals he lacks and does not. We knew this was an absurd gamble from the German third division for a guy who had never played at a level any higher. Consequently, he had never withstood the pressure that one is under at Ibrox.
A baffling recruitment decision
But ahead with it Rohl went. As we have said before, his agent admitted that Ryan Naderi had been a bit of a panic signing by Rangers. They had urgently wanted him immediately because other deals had fallen through.
But the fact that Naderi was going to be a summer signing in the first place really does question the quality of Rangers scouting or Rohl’s taste in players.
His ratings on Sofascore rather paint the truth:
Naderi is an honest guy. We are not going to slaughter his personality. He will work like a dog to try to be a success at Rangers.
But then, so would we, and we are no good at football either.
A failing Rangers front line
OK, that is a little bit harsh. But he is certainly not a Rangers level striker. We do not actually have one of those these days.
Chermiti, Miovski, and the enduring Naderi are pretty much the options. They are hopeless. All three are utterly dreadful.
Chermiti has had his three moments in the sun. But in the other 29 matches he has looked extremely poor. He has lacked any kind of finesse whatsoever. He and Miovski were the big two expensive signings in the summer. Of course Naderi has been added to that.
A literal £21M front line, and there is barely a single goal in there.
Responsibility for the mess
This has to be heavily on Kevin Thelwell and Russell Martin. Of course it also lands heavily on Danny Rohl and current sporting and technical director Dan Purdy.
Rangers recruitment has been an absolute nightmare. Nadeiri is the pinnacle of this. We would like him to be a success. But we certainly do not understand why, given how bad he has been, Bulgaria allegedly want to cap him.
The Bulgaria connection
He has a parent who has a connection to Bulgaria. Admittedly that national team is not exactly the best. It is the job of national team scouts to pick up fringe players who are eligible. They then see if they would be a useful addition.
This is especially useful for lesser countries whose levels are much lower. They want to find players at moderate to decent levels with a connection. Naderi obviously has one to Bulgaria. So good luck to him if he does get that call up.
But either way, even although it is deep into March, we have seen no sign that he is even a Berwick Rangers level striker, never mind Rangers.