Glasgow Rangers head coach Philippe Clement was under fairly intense pressure ahead of the club’s League Cup semi-final clash last weekend.
Football Insider reported that the Belgian boss was one game away from being sacked by the board, who are said to be surprised by how poor the start to the season has been.
The outlet claimed that there would be no way back for the former Monaco boss if his side lost to Motherwell at Hampden Park in the cup clash on Sunday.
Thankfully, the Light Blues avoided a defeat and secured their place in the final of the League Cup, where they will face off against Celtic at the national stadium next month.
However, Motherwell did find themselves 1-0 up at half-time and supporters may have already been preparing their list of ideal replacements for Clement in their head, given the report prior to kick-off.
But goals from Cyriel Dessers and Nedim Bajrami in the second half completed the turnaround and ensured that the former Pro League champions remains in post for now.
Nedim Bajrami's form this season
The scorer of the winning goal against Motherwell, Bajrami, has been one of the success stories of Clement and Nils Koppen’s recruitment, since his move to the club during the summer transfer window.
He was brought in from Italian side Sassuolo and has hit the ground running in Glasgow, even if his goal contributions do not suggest as much, as the winger has only produced two goals and one assist in ten matches.
The Albania international has been hugely let down by his teammates in the final third, as they have failed to make the most of his impressive creativity, both domestically and in Europe.
Of course, you could argue that his return of two goals in ten games is not ideal and that is an area for improvement, but Bajrami deserves to be on more than one assist.
Appearances
6
3
Goals
1
1
Key passes
8
9
Big chances created
3
4
Assists
0
0
As you can see in the table above, the 25-year-old magician has created a whopping seven ‘big chances’ in just nine appearances across the Premiership and Europa League this term.
However, his teammates have missed all seven of those ‘big chances’ and that is why the attacking midfielder is only on one assist in ten games, when it could quite easily be eight assists.
At the time of writing (06/11/24), Football Transfers has his current Expected Transfer Value at just €4.8m (£4m) but it is unclear as to whether or not his valuation would be higher if his teammates had helped his assist tally to be significantly higher than it is.
There is one former Rangers forward, though, who is currently worth even more than Bajrami, whilst playing in similar positions, and the Scottish giants may look back on their handling of his situation with regret.
How much Rangers sold Sam Lammers for
In the summer transfer window, Clement and Koppen opted to sanction a permanent exit for Sam Lammers after his loan spell with FC Utrecht during the second half of last season.
The Ibrox side cashed in for a reported fee of £2.5m and that represented a slight loss, in initial figures, on the £3m that the club had paid to snap him up from Atalanta in the summer of 2023.
Lammers arrived from the Serie A side under Michael Beale’s management at the start of the 2023/24 campaign and struggled to find his best form in Glasgow.
Appearances
17
Starts
10
Goals
2
Assists
1
Key passes per game
0.3
As you can see in the table above, the left-footed attacker was given plenty of chances to impress by Beale, and Clement in the short time he worked under the Belgian boss.
In those 17 appearances and ten starts, Lammers, quite simply, did not do enough in the final third, with less than one key pass every other game on average.
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The forward was then sent out on loan to Utrecht for the second half of the season before being sold to Twente for £2.5m in the summer, and that has turned out to be a howler of a decision from the Gers.
Why selling Sam Lammers was a howler
There is no hiding away from the fact that Lammers struggled in the first six months of his career in Scotland but it was his first time in the country and he may have needed time to adapt to the division and to life at Ibrox.
His form in the Eredivisie throughout 2024 suggests that Rangers may have cashed in on him too quickly, whilst his current market value indicates that they did not get good value from their summer sale.
At the time of writing (06/11/2024), Football Transfers has his current Expected Transfer Value at €6.2m (£5.1m) and this means that he is currently worth more than Bajrami.
Lammers caught the eye with his performances on loan with Utretch during the second half of last term, with a staggering return of ten goals and three assists in 18 Eredivisie appearances.
His superb form was not enough to convince Clement that he had the quality to be a part of his squad, though, and the attacker was sold to FC Twente.
Appearances
11
xG
4.55
Goals
5
Big chances created
2
Assists
1
As you can see in the table above, Lammers has enjoyed a strong start to the current campaign with his new club, with seven goals and ‘big chances’ created combined in 11 outings.
Meanwhile, no Rangers player has managed more than four goals in the Premiership and only three players have found the back of the net more than two times.
The Dutchman’s market value and his impressive statistics for both Utrecht and Twente suggest that Clement messed up by selling him, particularly for £2.5m, and that the Gers should have been more patient with him after his early struggles.
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