Glasgow Rangers made it four wins from four matches in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday when they beat Livingston 2-1 at Ibrox, thanks to goals from Emmanuel Fernandez and Mohamed Diomande.
Danny Rohl, who has now won all of his league games in charge of the club so far, was not entirely pleased with his team’s performance in the narrow win against Livi, though, as evidenced by his post-game comments below.
The former Sheffield Wednesday head coach wants to see improvement from his players in the weeks and months to come, as the Light Blues look to ensure that they can make something successful out of this campaign.
Rangers are already nine points adrift of first place in the Premiership, per Sofascore, but they are still in the Europa League and have the SFA Cup to play for in the second half of the season.
As Rohl said after Saturday’s game, the Light Blues simply need to improve their performances if they want to be in contention to win things by the business end of the season.
That means that individuals need to step up and become reliable performers, as too many of them have been inconsistent at best. One of those inconsistent players has been summer signing Djeidi Gassama.
Why Rangers should be concerned by Djeidi Gassama's form
After a return of four goals in six Champions League qualifiers, per Transfermarkt, the French forward looked like he was a steal of a signing at £2.2m from Sheffield Wednesday.
He was a shining light in those European matches during Russell Martin’s dismal tenure, and even added a goal in the league phase of the Europa League against Sturm Graz in a 2-1 defeat in the manager’s penultimate game in charge.
Unfortunately, though, Gassama has been unable to deliver consistent quality at the top end of the pitch in his time in the Premiership so far, with one goal and one assist in 12 appearances in the division, per Sofascore.
After his stunning start to life at Ibrox in the early European games, there may have been some hope that he could kick on to become the club’s new Ryan Kent, who produced 33 goals and 56 assists in 218 outings for the Light Blues, per Transfermarkt.
Appearances
12
Starts
11
Goals
1
Minutes per goal
972
Conversion rate
4%
Big chances created
0
Key passes per game
0.8
Assists
1
As you can see in the table above, Gassama has not provided a Kent-esque presence on the left flank for the Scottish giants in the Premiership this season, with two goal contributions in 12 matches.
His inconsistency, as evidenced by his contrasting form domestically and in Europe, should be a concern for Rangers, given that he is starting almost every league game yet failing to deliver quality on a consistent basis.
This is why Rohl may need to look at alternative options in the left wing position in the coming weeks, as the Gers may need a new starter in that role if Gassama is unable to add more consistency to his domestic displays.
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The Daily Record recently noted that Wales international Rabbi Matondo has returned to training after a lengthy injury lay-off that had seen him unavailable for the entirety of Martin’s tenure, and speculated that he could be in for a chance under Rohl.
Why Rangers should give Rabbi Matondo a chance to shine
It would be completely understandable if any Rangers supporters were not too enthused by the prospect of the Welsh forward returning to the team to get another chance, given that he has played zero minutes this season and spent the second half of last season on loan at Hannover.
However, if he is now back in training and is fit and available for selection, the German head coach should provide him with a chance to shine, because it has been his availability rather than his ability that has been an issue throughout his career in Scotland.
Per Transfermarkt, Matondo missed 20 games in his first season at Ibrox through injury, then 19 in his second, and 23 for Rangers and Hannover combined in the 2024/25 campaign, which shows that he simply has not been available enough in recent years.
When fit, though, the former Manchester City youngster has shown that he has the quality to be a difference-maker on the left flank, with eight goals and 11 assists in 64 appearances, per Transfermarkt, for Rangers.
Matondo, who was once lauded as “electrifying” by former manager Ryan Giggs, has averaged a goal or an assist for the Gers every 139 minutes on average, per Transfermarkt, which is an incredibly impressive return.
Appearances
218
24
67
Minutes
17,732
1,823
2,641
Goals
33
6
8
Minutes per goal
537
303
330
Assists
56
2
11
Minutes per assist
317
911
240
Minutes per goal contribution
199
228
139
As you can see in the table above, Gassama and Kent have both failed to deliver goals and assists as frequently as the Wales international in their respective Rangers careers.
One area in which Gassama particularly struggles is the creative side of the game, as evidenced by his return of an assist every 911 minutes, whilst Matondo has assisted goals even more regularly than Kent did.
This does not mean that the Welsh whiz will automatically become a star if he stays fit and plays week-in-week-out for Rohl, because he has not played a single minute this season and could need time to settle back in to playing competitive football.
However, his statistics for Rangers throughout his career suggest that he has the potential to be Rohl’s own version of Kent as a lightning-quick winger who can provide a threat as both a scorer and a creator of goals, which is something Gassama has failed to do so far.
Fewer touches than Butland: Rohl must bin "missing" Rangers flop after Livi
Rangers did claim another league win over Livingston on Saturday, but one player went “missing” at Ibrox, registering fewer touches than Jack Butland.
ByBen Gray