Fair to say, there have been better times to be a Rangers supporter.
On Sunday, Philippe Clement‘s Gers were dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park, beaten 1-0 at Ibrox, with James Tavernier seeing a 96th minute dramatically saved by an inspired Calum Ferrie.
This is the Light Blues’ first Scottish Cup defeat against lower-league opposition since being beaten by Berwick Rangers 58 years ago, while, remarkably, it is the first time ever that they’ve been defeated at home by a side from a lower division in the competition’s 152-year history.
This has only intensified the scrutiny on already under-pressure manager Clement, but his players are simply not doing enough, making it hard to believe that one of the Premier League‘s best youngsters was plying his trade in Govan not that long ago, valued 25 times more than Rangers’ newest recruit.
Lyall Cameron: Rangers future midfielder
Last month, it was announced that Dundee midfielder Lyall Cameron had signed a pre-contract agreement with Rangers, which will see him make the move to Glasgow in the summer.
Technical Director Nils Koppen described Cameron as a “talented young player”, while Scottish football writer Kai Watson asserts he “has the potential to play at a higher level than the Scottish Premiership”.
Meantime, speaking on Premier Sports’ Scottish Football Social Club, former Hibs and Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart described Cameron’s move as financially low-risk, with Alan Pattullo of the Scotsman believing they’ve secured “one of Scottish football’s hottest young talents”.
The two clubs will need to agree a compensation settlement; if not, a fee will be decided by a tribunal, as Connor Barron’s move from Aberdeen was last year, which ultimately saw Rangers pay £639,920 plus up to £250,000 in “conditional performance-based payments”.
Cameroon has ten goals and eight assists to his name this season, having bagged a brace against Airdrieonians in the Scottish Cup on Saturday, with his current manager Tony Docherty adding the move is a “credit” to his consistent “level of performance”.
Thus, it’s hard to dispute the fact that Rangers have secured a top talent for next season, but they had an even greater talent on their books not that long ago.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
Underwhelming Rangers ace is now starring in the Premier League
The 2021/22 season will always be remembered fondly by Rangers supporters as the year they reached the Europa League Final in Seville.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team dumped out Borussia Dortmund, Crvena Zvezda, Braga and RB Leipzig throughout the knockout stages, before a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the final.
An unused substitute that night at Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán: Amad Diallo.
Back in January 2021, having made just five senior appearances for Atalanta, totalling 59 minutes, Manchester United paid a whopping £37m to secure Amad’s services, a huge outlay for such an inexperienced youngster.
Well, after making little instant impact in the Red Devils’ first team, accumulating only nine appearances in 12 months, the Ivorian joined Rangers on loan in January 2022, scoring little over four minutes into his debut against Ross County in Dingwall.
However, after that, he did little else in a Rangers jersey, making just 13 appearances in total, only six of which were starts, his two other goals for the club coming in inconsequential post-split fixtures, the most telling statistic being the fact that he remained an unused substitute for all nine Europa League matches.
Fast forward three seasons, it’s hard to believe that, as Rob Dawson of ESPN puts it, Amad has been Manchester United’s best player this season, with former Man United midfielder Owen Hargreaves adding “he makes things happen” in big moments and fans “just have to love watching him”.
Transfermarkt believes his current value to be £21m, the highest it has ever been, while the aforementioned Cameron is valued at under £1m.
So, let’s analyse how the youngster has improved since his brief loan spell in Glasgow.
|
Amad season-by-season (21/22-present) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Statistics |
21/22 |
22/23 |
23/24 |
24/25 |
|
Appearances |
14 |
42 |
12 |
36 |
|
Minutes |
570 |
3,016 |
471 |
2,324 |
|
Goals |
3 |
14 |
2 |
9 |
|
Assists |
0 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
|
Goals – xG |
-0.1 |
+4.9 |
+0.5 |
+2.6 |
|
Dribble success % |
33.3% |
42.5% |
47.8% |
45.9% |
|
Progress carries |
4 |
107 |
11 |
125 |
As the table shows, Amad’s breakout year came immediately after leaving Rangers, spending the following campaign on loan at Sunderland in the EFL Championship.
Former Black Cats’ captain Corry Evans said, despite the old idiom that one should never fall in love with a loan player, supporters “absolutely adored” Amad on Wearside, describing him as “unstoppable”, while Dougie Critchley of Sky Sports added “Sunderland gave him a platform that he really needed at that time”.
It’s fair to say Rangers did not see the best of the Côte d’Ivoire international, Tom English of BBC Sport describing his spell at Ibrox as “underwhelming“, hence why fans surely could not have foreseen just how good the winger would become.
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