Glasgow Rangers sporting director Kevin Thelwell has been questioned by some supporters for the work that was done during the summer transfer, with signings and the appointment of Russell Martin.
It is hard to describe the former Southampton manager’s tenure at Ibrox as anything other than disastrous after he won five matches in all competitions before being sacked last month.
The ex-Rangers centre-back did not have much joy in the dugout during his second stint at the club, as a manager rather than as a player, with 24 goals conceded in 17 matches.
On top of the clearly poor decision to bring Martin to Ibrox, Thelwell’s signings during the summer transfer window have come under some scrutiny, after the new owners provided him with plenty of money to spend.
The appointment of Martin and the work done in the summer window led to a start of one win in the first eight matches of the Scottish Premiership season for the Light Blues, which has put them on the back foot in the title race.
Danny Rohl has come in and won all four of his Premiership games in charge, to his credit, but there are still several summer signings who are yet to prove their worth.
Picking out the worst summer signings for Rangers
It would be hard to look past the most expensive signing of the summer when talking about the worst signings, as Youssef Chermiti was signed for £8m from Everton. That is the most money Rangers have paid for a player since they paid £12m to sign Tore Andre Flo in 2000.
Since that mega-money move to Ibrox, the Portugal U21 international has scored one goal in 13 appearances in all competitions for the Light Blues this season, and that goal came via some rather questionable goalkeeping, as shown in the clip below.
Chermiti is not the only centre-forward signing who has struggled this season, though, as Rangers signed Bojan Miovski for a fee of up to £4.2m and he has delivered two goals in 16 outings in all competitions, per Sofascore.
Further back on the pitch, central midfielder Joe Rothwell has been a disappointment since his permanent move from Bournemouth. The 30-year-old talent was brought in to offer experience and quality in the middle of the park, but he has failed to make a positive impact.
Tackles
7
Bottom 27%
Interceptions
8
Top 29%
Duels won
16
Bottom 26%
Duel success rate
47%
Bottom 39%
Aerial duels won
4
Bottom 25%
Possession won in the final third
1
Bottom 19%
Ball recoveries
22
Bottom 36%
As you can see in the table above, the English flop ranks poorly among his positional peers in the Premiership in a host of key defensive metrics, whilst playing as a number six for the Light Blues.
Thelo Aasgaard, who was signed from Luton Town, is another summer signing who has failed to deliver, with one goal and one assist in 19 appearances in all competitions, per Sofascore, which shows that the attacking midfielder has been ineffective at the top end of the pitch.
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Whilst there are understandable question marks over all of the summer signings mentioned so far, there is a player signed by Thelwell who impressed against Livingston, and may be on his way to becoming the new Calvin Bassey at Ibrox.
After signing from Leicester in 2020, the Nigeria international only played eight Premiership games in his first season. In the 2021/22 campaign, the versatile defender featured in just three of the first nine league games under Steven Gerrard, per Transfermarkt.
The left-footed star then became a regular in the side when Giovanni van Bronckhorst took over in October and went on to play 50 games in all competitions before sealing a £19.6m move to Ajax in the summer of 2021.
Now, central defender Emmanuel Fernandez could follow a similar path to success at Ibrox after he produced an impressive display against Livingston on Saturday.
Why Emmanuel Fernandez may be the next Calvin Bassey for Rangers
As was the case with Bassey under Gerrard, the summer signing from Peterborough rarely got an opportunity to showcase what he could do on the pitch during Martin’s time at the club.
Per Transfermarkt, Fernandez featured in one of Martin’s seven league matches in charge of the Light Blues and was an unused substitute in all six of the Champions League qualifiers.
The 24-year-old centre-back only started in a 1-1 draw with St Mirren in the Premiership and a 4-2 win over Alloa Athletic in the League Cup, scoring his first goal for the club in the latter appearance.
Fernandez finally got his first start in the league of the Rohl era against Livingston on Saturday and did not disappoint. On top of scoring the opening goal in the match, making it two goals in three starts for the club, he won eight of his 13 duels and was not dribbled past a single time, per Sofascore.
After the win over Livingston, one Rangers podcaster described him as a “massive” player who “makes a difference” at both ends of the pitch because of his imposing physique.
Tackles made
0.99
Bottom 26%
Duels won
10.44
Top 1%
Duel success rate
72.4%
Top 5%
Aerial duels won
6.96
Top 1%
Aerial duel success rate
87.5%
Top 1%
Interceptions
2.49
Top 5%
Shots blocked
0.99
Top 31%
As you can see in the table above, Fernandez is one of the most dominant and impressive central defenders in the Premiership if you compare his two starts in the league to his positional peers on a per 90 basis.
These statistics suggest that the English defender deserves more chances to start and showcase his quality, which he may well get with John Souttar and Derek Cornelius both missing through injury at the moment.
If he continues to start and produce the level of performance that he has in his first two outings in the division, Fernandez could go on to be a defensive monster for Rohl and anchor the team for the foreseeable future.
Like Bassey, Rangers may look back in the future and wonder why he did not play more regularly earlier in the season, because the towering star looks like he has been a hidden gem at Ibrox.
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