Originally published at: https://www.rangersnews.uk/news/three-outside-alternatives-for-rangers-to-dominic-solanke/
As the mini transfer saga involving him coming to a close, we look at three outside alternatives to Dominic Solanke. The Liverpool forward looks likely to seal a move to Crystal Palace next month. The lure of English Premier League football has proven just too powerful to turn down for the forward. Rangers were one…
None of them are what we need , Brewster is far too young to be a regular , Shankland is completely unproven at this level and Russell is not a striker and doesn`t score enough goals . If we want to have a go at winning the league this year we need a bit of quality.
Jonny Russell is a fine forward player and would do a job for Rangers in my view. Brewster is the same age as Middleton. He could very easily make an impact up here if given quality service, but couldn’t play every game due to his age.
Shankland would score goals in the Premiership, I think that’s unquestionable.
All about opinions though. The fact Gerrard is talking about potentially bringing Hardie back though suggests to me any signing might not be proven quality.
1 Like
Shankland is a no brainer. He can score for fun, can use either foot and score with the head. We have wasted more money and bigger risks in the last year. Even if he wasn’t a success he could easily be loaned or sold back to championship club with little difficulty. Remember, many top class stars had humble careers to begin with. Morelos for all his effort doesn’t convert enough chances. He’s a 1:4 striker. To win a league we another 1:2 guy weighing in with 20 plus goals. Shankland deserves a chance. We could loan Ayr Andy Dallas until the end of the season and develop him.
You kind of make my point about Brewster , Middletons not a regular so why would he be .We need someone ready to play regularly , How can you say Shankland unquestionably would score goals for us , based on what ? He didnt make it at Aberdeen so how can you be so sure , it would be a gamble and I would rather it was one for next season. As for Russell he has no goalscoring pedigree anywhere he has played and he is a rabid tim , so again I say no thanks.
Shankland going by his goal record in the championship and when you look at the goals he scored. To say he couldn’t score goals against the likes of St Mirren, Motherwell, and Kilmarnock is madness. Saying he didn’t make it at Aberdeen is totally unfair given he’s improved and has been given an opportunity at Ayr.
As for Russell. Saying he is a “rabid tim” should have no relevance. Could name a bunch of famous Celtic-supporting Rangers players. Fine player who would do a job at Rangers in my view.
I didnt say he couldnt score against those teams although I think you are being a bit disrespectful as we have had a few strikers in the past who couldn`t score against these teams in Scotland .If its that easy we should recall Rudden or Hardie or play Dallas . I am saying it would be a risk if he was the only striker we signed as he has no pedigree of scoring in the top league .We are trying to win the league so to gamble on a guy who failed to score in the league before would lack intent in our part .By all means sign him on the pre contract with a view to playing next season although I say again scoring goals for Ayr in a lower league is no real indication that he would do the same for us .Nicky Clark is an example of this.
I keep hearing the Nicky Clark argument but Shankland is a different bucket of mackerel. Players develop at different rates at different places. Remember that we struggled to get out of the Championship and Shankland is banging them in. He can obviously handle himself and would improve in our structure and training.
The question is, who else do you get? Louis Moult? (Not a bad shout and a good guy) Some academy Ejaria type who doesn’t like tackles in February?
I used Nicky Clark as an example of a players who scored lots of goals but when he stepped up a league with us , couldnt cut it.I didnt say they were the same ,it was an example to disprove the argument that Shankland would unquestionably score goals in the Premiership.How do you know that he would improve with us , you dont , so therefore it is a risk to rely on him to score the goals to help us win the league . He was a failure at Aberdeen so how can we assume he will cut it with us. If we cant find anyone else bring back Hardie and Rudden and lets see how they develop in our structure and training .They`ve never really had a go at the top level so lets try them .
Every signing is a risk, look at Lafferty for example, who’s not stepping up to the plate.
Using Rudden or Hardie as examples of players to bring back doesn’t work. Their goal-return isn’t anywhere near as impressive as Shankland’s. Yes, Hardie has been injured, but Shankland is in much better form.
You give Shankland service and he scores goals though. His five-goal show at Dundee United as stunning as an example. I think he deserves the chance and would be fantastic for Rangers.
1 Like
I wouldnt have signed Lafferty either based on his previous spell at Rangers when he wasnt the goalscorer some people seemed to have hyped him up to be.I`m sure though. if he dropped down a division he would score plenty .Rudden and Hardie are ours so if we are going to gamble with a player with no proven goalscoring record at the top level we should try our own.If everyone who is bumming up Shankland have actually seen him play on a regular basis then Ayr must be attracting massive crowds . Just to be clear though , I have no problem with Rangers giving the guy a chance ,I do have a problem if we are risking our best chance to win the league in years by making an unproven lower league striker our only striker signing this January.
Think we might of dodged a bullet with Solanke,he failed a medical at CP and is apparently out for a month already at Bournemouth, hopefully it won’t interfere with Defoe coming to Ibrox. If we do manage to get Defoe could we not now get Shankland on a free and let him stay at Ayr for the rest of the season? He’s got to be worth a go especially as Alfredo will probably be moving on after helping to clinch #55 and the cup.