Glasgow Rangers' 2-2 draw against Benfica with a threadbare side on Thursday evening proved that they have the mentality to challenge both on the continent and in the Premiership.
Philippe Clement had to totally rejig his starting XI due to several wingers being unavailable, yet he still managed to claim a share of the spoils in Lisbon, showing how much this team has grown.
The Belgian manager has had to utilise a squad mainly inherited from predecessor Michael Beale and there are some players who are not up to the required standard, especially some of his summer signings.
Cyriel Dessers is Jekyll and Hyde under Clement. One minute he is unstoppable, the next he can barely control the ball, while Danilo has missed large chunks of the season due to various injury problems and the jury is still out on him.
Sam Lammers, however, was arguably the worst of the lot and the transfer will go down as a disaster class from Beale during his dismal ten-month stint at the club.
Sam Lammers’ Rangers statistics
Last summer saw plenty of faces depart Ibrox, including cult figures Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos. Beale knew that he had to replace them before the start of the season, and he seemingly had one or two targets in mind.
Lammers was one. The warning signs should have been apparent to the former Gers manager as his goalscoring statistics over the previous two seasons were poor, and the club could have avoided the whole transfer.
Metric
Europa League
Premiership
Goals
0
2
Assists
0
1
Shots on target per game
0.3
0.9
Big chances created
0
1
Key passes per game
1
0.3
Via Sofascore
Across the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, Lammers had scored a grand total of four goals – hardly the goalscorer that the Ibrox side were looking for after Morelos' exit.
It was soon announced that the centre-forward had joined the Light Blues for a fee in the region of £3.5m from Serie A side Atalanta, and it emerged that the Dutchman was one of Beale’s main transfer targets.
Judging by his record since 2021, this was worrying and while he impressed in a pre-season clash against Newcastle United, the player was going to be judged when the competitive action got underway.
Over the next 31 matches, the former Feyenoord striker managed to score just twice and his performances were way below par.
Indeed, he ranked eighth out of the squad for goals and assists (three) in the top flight, along with ranking fourth for big chances missed (six), 25th for key passes per game (0.3), and fourth for successful dribbles per game (1.1), hardly figures that got the Ibrox faithful off their feet.
After just six months at the club, Lammers joined FC Utrecht in his homeland on a six-month loan deal, and he could well be on the move during the summer.
The Dutchman has registered four goal contributions in eight games for his new side, but the step-down looks like it could be his level.
Splashing out £3.5m on someone who has not contributed is a massive waste, especially when the club have had better players in the past who could have made a bigger impact.
Despite departing in 2019, Ryan Hardie is a man in form, and he has certainly posted better numbers than Lammers this season.
Ryan Hardie’s statistics at Rangers
During the club’s first season in the Championship during 2014/15, Hardie made his debut against Dumbarton towards the tail end of that season, scoring twice in the game to mark his first appearance with a double.
The next three seasons saw the young striker sent out on various loan spells in order to gain more senior experience.
He ended up scoring 14 goals across 34 matches for Raith Rovers during two separate loan spells, and while he ended up making seven appearances for the Gers during the first half of the 2017/18 campaign, Hardie was yet again sent out on loan, this time to Livingston.
The Scot proved his worth during 18 months with the club, netting 15 goals during his time there, and it finally looked as though he would be given a chance under Steven Gerrard ahead of the 2019/20 season.
It wasn’t to be for the centre-forward, however, and he ended up securing a move to Blackpool, departing Ibrox five years after making his debut.
Fast-forward four and a half years later, Hardie has taken to football down south with ease and is enjoying an excellent season at Plymouth Argyle.
What Ryan Hardie is up to now
Since joining Plymouth in 2020, the 5 foot 7 hitman has scored 62 goals in 198 appearances and helped the side seal promotion back to the Championship.
Having never played at that level before, this season has seen the former Ibrox starlet emerge as one of their key players, finding the back of the net 11 times in the second tier so far – significantly more than Lammers' return of three league goals for Rangers and Utrecht combined this season.
Not only that, but the 26-year-old currently ranks second in the squad for goals and assists (16) in the Championship, while also ranking second for shots on target per game (one), third for big chances created (three) and seventh for successful dribbles per game (0.6), proving that he is handling himself fairly well in the second tier this season.
Lauded as a “man on fire” earlier this season, Hardie would certainly have been a far better option to the squad than Lammers during the early part of the 2023/24 campaign, given their contrasting fortunes in the final third as forwards for their respective sides.
If he was given more of an opportunity under Gerrard, Hardie may have shown his worth and perhaps fought for a regular spot in the starting XI. He did have Morelos and Jermain Defoe standing in his way, however, and the move down south has clearly worked wonders.
His statistics this term have been better than what Lammers registered during the first half of the season and when the summer transfer window rolls around, the Dutchman could well be on the move once again.
Clement’s business in the transfer window during January was excellent, and the onus will be on him to seal more impressive signings in the next few months.
