Cyriel Dessers has me jumping for Rangers joy and ‘CD9’ brings a loaded message for the cynics – Barry Ferguson
Cyriel #Cyriel
It probably won’t surprise you to know that I don’t use social media.
Let’s just say it’s probably safer that way for all parties. But I am aware that it exists and I’ve got plenty of mates who keep me up to date with what’s being said on it. So I had a wee smile to myself yesterday when one of them told me about the new nickname some Rangers fans have given to Cyriel Dessers, following his goal against Hibs at Easter Road on Wednesday night. After months of wondering if the big man is ever going to cut it as a centre forward at Ibrox they’re now calling him CD9.
OK, there’s a bit of tongue in cheek about it. I don’t think anyone is seriously comparing Dessers with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo all of a sudden, the original CR7. But I’m on board with it anyway because I believe it shows there’s a lot of affection and good will out there for a guy who looks to me as if he’s desperate to prove himself as a Rangers striker.
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I’d even go as far as to say I’ve got huge admiration for the guy because I’ve sat inside that dressing room and seen plenty of others crumble under the weight of pressure that’s been on his shoulders since he arrived at the club in the summer.
Cyriel Dessers of Rangers celebrates scoring his team’s third goal (Image: Getty Images)
It’s not a matter of trying to sugar coat anything where his performances have been concerned. I think he knows himself that he’s got off to a slow start in that No.9 shirt. He’s a had a number of games that he’d probably rather forget too.
But the thing I like about him is that I’ve never once seen him go int his shell or try to hide. When he’s missed a chance he should have scored, he just rolls the sleeves up and gets on with it.
That was the case again at Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup last weekend when he should probably have helped himself to a hat-trick in the first half.
But he didn’t let his head go down or start to feel sorry for himself. He kept coming back for more until he had hit the back of the net – and that shows me that the guy has the hunger and the heart required to play a big part in what Philippe Clement is putting together.
I’ve listened to one or two of the interviews he’s done in recent weeks and it seems clear to me that he certainly gets what it means to pull on that shirt. And, believe me, that’s half the battle.
After some of the stick he’s had to endure over the first few months of the season it might have been easier for him to skulk away and think about playing his football somewhere else to give himself a bit of an easier ride.
When Clement came in he could have asked the new manager for a quiet word and asked to be allowed to leave on loan. But while that turned out to the best solution for Sam Lammers – who had a similarly difficult start to his Rangers career – Dessers simply doesn’t look like a man who is prepared to give this club up just so easily.
To his credit, he’s dug in and stood his ground. And I’m guessing he’ll have been disappointed on Wednesday night when he realised he wasn’t holding onto his starting place against Hibs, despite eventually getting his goal at the weekend.
Yes, he’ll be looking at Lammers leaving the club to go back to Holland on loan and he’ll have seen Fabio Silva come in from Wolves with an eye on his position leading the line.
But when he got the chance to come off the bench he grabbed it with both hands and scored a goal which we’d all be raving about had anyone else in the country come up with a finish as cool as that. Honestly, I jumped up off my sofa when he tucked it away because – like so many other Rangers fans – I’m genuinely desperate to see him turn things around.
Cyriel Dessers of Rangers celebrates scoring his team’s third goal (Image: Getty Images)
I also truly do believe there’s a player in there. OK, people will say he’s been hiding it well and I get that too. But he wouldn’t be the first striker to struggle to find his shooting boots for a while after moving to Ibrox.
Look at Mark Hateley as the perfect example. The big man became one of the most feared players in all of Europe during his time at Ibrox. But, for most of his first season in Glasgow, he was getting the same kind of treatment that Dessers has been copping since August.
I’m not saying Dessers belongs in the same category as Hateley either. But the comparison is valid nonetheless as it took him almost a year to really settle into life as a Rangers centre forward.
Like Dessers, Hateley didn’t shirk a thing during that time. He might have been struggling in front of goal but he wasn’t going to give up without a fight. And we all know how that turned out.
So I look at the effort and application that Dessers continues to put in every time he’s out on that pitch and I see a guy with a similar level of desire. Let’s not forget, he’s sitting on 12 goals midway through the season which is not bad for a player who’s been struggling for confidence.
Social media laps all this stuff up, of course. Sometimes people just can’t wait to have a kick at someone when they are down. But Dessers gets my respect and approval for being strong enough and determined enough to keep battling without letting his head go down.
Put it this way, that’s exactly the kind of attitude that Rangers are going to need throughout the entire squad if they are to go on from here to win the title this season so Dessers will do for me, all day long.
At lunchtime in Paisley tomorrow these guys have the chance to cut the gap at the top to just two points before Celtic kick-off at home to Ross County. St Mirren will make them work for it but I fully expect they’ll get back down the road with another win and then it’s a matter of how Brendan Rodgers and his players cope with feeling a bit of pressure of their own.
As a player I took it for granted that Celtic would win all of their games. We knew we couldn’t take the foot off the gas and hope that they might slip up.
It was all about putting the blinkers on and focussing on our own performances and results. We weren’t looking for anyone else to do us favours, we knew we had to go out there and do it for ourselves.
That’s the feeling I get from Clement and his players right now. That single minded attitude is what has dragged them back into a title race which seemed to be dead and buried before the Belgian arrived. And it’s what will be driving Dessers on as he looks to change a few opinions between now and May.