Rangers suffered a gigantic blow in their hopes of landing the Premiership title for a second successive year as they lost 2-1 at Ibrox on Sunday.
They were beaten in the Old Firm clash as they let an early lead, handed to them by Aaron Ramsey’s near-post strike in the opening minutes, slip.
Gio van Bronckhorst’s men found themselves 2-1 down at half-time and were unable to turn it around in the second 45 as they huffed and puffed to no avail.
Time’s up
One player who struggled badly in the game was midfielder Joe Aribo and his time at Ibrox may now be coming to an end.
Van Bronckhorst must brutally axe him this summer and sanction a move back down south as his performances have been nowhere near good enough in recent months. He has not stepped up to the plate in the crunch time of the season and it is costing the Gers dearly in the title race.
Premier League side Crystal Palace are reportedly eyeing up a swoop for the Nigeria international at the end of the campaign. They are said to be lining up a £10m offer for the ex-Charlton man and the Gers must snap their hands off for it.
Ezri Konsa once dubbed Aribo’s style as “languid” and that word sums up his recent displays for the Ibrox giants as he has been looked way off the pace. This was illustrated perfectly in the defeat to Celtic, as he failed to create a single chance and managed one shot at goal, whilst failing to complete a single dribble in his 90 minutes on the pitch – as per SofaScore.
Journalist Zino Mulla called him “useless” for Nigeria in their recent World Cup qualifiers and his recent form for the Gers has been in line with that criticism.
He has zero goals and one assist in his last 10 outings for Rangers in all competitions, with only two of his performances coming in at SofaScore ratings higher than 7.0. In his last 13 Premiership appearances, he has produced one goal and three assists despite playing in a number 10 role and out wide in a front three, which is far from good enough.
The 25-year-old’s lack of consistency has let him down and that is why Van Bronckhorst must now axe him from the club ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, especially if the club can get £10m back in exchange for him with one year left on his contract.
That money can then be reinvested into multiple positions to hopefully strengthen the team and improve their chances of winning the title next term.
AND in other news, Gvb now plotting Rangers swoop for “exceptional” monster, he’d be a bargain “diamond”…