Clement must drop 4/10 Rangers flop after final failure

Glasgow Rangers were unable to defend their crown in the League Cup final at Hampden Park against their closest rivals on Sunday afternoon.

The Light Blues were beaten 5-4 on penalties after a back-and-forth match at the national stadium that had plenty of twists and turns throughout.

It was Philippe Clement‘s side that took the lead in the game, as Albania international Nedim Bajrami found the back of the net on the rebound after Hamza Igamane’s initial shot was saved.

However, goals from Greg Taylor and Daizen Maeda put Celtic 2-1 up in the second half, before Mohamed Diomande bundled in from close range to make it 2-2.

The Hoops may have thought that they had sealed the win when Nicolas Kuhn swept the ball into the back of the net from Arne Engels’ cutback in the 87th minute, only for Danilo to head home from close range a minute later to send the game to extra-time.

Rangers battled throughout extra-time to take the match to penalties and were ultimately let down by Ridvan Yilmaz, who was the only player to miss from the spot.

Ridvan Yilmaz’s performance against Celtic

The Turkey international has rarely been seen on the pitch for the Gers this season, with two starts in the Scottish Premiership and one start in the Europa League,

Perhaps his lack of match action across all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign contributed to his performance at Hampden Park on Sunday because the full-back looked way off the pace after his introduction in place of Jefte.

Glasgow World handed the former Besiktas star a dismal player rating of 4/10 and cited his big miss from open play, blazing over the bar, and his miss from the penalty spot as the reasons for that poor rating.

However, it was not only his lacklustre ball striking that let him down against Celtic, as his involvement in the third goal for the Hoops in the final left a lot to be desired.

Yilmaz, with no pressure to do so, completely overcommitted to a sliding interception on the halfway line, with Ianis Hagi and Nicolas Raskin already ahead of him, and allowed Kuhn and Engels to race clear on the right almost unchallenged.

That meant that Kuhn could carry the ball down the right flank under no pressure before sliding a pass down the outside of Robin Propper for the Belgian midfielder to cross back to the German to find the back of the net.

The Rangers defender, therefore, cost the team with his play in and out of possession in the cup final, which is why he was one of the worst performers on the pitch.

Clement must, now, consider ruthlessly binning Yilmaz in the January transfer window after interest from Besiktas in re-signing him in the summer, as he has become second-fiddle to Jefte and his cup final disappointment suggests that that is unlikely to change any time soon.

Yilmaz is not the only player who should be brutally binned by the Belgian head coach, though, as central defender Propper also endured another tough afternoon in a Light Blues shirt.

Robin Propper’s performance against Celtic

The summer signing from FC Twente did not enjoy his best match for Rangers in the cup final failure on Sunday, as his work on and off the ball left plenty to be desired.

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Glasgow World handed him a dismal player rating of 4/10, on par with Yilmaz, and wrote that he looked ‘nervous’ in possession, whilst struggling to deal with the pace of the likes of Kuhn and Kyogo Furuhashi.

Propper was questionable for all three of Celtic’s goals. He was, perhaps, unfortunate for the first one as Taylor’s effort from distance deflected off his boot and into the back of the net, although the Dutchman could have made himself bigger to avoid such a cruel deflection.

The former Eredivisie titan’s lack of pace was on show for the second goal as he failed to help out his centre-back partner Leon Balogun, after the Nigerian’s mistake allowed Maeda to race clear – and past Propper – to score the second.

Propper was then left isolated by Yilmaz’s poor decision on the halfway line for the third goal and got caught between two minds, retreating to defend the box or getting out to challenge Engels, and ended up doing nothing to prevent Kuhn from scoring.

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Why Robin Propper must be binned

Whilst it may be a bit premature to cash in on the centre-back, given he only joined in the summer, Clement must brutally bin him from the starting line-up and consider his options in that position in the January transfer window.

Propper was brought in to replace Rangers veteran Connor Goldson in the summer and has yet to live up to the Englishman’s legacy at Ibrox so far.

The 31-year-old flop has only featured in nine Premiership matches this season and has been an unused substitute in the last two league outings, as John Souttar – who is now sidelined through injury – and Balogun were preferred ahead of him.

As you can see in the table above, Propper has been far less dominant than Goldson was in his position in the 2023/24 campaign, winning a lower percentage of his duels on the ground and in the air.

Opposition players have also found it far too easy to get the better of him in dribbles, as he has been dribbled past far more often than the English colossus was.

These statistics suggest that Rangers have not adequately replaced Goldson, yet, and that is why Clement should bin the Dutch dud and look to land an upgrade on him in January.

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Whether or not that includes selling him or not, Propper must be dropped from the starting XI in the second half of the season because his performances, including his failure in the cup final, have not been good enough.