Glasgow Rangers head coach Danny Rohl may still be wondering how his side were unable to see the game out for all three points after they found themselves 1-0 up against ten-man Braga on Thursday night.
The Light Blues are yet to win a match in the Europa League this season and they may not have a better opportunity than the one they had at Ibrox earlier this week.
Whilst Mohamed Diomande was sent off later in the match, the Gers allowed the Portuguese side to equalise whilst they had a man advantage, as Nasser Djiga’s wayward header caught James Tavernier out and allowed Gabriel Martinez to pounce.
The German head coach will be scratching his head and wondering what he could do to turn things around in Europe, as the Light Blues have lost four of their five matches, with two of those losses coming in his three games in the competition.
Attention, for now, will turn back to the Scottish Premiership as Rangers play host to Falkirk at Ibrox, after the reverse game at their stadium led to Russell Martin’s dismissal.
Rohl has won all four of his league games in charge of the club so far, but these league matches present an opportunity to try things out ahead of European games. For example, unleashing Oliver Antman in a new role.
Why Oliver Antman should be unleashed in a new role
You could hardly blame any supporters for getting a bit excited by the signing of the Finland international after he registered 17 assists in all competitions for Go Ahead Eagles in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore.
On top of that, Antman delivered two assists on his debut for the Gers against Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League, crossing for Djeidi Gassama and winning a penalty for Cyriel Dessers to score.
Since that impressive debut, though, the Finnish forward has produced no goals and one assist in 18 appearances in all competitions, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he has failed to deliver consistent quality in the final third.
Per Transfermarkt, all 11 of his starts have been on the right flank. With this in mind, it may be time for Rohl to unleash the 24-year-old attacker in a new role in his Rangers career.
RW
69
9 + 13
CM
22
1 + 0
LW
21
5 + 3
CF
18
5 + 0
AM
8
0 + 0
RM
8
1 + 5
As you can see in the table above, Antman has played in other positions throughout his career, on the left and through the middle, which means that the Light Blues can, realistically, use him in other areas of the pitch.
With this in mind, Rohl should unleash the Finland international in a flexible number ten position, which would allow him to drift out to the left or the right when the situation demands.
This would allow him to provide creativity on both flanks and centrally, which could help to support the two wingers whilst also providing the centre-forward, in theory, with more creativity.
In order to make this positional change for Antman against Falkirk, though, the German head coach will have to ditch one of his starters from the 1-1 draw with Braga on Thursday night.
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With this in mind, Rohl should ruthlessly ditch Youssef Chermiti from the starting line-up after his dismal showing against Braga, which would allow Danilo or Bojan Miovski to lead the line up front, with the Finnish whiz in behind them in the number ten role.
Why Rangers should drop Youssef Chermiti
Rangers parted company with sporting director Kevin Thelwell at the start of the week, after just one transfer window at Ibrox, and his lasting legacy may be the signing of the Portuguese striker.
The former Gers chief sanctioned an £8m deal to sign the forward from Everton, which made Chermiti the club’s most expensive signing in 25 years, since Tore Andre Flo’s £12m move to Glasgow.
That staggering outlay was made in spite of the fact that the 21-year-old striker failed to score in two seasons at Everton after Thelwell signed him for the Toffees from Sporting.
So far, Chermiti has delivered one goal and one assist in 14 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants this season, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he has not lived up to his price tag yet.
The former Everton attacker’s performance against Braga was the latest in an unfortunately long line of underwhelming displays from the £8m summer signing.
Minutes
89
Sofascore
5.9
Shots
3
Shots on target
0
Pass accuracy
52%
Key passes
0
Duels won
6/15
As you can see in the table above, the Portuguese centre-forward failed to offer quality on the ball, as he was particularly poor with his passes, and also lost the majority of his physical duels.
After the match, reporter Jonny McFarlane posted that Chermiti is “mind-blowingly bad” and that the striker “offers nothing”, whilst describing him as a “galling signing”.
As harsh as that is, it is hard to disagree with the sentiment because of how poor the £8m attacker’s performances have been for the Light Blues, with one goal in 14 matches far from enough for the money spent on him.
Of course, Chermiti is not at fault for the transfer fee that Thelwell agreed to pay for him. He is a young player who is clearly trying his best and competing for the Gers, as evidenced by his 15 duels on Thursday night, but the quality is not there, on current evidence.
That is why Rohl must ruthlessly ditch him from the starting line-up for this clash with Falkirk at Ibrox, because he has not shown enough on the pitch to suggest that he should be playing week-in-week-out as the main number nine.
Dropping Chermiti will then provide the manager with an opportunity to unleash Antman in this new role, because Danilo can move into a number nine position or also be dropped for Miovski to start.
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