'No connection at all' - Kris Boyd delivers brutal takedown of Rangers strike duo as attitude called into question
Rangers boss Danny Rohl paired Youssef Chermiti and Ryan Naderi up front together but the pair drew a blank for a second consecutive game
Kris Boyd has issued a scathing assessment of shot-shy Rangers strike duo Youssef Chermiti and Ryan Naderi - insisting both players lack the necessary quality required to fire the Ibrox club to title glory.
The Light Blues limped to a slender 1-0 Scottish Premiership victory over St Mirren in Paisley on Sunday, with left-back Tuur Rommens on target as Danny Rohl’s side escaped with all three points, albeit it was a far from convincing performance.
The win ensures that Rangers, Celtic and leaders Hearts are separated by just three points after the Hoops came from behind to beat Motherwell at home and the Jambos slumped to a 1-0 defeat away at Kilmarnock on Saturday.
However, Boyd reckons that goal difference could well be the deciding factor in the destination of the title come the end of the season and he doesn't view Rangers’ preferred attacking pair scoring nearly enough over the remaining eight league games to convince him the silverware will return to Ibrox.
“They don't play together," Boyd admitted on Sky Sports. “They're never near each other. The two of them just go as long as they possibly can, or the two of them come as short as they possibly can. If you're going to come short then you're expecting Mikey Moore or (Djeidi) Gassama to go in behind but that doesn't happen.
“Rangers, in terms of the forward areas, there is no connection at all right now. You're asking the question of 'How do you get this to work?' I'm not sure it does work. Both of them play as a lone striker. Both of them are willing to run, chase the ball into channels and try to cause the opposition problems.
“But I'll say it again, there is a real lack of quality from Rangers in the forward areas in terms of going and killing games off. They'll come up short. The chances that Rangers had in that first half, they should have been out of sight.
Kris Boyd: Chermiti and Naderi don’t bring much to the table
“I don't know what Chermiti is doing. It's as if he's thinking 'I might score today but see if I don't... it doesn't really bother me'. You used to come off a football pitch absolutely fuming if you didn't score a goal. That was my mindset.
“People will say 'You didn't contribute much more' but that's what happens with goal scorers. They'll take themselves away and sacrifice themselves to get into areas where they know if chances are created, they'll convert them. That is their part of the job. That is what you do in a team.
“I look at Naderi and Chermiti right now and I don't see them bringing much else to the table either. They might run around; anybody can run around. You've got to have that little bit of quality and I don't see it.
“Chermiti's Celtic goal, that was quality. But it's as if 'this is a big game, I'm going to rock up here and show everybody in the world watching this game'. But I don't see enough quality at the top end of the pitch that's going to drag Rangers to winning a title.
“It's as if they're quite happy that they're 15 or 20 yards away when the ball goes into the box. That's what they're going to be judged on so get yourself into an area where you're going to score goals. There's no better feeling in the world than scoring goals on a regular basis and if you can do it to lead your team to a title, that's what's at stake for Rangers right now.
“They've got an opportunity to win the league and I don't see anybody to say 'You know what? I'm going to be the man today to go and get that second or third to kill teams off.'
“We've seen it in previous seasons - goal difference can play a huge, huge part. That was an opportunity for Rangers to go and get three or four goals. They didn't do it. All of a sudden you're hanging on towards the end where something might happen.
“But I don't see that ruthlessness in Rangers anymore, especially from their strikers. Cyriel Dessers was someone who was criticised on a regular basis. He wasn't and out-and-out goal scorer, but he scored goals.”