Former Leeds United striker slams Rangers boss over Dessers early substitution against Dundee United

Former Leeds United striker Ross McCormack has questioned Rangers manager Philipe Clement for his decision to take off Cyriel Dessers at half-time in their 1-1 draw with Dundee United at the Ibrox Stadium.

The home side were trailing at half-time, courtesy of Sam Dalby's strike in the 36th minute and that led to Clement taking off Dessers for Brazilian forward Danilo.

Danilo then went on to justify the decision to bring him on as he assisted Václav Černý for the equalizer in the 66th minute to help the Light Blues rescue a point from the game.

It was a quiet afternoon for Dessers, whose only shot was blocked, registered just eight touches, completed three passes and was dispossessed four times.

With Rangers in need of an equalizer, Clement couldn't exercise patience with the Nigerian striker and had to take him at the end of the first 45 minutes.

McCormack wasn't pleased with the decision of the Rangers manager to take off the veteran forward, asserting that his recent performances were enough to have kept him on in the game as well as not hidden his surprise that he is still in charge of the Scottish giants

"Listen, nothing shocks you in football but if they were going to do it, they would probably have done it before the international break. I think by all accounts, it's not happened yet but I think it may be delaying the inevitable to be honest.”he told BBC's Scottish Football Podcast via footballscotland.

"Most Rangers fans would have been happy by the news [if Clement was sacked]. I don't think there's a right or wrong time to do it, I just look at things that are happening right now at Ibrox and I'm not really comfortable with it.

"You look at the game at the weekend where he takes Dessers off at half-time. I mean, is that really deserving? He brought them back into the game in the semi-final, away to Olympiacos in the Europa League... I think there's a lot going on at Ibrox right now. Sometimes you can see the tide turning, maybe they get a performance or a result. But nothing seems to be going right.”

Clement is under huge scrutiny as his side are miles off table-toppers Celtic and could lose his job soon if there is no upturn in form.

The Light Blues' only chance of winning silverware as it stands is the Scottish League Cup, having advanced to the final of the competition, where they will face Celtic on December 15 at Hampden Park.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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