Rangers star was a huge flop under Martin, now he’s a bigger hit than Miovski
Glasgow Rangers felt the absence of Bojan Miovski through injury in their narrow 1-0 win over Hibernian at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership on Monday night.
£8m summer signing Youssef Chermiti stepped up to lead the line for Danny Rohl against Hibs, but failed to provide a goal or an assist as he continues to struggle in Glasgow.
The Portugal U21 international has scored one goal and provided one assist in 18 appearances in all competitions, per Sofascore, since making the move from Everton in the summer.
Why Rangers missed Bojan Miovski against Hibernian
Miovski missed the game with a minor injury, which is not expected to keep him out against Hearts, and his absence was felt because the Gers were not clinical with the chances that they had.
Rangers, per Sofascore, had 19 shots on goal and created 1.55 xG worth of opportunities, yet Emmanuel Fernandez’s header ended up being the only difference between the two sides.
Miovski has stepped up for Rohl in recent weeks, with three goals in his last two appearances for the club, and looks ready to be the leading man for the Gers in the number nine position, which is why it was a shame that he was unavailable to make the most of their chances against Hibs.
The Macedonia international had only scored two goals in 19 appearances for Rangers, per Sofascore, before his recent turnaround in form, which speaks to how much he has improved under Rohl.
Despite his impressive goalscoring exploits of late, though, Miovski is not the summer signing who looks like the biggest hit under new management.
The biggest winner for Rangers since Rohl's appointment
Since Rangers opted to appoint Rohl as the successor to Russell Martin, Mikey Moore’s career at Ibrox has finally taken flight and he looks set for a strong second half to the season.
Under the former head coach, the Spurs loanee was accused of looking “like a young boy” by pundit and former Premiership defender Charlie Mulgrew, who claimed that the forward did not look “ready” to play for Rangers.
Given that Moore produced no goals and one assist in ten matches under Martin, per Transfermarkt, it is hard to argue that he did not look like a flop of a signing prior to Rohl’s appointment.
Appearances
6
5
Goals
0
2
Key passes
2
4
Key passes per game
0.3
0.8
Duels won
13
16
Duels won per game
2.1
3.2
Dribbles completed
4
6
Dribbles completed per game
0.8
1.2
As you can see in the table above, though, the England youth international has significantly improved in the Scottish Premiership since the German head coach took the reins at Ibrox.
Not only has Moore been far more productive at the top end of the pitch, with two goals and more than twice as many key passes per game, but he has also won 1.2 more duels per match, which suggests that he is not looking like a ‘young boy’.
A key part of his ascension under Rohl has been the positional freedom that has been afforded to him. Under Martin, he looked uncomfortable when stuck on the touchline on the wing, whether it was on the right or the left, but the new manager has allowed him to float around the pitch.
The 18-year-old attacker’s first goal for the Scottish giants against Dundee last month was a good example of his new-found freedom on the pitch, as he drifted in from the right to score a brilliant goal.
Moore, who created one chance and completed 93% of his passes (Sofascore) against Hibernian on Monday, is now showing that he can be a key player for the Gers for the rest of the season, until his loan from Spurs expires.
The youngster has stepped up to show that he is ready to play for Rangers, after it did not look like the case under Martin, with a consistent run of impressive performances under Rohl.
He has been an even bigger hit than Miovski under the new head coach because the striker failed to score in his first ten appearances for the boss in all competitions, per Sofascore, which shows that he has not shown great consistency yet.
It is now down to Moore, and Miovski, to show that he can provide regular quality on the pitch over the course of an entire season in the months to come, after making an immediate improvement under Rohl.
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