Before the game at Parkhead there was a strong feeling amongst the Rangers fans that Ryan Kent would renew his deal with the club, especially due to his strong relationship with Michael Beale. He has since looked like he has ‘downed tools’ in his performances and reports came out yesterday that Burnley had officially made an approach to the English winger.
Now fan opinion has almost completely changed and the fan base has almost accepted the reality that he will be moving to pastures new in the summer. That then begs the question, should Michael Beale keep playing him for the rest of the season? If he’s going to leave and isn’t giving 100% then why should he keep his place?
Is it time for someone else to come in and show what they can do from the left? In 29 SPFL appearances this season he has three goals and eight assists which equates to a goal contribution every 220 minutes, not stellar numbers. Let’s look at who could potentially play there for the rest of the season;
Todd Cantwell – This is the position he played in mostly for Norwich in his time there and has proven he can be effective cutting inside. He’s been so effective through the middle recently though and it seems unlikely that the manager would want to change that. He current has two goals and four assists in ten SPFL matches, that’s a goal contribution every 126 minutes. More than capable of being a threat considering how good his ball carrying and passing have been so far, it just seems much more likely that Beale sticks with him playing through the middle.
Rabbi Matondo – Rabbi’s redemption is something which most fans want to see considering the clubs outlay on the Welsh international. He came on last weekend and looked sharp and bright, alongside picking up a great assist. In his limited minutes and appearances this season (14 appearances and only 6 starts) he has picked up four assists. That comes out at a goal contribution every 150 minutes, 70 minutes less than Kent.
He definitely deserves a chance to show what he can do but it’s unclear whether the manager will give him a run in the team towards the end of the season, do you think he deserves it?
Alex Lowry – This one may seem a bit left field but the youngster is incredibly talented and has been through a tough time with injuries and personal trauma. He started one game this season against Motherwell at Ibrox and he played off the left and was impressive in his willingness to get on the ball and try to make things happen.
He is potentially the most exciting prospect at the club and deserves the chance to showcase what he’s about in the SPFL. A flair player who loves to get on the ball and has tremendous vision and passing range, would you like to see him get more minutes from now till the end of the season?
There are other options, of course, like Sakala or Wright who could get minutes out there but the above three choices are the most exciting, on paper.
How would you deal with the situation? Would you keep playing Kent or put him on the bench? And if he does get benched who would you like to see come in to replace him?