Glasgow Rangers picked up their first Scottish Premiership win of the Danny Rohl era at Ibrox on Sunday when they swept Kilmarnock aside with a 3-1 victory.
The Light Blues did find themselves drawing 1-1 at the break, because of an equaliser from George Stranger, but a dominant second-half showing turned their afternoon around.
There was a first Gers goal for summer signing Youssef Chermiti, signed from Everton for £8m, to wrap up all three points, after strikes from Derek Cornelius and Danilo had the hosts in front.
The Portugal U21 international, who had not scored a club career goal since the 2022/23 campaign with Sporting, found the back of the net from the edge of the box to end his drought.
There was also a first goal of the Premiership season for Brazilian striker Danilo, who headed in the second goal, in what was just his second league start of the campaign, per Sofascore.
Rohl should be delighted with the nature of the win and with several of his players, but there were some stars who still failed to deliver on the pitch. Thelo Aasgaard was one of them.
Why Thelo Aasgaard was underwhelming against Kilmarnock
The summer signing from Luton lined up in the middle of the park alongside Nicolas Raskin and Mohamed Diomande, but failed to provide much in the way of quality in possession of the ball.
Per Sofascore, Aasgaard ended the match without any shots or key passes in 81 minutes on the pitch, which shows that he offered very little at the top end of the park.
The English-born attacking midfielder, to his credit, did complete all three of his attempted dribbles in the game, showing good composure under pressure in tight situations, but the end product in the business end of the pitch was not there.
That has, unfortunately, been a recurring theme of Aasgaard’s season with Rangers in the Premiership, aside from his brilliant performance against Dundee United for interim head coach Stevie Smith, when he scored a phenomenal solo goal.
Kilmarnock
Danny Rohl
0 + 0
Dundee United
Stevie Smith
1 + 4
Falkirk
Russell Martin
0 + 0
Livingston
Russell Martin
0 + 0
Hearts
Russell Martin
0 + 1
Celtic
Russell Martin
0 + 0
St Mirren
Russell Martin
0 + 0
As you can see in the table above, Aasgaard did not offer much of a threat as a scorer or a creator under Russell Martin, with no goals and one chance created in five appearances, and that was also the case for Rohl’s first match, with no shots, goals, key passes, or assists.
It is now down to the manager and the player to find a solution to his struggles for the Light Blues because his performance against Dundee United shows that the quality is there for him to be a real difference-maker for the Gers.
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Whilst Aasgaard will be disappointed with how he performed in the middle of the park for the Gers, it is Bojan Miovski who should be dropped from the starting XI for his display, as he was even worse than the midfielder.
Why Danny Rohl should drop Bojan Miovski
The former Sheffield Wednesday head coach should ruthlessly ditch the summer signing from Girona from the starting line-up after a dismal performance against Kilmarnock on Sunday.
Miovski was hauled off at half-time by Rohl after an underwhelming first-half display that may leave the manager wondering about who his first-choice centre-forward will be, particularly after Danilo’s contribution.
The left-footed star did have the ball in the back of the net in the first-half, shortly after Kilmarnock’s equaliser, but it was later ruled out for offside because he was slow to get back in line with play.
That was his only moment of note in the half as the rest of his performance left a lot to be desired. Miovski did not get involved enough in the build-up phases of play and failed to impose any physicality on the Killie central defenders to hold the ball up for the Gers.
Minutes
81
45
Shots
0
0
Key passes
0
0
Touches
50
5
Possession lost
10x
4x
Passes completed
34
0
Duels won
3/6
0/2
As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old centre-forward was worse than the Norway international at Ibrox on Sunday, as he contributed virtually nothing to the team, whilst Aasgaard, at least, won half of his duels and was more reliable with the ball at his feet.
No goals, no assists, no shots, no chances created, no duels won, not even a pass completed. Losing the ball four times from five touches is simply not up to the standards that should be set for a Rangers number nine, which may be why Rohl decided to withdraw him at half-time.
Rangers need more from Miovski because he has not offered enough at the top end of the pitch since his move from Spanish side Girona in the summer transfer window.
Since his switch to Ibrox, the left-footed marksman has only scored two goals in ten appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants, once in the League Cup against Hibernian and once in the Premiership against Falkirk.
Miovski has scored one goal and missed three ‘big chances’ in six appearances in the Premiership to date, per Sofascore, which shows that he has not provided enough of a goal threat for a player who is in the team almost solely to score goals.
This is why Rohl should ruthlessly ditch the misfiring centre-forward from the starting line-up for the club’s trip to Hibernian in the Premiership in midweek.
Danilo and Chermiti, with their goals against Kilmarnock, have shown that they are ready to step up and deliver for the Scottish giants, which provides the manager with alternative options in that position.
