Rangers striker Umar Sadiq flopped in his big opportunity.
Umar Sadiq was the fall guy for Rangers as the loanee flopped in a woeful performance in the club’s semi-final defeat.
Rangers’ top two strikers were unavailable and summer signing Sadiq was thrust into the spotlight.
The big stage was too much for Sadiq against Aberdeen, with the striker unimpressive.
Sadiq looked under prepared, and considering his lack of game time, who can blame him.
Sadiq has not featured for Rangers’ first team since the beginning of September and had not started a game for the club.
To throw him in and expect him to win the game against Aberdeen was always a long shot.
The question is whether Gerrard could have prepared him better, or deliberately chose not to.
Rangers’ striker problems for this fixture were no secret, ever since Alfredo Morelos picked up a suspension a month in advance.
Surely over the ensuing weeks, Gerrard could have integrated Sadiq into the squad and given him a few more minutes off the bench to settle in.
This would have helped the Nigerian acclimatise further and be less likely to suffer stage fright in his big moment in the semi-final.
What’s worrying, is that Gerrard may have simply misjudged the striker.
It seems possible that the Rangers boss wanted to keep Sadiq as a secret weapon, and unleash an element of surprise on Aberdeen.
That decision to hold Sadiq back was an unnecessary act of gamesmanship, to try and secure an edge over Aberdeen. It backfired.
Sadiq should have had minutes leading up to the game, in order to give the Gers the best chance of winning.
The striker may be a flop, but Gerrard did not put him in the best position to succeed.
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