Throughout the £4.5 million man’s Rangers career, the story has largely been one of feast and famine.
And, after going hungry in the last few outings – scoring only once in nine games as Philippe Clement’s side dropped four massive points against Dundee and Ross County after that 3-3 draw with Celtic – Cyriel Dessers was in no mood to let his stomach rumble again, sinking his teeth into Hearts and dining out on a place in the Scottish Cup final.
Dessers, for all the mockery that has come his way at Ibrox, is now just one shy of breaking the 20-goal barrier during his debut season in Glasgow. A tally of 19, lest we forget, is more than Alfredo Morelos managed in three of his five years at Rangers.
There’s been some big goals, too, at big moments. That weaving wondergoal against Real Betis in the Europa League will take some forgetting. That Hampden Park brace, meanwhile, put Rangers one big step closer towards a brace of domestic cups in 2023/24.
Cyriel Dessers fires Rangers into Scottish Cup final
“I know he’s taken a fair bit of criticism, but one thing you can’t label against the big man is his effort,” former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson tells Go Radio.
“It is always there, and he gives 100%. He does lack some quality in terms of his link-up play and he does miss a lot of chances. But I was delighted for him getting a double.
“I think he gets unfair criticism at times. He is not the perfect striker but he does a lot of good things for the team. I thought he was very good overall (against Hearts). That double takes him to 19 goals which is a pretty decent return. He is a guy who doesn’t even start all the time so people need to be mindful of that.”
19 goals now from summer signing
Even Peter Grant, the Celtic legend, is putting his green-and-white allegiances to one side, ahead of the first Old Firm Scottish Cup final in 22 years.
“He scores goals and misses chances”, Grant, who spent 15 years on the other side of Glasgow in the 1980s and 1990s, says of Dessers. “Tell me a striker that doesn’t do that?
“The strikers that don’t do that are the bad ones because they don’t get in the positions to miss them. That is very important. It was very difficult for him at the start of the season but I don’t think it was down to the individual player, as I felt at the time that too many players were just getting shoved into positions and not playing many minutes.
“So, to score that amount of goals with the minutes he has had is excellent. We know he misses chances, but all the top strikers do that because it is part of their job. If they don’t get in there to have those chances the manager will crucify them.
“So fair play to him.”
Feast or famine he may be, but Dessers is always sniffing around the buffet cart, waiting for any morsel to fall onto his plate. The former Heracles, Feyenoord and Cremonese man may never establish himself upon the hallowed halls of Rangers legends, but another brace against Celtic in a Hampden Park decider will solidify ‘cult hero’ status at the very least.
