OPINION
Any trust that Rangers manager Steven Gerrard had in striker Umar Sadiq is completely gone if his lack of appearances is anything to go by.
Since moving to the Gers on loan in the summer from Roma, the forward has not managed to convince Gerrard that he is the player capable of spearheading the attack – his one league appearance only goes to reinforce that.
So the natural question that Rangers fans will be asking themselves is why their club have kept Sadiq on if he is not playing.
Gerrard clearly favours the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty up front, and it does not look like the youngster is going to usurp them as first choice any time soon.
The Gers take on Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup semi-final on Sunday, and even though Sadiq is the only recognised striker in the squad at the moment, it is highly unlikely that Gerrard will use him.
This is actually rather concerning for the frontman and his future at Rangers – if cannot convince the manager that he can play now, then it is likely that he never will.
This is why Rangers must rip up his loan deal at the first opportunity in January, as he is clearly is not getting the experience that he wants by staying at the Ibrox.
He could find another club that would appreciate him a lot more than Rangers do, and if anything, his lack of game time is seriously hampering his progress.
The Gers could do a lot better than Sadiq, and it is obvious that his career at the club is as good as dead.
He is simply wasting the club money and he has no chance of playing senior football on a regular basis, so it is a dire situation for all involved.
Sadiq and the club are much better off cutting all ties and tearing up his contract, leaving him as a free agent to move elsewhere – which means that Rangers will save pennies with his wages off their books.