OPINION
Rangers winger Daniel Candeias needed a big performance against Kilmarnock on Saturday having produced a woeful outing against Aberdeen on Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, though, he got it very wrong at Ibrox. He was near anonymous from start to finish and couldn’t make any meaningful contribution to the 1-1 draw. It was certainly no surprise to see him mercilessly hooked at half time.
The 31-year-old is relied upon as a major source of creativity on the right hand side of the attack, but he provided very little of that against Steve Clarke’s side.
He just couldn’t get going on Saturday and it was very dispiriting to watch. Steven Gerrard puts him in the team for him to make things happen and he simply didn’t on this occasion. To produce two performances as bad as Candeias’ last two is quite something, although not something to be proud of obviously.
The problem for Gerrard is that he doesn’t have too many options on the right hand side. This team wasn’t built equally and it shows in how often Candeias has played this term despite enduring an inconsistent season.
He has featured 45 times already this campaign – a hugely impressive total for any player. He is one of the first names on the team sheet but Gerrard must be seriously worried by what he’s come up with this week.
Again, he needed to show his manager something after his Scottish Cup embarrassment but he fell flat on his face here. He was completely ineffectual on Saturday and this will do nothing to endear him to the Gers support – or his manager, who must be sharpening the axe for a much-needed change.