Kevin Kelsy used his first Rangers interviews last week to stress that pressure does not intimidate him and that he is ready for the added responsibility that comes with life at Ibrox.
As proving grounds go, he could hardly have chosen a more demanding one.
The Venezuelan’s 20-minute appearance at the end of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Motherwell was, on the surface, a fairly measured introduction. After flying across the Atlantic to complete his four-year Rangers contract and taking part in only a couple of training sessions, a touch of stiffness meant there was little need to rush him into anything more strenuous.
Yet events have moved quickly. At just 22, Kelsy already finds himself facing the kind of moment that can define a new signing’s early months. Rangers need someone to seize control of their attack and drag the season back onto firmer ground. The call has come early, and loudly.
Even manager Derek McInnes acknowledged the frustration that rippled around Ibrox when Lawrence Shankland, later seen leaving the stadium on crutches with a leg brace, was forced off after only eight minutes with a hamstring injury. Ryan Naderi was sent on in his place.
To Naderi’s credit, the German soon delivered the decisive moment. He pounced on Alex Paulsen outside the Motherwell penalty area after the goalkeeper made a dreadful mess of a routine backpass from Martin Moormann, then calmly rolled the ball into an unguarded net for the only goal of the game.
Kevin Kelsy now has to provide the clinical edge Rangers were missing against Motherwell
South Korean forward Kim Min-su fails to convert a first-half penalty during Rangers’ 1-0 win at Ibrox
Lawrence Shankland looks dejected as he leaves the pitch after suffering a hamstring injury
Still, much of the Rangers support had come hoping for a first proper glimpse of the £9million signing from Portland Timbers. They wanted to understand why the club had committed such a significant fee to a relatively untested talent when Shankland, Naderi and Bojan Miovski were already available as striking options.
That look eventually arrived late in the match. No serious verdict can be reached on a player after just 20 minutes, but Kelsy appeared composed enough and physically capable. Rangers will need that impression to harden into something more substantial very quickly, because the next fortnight could have a major say in the direction of their campaign. They require a focal point, and they require one now.
Naderi did his job against Motherwell and deserves credit for it. But would you stake everything on him leading the line in next Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Celtic at Ibrox, then again in the league meeting at Parkhead the following weekend?
It’s hard to see how anyone would. There are reasons why Kelsy was brought in and they must involve the management team feeling they need more of a personality player leading the line in the games where it really matters.
He can maybe look at Wednesday’s Premiership visit of St Mirren as a chance to sharpen his teeth. Perhaps McInnes will choose to use him sparingly again as he settles into his new environment.
Make no mistake, though, Kelsy has to be the go-to man for these Old Firm extravaganzas. Like it or not, that mighty transfer fee alone dictates it. He is match-fit from playing in Major League Soccer and should be ready to go, ready to show that he is ready to act on those sentiments about handling expectation and showing he’s capable of taking considerable weight on those shoulders of his.
Let’s get the elephant in the room ushered out the door first. Kelsy missed a sitter against Motherwell.
With 75 minutes on the clock and Rangers pushing hard to get the second goal that would have killed this stone-dead, a low cross from the left from James Penrice took the slightest deflection and sat up perfectly for him around ten yards out.
It was a moment he would have dreamed of. A perfect opportunity to get off to a flier. He got it all wrong, though, getting his left foot under the ball and sending a pretty dreadful effort off the top of the crossbar.
Other than that, though, the 6ft 4in forward looked fine. He put himself around well, showed there is an ability to link up play there, suggested there is going to be good workrate and a willingness to run at defenders in his armoury.
Goals should come too. Anyone watching his highlights reel from Portland – he left having scored ten times in 22 outings in all competitions this season – can see that he can finish.
And if there’s something Rangers really need right now, it’s a finisher. Shankland had come up with the goods in the previous two league wins with three goals in total away to Aberdeen and Falkirk. Yet this, outwith Naderi’s early piece of opportunism, was an exercise in real wastefulness.
South Korean attacker Kim Min-su missed a penalty on the half-hour – an atrocious effort sent spectacularly wide of Paulsen’s right-hand post – and spurned at least one other great chance before making way for Kelsy.
Penrice also hit the woodwork, seeing a close-range effort come off the upright, and Daisuke Yokota had a shocker when sending the ball high and wide when having the ball passed to him inside the area by visiting midfielder Lukas Fadinger.
Paulsen also made good saves from the lively Djeidi Gassama and Kim with Nico Raskin having a second-half effort cleared off the goal-line by Moormann too.
Chance-creation certainly wasn’t an issue for Rangers here. It was sticking those chances in the pokey that was a problem and that, let’s be quite frank, is what Kelsy is here for.
When you push so hard for a guy, put that kind of dough into making a deal happen at the tail-end of the window, wrapping him up in cotton wool isn’t an option.
Rangers played reasonably well here but some of the reactions felt a little extreme. It was also difficult to agree with McInnes’s assertion that Motherwell were completely nullified.
Home keeper Ivor Pandur had four saves to make, after all, and Fadinger passed up a great opportunity when just not hitting the ball early enough towards the end of the first 45.
It was a definite step forward for the home side, though, and there’s no denying what further progress being made in these upcoming games with Celtic would do too.
Beating Martin O’Neill’s side at home in a knockout cup competition would really present an opening to change the narrative for McInnes and his men in the wake of those European disasters at the hands of Jagiellonia Bialystok and Jablonec earlier in the season.
Not losing to them at Parkhead the following weekend would also prevent any yawning gaps opening up between them and the defending champions in the title race.
These are big games for this new-look Rangers, all right. Massive ones that could have a massive say on what comes next.
The clever money says they won’t get as many goalscoring opportunities in those games as they did against Motherwell. That’s why the big money that saw them go all-in on Kelsy has got to result in him being invited to put his words into action in a starting jersey.
Rangers (4-2-3-1): Pandur 7; Sterling 7, Fernandez 7 (Godfrey 90), Makhanya 7, Penrice 7; Raskin 7, Neil 7; Curtis 6, Kim Min-su 6 (Kelsy 70), GASSAMA 7 (Yokota 70); Shankland 5 (Naderi 8).
Manager: Derek McInnes 7.
Booked: None.
Motherwell (4-2-3-1): Paulsen 4; Sparrow 6, Girdwood-Reich 6, Moormann 6, Longelo 6 (Williams 74); Hodge 7, Fadinger 6; Maswanhise 6 (Bjorgolfsson 83), Lowry 6 (Levitt 74), Said 6 (Kanga 46); Charles-Cook 6 (Palmer-Houlden 63).
Manager: Alfred Johansson 6.
Booked: None.
Referee: Duncan Nicolson.
Attendance: 50,868.
