Rangers “passenger” has been so bad that he makes Dowell look good
Glasgow Rangers head coach Danny Rohl has confirmed that winger Oliver Antman is expected to be out of action for around eight weeks after he suffered a muscle injury in recent days.
The Finland international, signed from Go Ahead Eagles in the summer, started on the right wing against Falkirk on Sunday, and is now set to be out until 2026.
Antman is not the only Rangers player who will be unavailable during the festive period, though, as a couple of players are set to go to the African Cup of Nations with their respective countries.
Rohl is expecting Nasser Djiga and Mohamed Diomande to be unavailable whilst they play in the tournament, which means that there will be several positions that will need to be filled in the coming games.
With these absences, on top of the likes of Mikey Moore, Derek Cornelius, and John Souttar being out with injuries, some of the lesser-seen members of the squad may need to step up.
As unpopular as it may be, Kieran Dowell is one of the players who could step up and benefit from the lack of options available to the manager before the January window opens.
Why Danny Rohl should give Kieran Dowell a chance
After being subbed on in a 1-1 draw with Dundee under Russell Martin, a section of the Gers support, but not all of them, booed the English attacking midfielder’s introduction to the game.
Commenting on the incident, Martin said: “That surprised me. I’m not on any social media or anything like that, so I don’t really know what the narrative is around Kieran. I don’t think it helps him, I don’t think it helps the rest of the guys. That’s how I feel about it really.”
Dowell has not played a league match since that draw with Dundee in August, due to injury, but he recently played for the club’s U19s alongside Dujon Sterling and Clinton Nsiala as he looks to return to full fitness.
Given the reaction to his last league outing for Rangers, playing the left-footed midfielder may not go down as a popular decision with some fans, but the Gers look set to be in a position where it could be needs-must with the players due to be unavailable.
Appearances
19
Goals
5
Big chances created
9
Key passes per game
1.5
Assists
4
It is also worth remembering that Dowell, as shown in the table above, shone out on loan at Birmingham City in League One in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign, which shows that he is capable of being productive in the right environment.
Unfortunately, as evidenced by a return of two goals and three assists in 38 appearances for the club, the Englishman has not found that environment at Ibrox yet.
Since joining on a free transfer from Norwich City in 2023, the 28-year-old flop has not established himself as a key player for the Light Blues, but the injury and international call-up situation could provide him with an opportunity to finally do so under Rohl.
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One of the other reasons why Dowell could end up with a chance to revive his Gers career is that Thelo Aasgaard currently looks like an even worse signing for the Scottish giants.
Why Aasgaard makes Dowell look good for Rangers
The Gers did not have to pay a transfer fee to bring the former Everton and Norwich star to Ibrox in 2023, as his contract at Carrow Road expired, but that was not the case with Aasgaard.
Rangers reportedly splashed out a fee of £3.5m to sign the Norway international from Luton Town in the recent summer transfer window, which shows that the club had to spend significantly more money to bring him in than they did with Dowell.
Unfortunately, the Liverpool-born playmaker has not shown enough on the pitch to suggest that he was worth paying £3.5m for, as he has made Dowell look like a good player by comparison.
Aasgaard has as many red cards (one) as goals (one) for Rangers in all competitions so far this season, per Transfermarkt, with one goal and one assist in 21 appearances for Rangers.
Heart & Hand content creator David Edgar recently posted that he “would gladly never see him again”, referring to Aasgaard, and described him as a “passenger” at the end of November.
It is, unfortunately, hard to argue with the harsh criticism of the Norwegian attacking midfielder, because his performances at Scottish Premiership level make him look even less effective than Dowell.
Appearances
26
11
Starts
8
8
Goals
2
1
Key passes
20
9
Big chances created
4
0
Assists
2
1
As you can see in the table above, Aasgaard has already started as many games in the Premiership as the former Norwich man, yet has created 11 fewer chances and has yet to create a single ‘big chance’.
Dowell’s Rangers career has not been good enough to this point, as evidenced by his aforementioned goal contributions, but he also arrived on a free transfer and his creative output looks good in comparison to the club’s £3.5m signing.
That is not to say that the left-footed star should be considered a good signing or that he is the answer to Rohl’s current problems at the top end of the pitch, but it does suggest that those who jeered his introduction against Dundee earlier this season were too harsh on him.
As well as highlighting that maybe Dowell was not as bad a signing as has been made out, this also highlights how underwhelming Aasgaard has been for a player who was signed for £3.5m.
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The caveat, of course, is that the Norway international only joined in the summer and still has plenty of time left ahead of him to turn things around and prove people wrong, but the signs so far have not been encouraging.