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She isn’t a natural six-hitter, but against Mumbai Indians, she manipulated the field to finish with eight fours and three sixes in a knock of 69*

Vishal Dikshit06-Mar-20245:43

Rodrigues: I’ve learnt from Kohli how to hit sixes while hitting in the gaps

Jemimah Rodrigues is not a big six hitter. She is not burly, and she doesn’t demolish the ball into the stands. You lob her a full toss, and chances are she will deftly place it into the gap for four. If power-hitting doesn’t come naturally to her, how did she smoke three sixes and several one-bounce fours during a match-winning 69 off 33 balls against a Mumbai Indians line-up packed with international bowlers?The pitch which Delhi Capitals and Mumbai were playing on at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was fresh and largely helping the batters when they went for their shots. The big difference compared to the Bengaluru tracks, where the first half of this WPL was played, was the lack of bounce which turned out to be a blessing for Rodrigues, who is not tall like some of her team-mates, as she could get under the ball more easily.The ground also had skewed square boundaries – 46 metres on one and 63 on the other. Her technique, though comprehensive and compact, was going to need some form of innovation to find the ropes regularly.Related

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Soon after Meg Lanning’s 53 from 38 deliveries chaperoned the team to 114 for 3 in 13 overs, the onus was on Rodrigues to probably hold one end and leave the job of hitting those big sixes to Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen. After all, Rodrigues’ T20 strike rate was only 118; and at one stage, she was on a boundary-less 13 off 14 balls, and Capitals on 123 for 3 with five overs to go.When Shabnim Ismail bowled a slow cutter at just 88.9kph, Rodrigues went down on a knee and slog-swept to the wide long-on boundary – the longer boundary in that over – for a one-bounce four. Trying to stay one step ahead of the experienced Ismail, Rodrigues made room two balls later for the quicker ball on middle, and carved it over the two point fielders for another one-bounce four.”I knew coming into the WPL you need all sorts of shots, and I can’t stick to [certain shots] and say, ‘I’m this kind of a player’,” Rodrigues said after the game.With the shorter boundary on her leg side next over, Rodrigues went out of her crease on the off side to make Pooja Vastrakar’s short ball race away to the square-leg boundary. The keeper soon came up, and when Vastrakar went wide outside off, Rodrigues scythed it to the deep-third boundary for another one-bounce four.The manipulation of the field continued in the 18th over when Rodrigues first swept a four behind square off Saika Ishaque, and then manufactured room to slash another one-bounce four to the backward-point boundary.

“That’s something I’ve learnt from Virat Kohli; he does that really well… The way he goes about [his game], he runs well between the wickets, [and] he has intent while batting. Even if he hits sixes, he hits it in the gaps”Jemimah Rodrigues on trying to hit the ball in the gaps

She saved the best for the last two overs. After starting the 19th with a four and a six, she shuffled a long way to the off side, and when Nat Sciver-Brunt pitched it short, Rodrigues smashed it for six to the short leg-side boundary and left the opposition captain in a double tea-pot stance. Rodrigues was not only maneuvering the ball in the gaps, but she was also hitting them for sixes en route to a 27-ball fifty.”For me I need to put a little more effort than the others to hit those sixes,” she said. “But I rely a lot on my timing and my bat swing. I think today it came off really well, and for me, even if you see my sixes, I don’t try to hit sixes, I try to hit the ball in the gap. If it’s hit too well, it goes for a six.”That’s something I’ve learnt from Virat Kohli; he does that really well. I really look up to him because we have similar [batting] positions in the Indian team. The way he goes about [his game], he runs well between the wickets, [and] he has intent while batting. Even if he hits sixes, he hits it in the gaps. So if he hits it well, it’s either two runs, four or a six. That’s what I try and imply in my game too.”And Rodrigues was doing that so well against Mumbai on Tuesday that they were caught off guard. When Hayley Matthews came around the wicket for the last over with protection on the leg-side boundary, Rodrigues made the ball sail high over the longest part of the ground – wide long-on – for her third six before finding another boundary to finish unbeaten on 69.Jemimah Rodrigues hit her maiden WPL half-century•BCCI”I never imagined that it would be a 33-ball 69*,” she said. “One thing really good about my game today was [that] from the first ball I had the intent. Even though I didn’t go bang, bang, bang from the first ball, but in my stride the way I was timing the ball, I think that intent was very important for me. It gets me going and gets my feet in good positions.”The last time she had hit three sixes in a T20 was in two domestic games in the 2021-22 season, but on the big stage and televised matches, it last happened in a T20I against Sri Lanka in 2018. On Tuesday, it was just the fourth occasion in her T20 career of 201 innings that she had struck three sixes in an innings.”I need to keep improving with the game,” she said. “Working on power-hitting was not just now or just before the WPL; it’s been a long process from so many years, and going out there and hitting those sixes time and time again [was great].”Rodrigues knew she was never a big six-hitter, and trying to become someone she wasn’t was not going to take her anywhere. When her close friend Smriti Mandhana sent her a message after the previous game to say, “you just be a Jemimah Rodrigues, and you’ll be fine”, is when it hit home for Rodrigues, and she made it count in her first home game.

Does he have a short-ball weakness, or is his issue more specific?

Hemant Brar10-Jun-20222:09

Jaffer: Shreyas Iyer needs to find more attacking shots against pacers

At first glance, it appears as if it’s a left-hand batter playing a falling hook, a la Roy Fredericks. But a closer look reveals it to be Shreyas Iyer, a right-hand batter, his limbs all contorted as he tries to deal with a short ball from Marco Jansen during IPL 2022.Fast bowlers around the world know Iyer doesn’t fancy the short ball. During the IPL, he was out to short-pitched deliveries on four occasions. On another, Umran Malik peppered him with the short stuff before shattering his stumps with a yorker.On Thursday, in the first T20I against South Africa in Delhi, Iyer raced to 24 off eight balls, smashing three sixes off Tabraiz Shamsi in the process. In all, he looted 23 runs off ten balls against the spinners. But when the fast bowlers came on, he could manage only 13 off 17 balls. As per ESPNcricinfo’s logs, out of those 17, nine were pitched short of a good length, and Iyer scored eight runs off those nine balls.And while South Africa’s quicks bowled nine short-of-good-length balls to Iyer, they didn’t bowl a single ball in the “short” category; a pattern that suggests they were looking to bowl what are commonly known as “hard lengths” rather than bounce him out. There’s a certain amount of subjectivity to this data, but if this was South Africa’s plan, they had a reason for it. More on this later.As a result of Iyer’s slowdown against pace, his innings, which began in fifth gear, ended with a strike rate of 133.33 (36 runs off 27 balls). It was the slowest innings by any Indian batter other than Dinesh Karthik, who faced only two balls, in the match.”I think when Shreyas gets stuck [against fast bowlers], he moves around the crease a lot,” Wasim Jaffer said on ESPNcricinfo’s show T20 Time:Out. “He goes outside leg stump and wants to access the off side. Otherwise, you don’t see him hitting a lot of boundaries or sixes off fast bowlers. He did take down the Shamsi threat but I think looking at the future, he needs to develop some of the shots where he is dominating against fast bowlers because he is batting in the top four; he is not somebody who is going to come at the back end.”I think he does need to improve his game, especially the boundary hitting against fast bowlers. If you look at the way he batted, that innings probably could have been a little bit better if those 10-15 runs would have come, if he had hit a couple of boundaries [off the fast bowlers].”Shreyas Iyer took Tabraiz Shamsi apart but struggled to break free against South Africa’s quicks•Associated PressDale Steyn, who was in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s dugout as their fast-bowling coach when Jansen had Iyer in a tangle, agreed with his co-analyst’s assessment. “It’s something he has to work on, just finding areas where he can score more boundaries off the seamers,” Steyn said. “I have seen him getting into some pretty strange positions when it comes to speed, especially this past IPL. Knowing that the World Cup is going to be in Australia at the back end of this year, he will have to combat that – facing a lot more seamers than spinners.”Iyer’s case is an interesting one. If you look at his T20 numbers in isolation, he fares better against fast bowlers than spinners. Since January 2021, he averages 41.75 against pace while striking at 135.77. Against spin, those numbers drop to 35.77 and 130.89.However, when you compare him to other batters around the world, you realise there is scope for improvement. Since January 2021, where ball-by-ball data is available, 75 batters have faced 400 or more balls of pace in T20 cricket. When arranged by strike rate, Iyer appears in the bottom half, in 46th position.If you zoom in further, you can pinpoint Iyer’s specific weakness. While the outright short ball can get him out (he only averages 19.00 against that length), he scores quickly against it, as a strike rate of 180.95 suggests. Against the short-of-good-length ball, however, he averages 97.50 but only strikes at 118.18. It has, in short, been a reliable defensive length against Iyer. Among the 78 batters who’ve faced at least 100 short-of-good-length balls from fast bowlers since the start of 2021, his strike rate puts him in 48th place.Go even deeper, limiting the line of these short-of-good-length balls to “at stumps”, and you have almost zeroed in on Iyer’s problem – he really struggles when fast bowlers aim at his body without giving him much room, with his strike rate dropping to 109.09. His counter to this mode of attack, often, is to back away, clear his front leg, and aim to hit through the off side. He tried one such shot against Kagiso Rabada on Thursday and was successful in clearing mid-off. But it’s unclear whether it’s a sustainable approach. Moreover, fast bowlers like it when they see batters moving to the leg side and exposing their stumps.In the current series, Iyer will most likely continue batting at No. 3, where he can be the anchor or aggressor depending on the match situation. But once Virat Kohli returns, and if India still want Iyer in the XI, he will have to bat at No. 4 or lower. In that scenario, he may not have the luxury of going at a middling strike rate against pace.

The National League Division Series between the Brewers and Cubs hasn't had any shortage of runs thus far.

Milwaukee won Game 1 by a score of 9-3, then each team hit a three-run home run to open Game 2 Monday, marking the first postseason game in MLB history in which both sides hit a three-run homer (or grand slam) in the first inning.

As Game 2 was tied at three runs apiece, Brewers catcher William Contreras hit a monster 411-foot bomb to give his squad the lead.

Perhaps the best part of Contreras's big home run was his celebration afterward, just watching the ball sail over the left-field fence at American Family Field and putting his hand up toward the dugout before rounding the bases. Check out the electric moment below:

After the third-inning homer, the Brewers opened their lead up to four runs in the next inning thanks to another three-run shot to center field off the bat of Jackson Chourio. Milwaukee hopes to extend their lead in the series to 2-0 Monday before they head to Chicago to try and earn a trip to the NL Championship Series.

They've already given their home fans plenty to root for with three home runs Monday night. The Brewers' offense is providing all the electricity to start their playoff schedule.

كشفت تقارير صحفية إنجليزية، تطورات جديدة بشأن النجم المصري محمد صلاح، بعد تصريحاته التي أثارت الجدل حول مدرب ليفربول آرني سلوت.

وبحسب “ليفربول إيكو” البريطانية، فقد التقطت صور لمهاجم ليفربول محمد صلاح وهو يغادر ملعب تدريبات النادي لأول مرة منذ تصريحاته.

وقد أدلى النجم المصري بتعليقات حول عدم شعوره بالسعادة في أنفيلد، بعد جلوسه على مقاعد البدلاء للمباراة الثالثة على التوالي.

ولم يشارك محمد صلاح كبديل في مباراة التعادل بين ليفربول وليدز يونايتد، بثلاث أهداف لكل فريق، ولعب سوبوسلاي بدلاً منه، ومع ذلك فقد فرط الريدز في تقدمه مرتين.

اقرأ أيضًا.. “شعور صادق وإشارة مزيفة”.. خبير لغة جسد يُحلل تصريحات محمد صلاح ضد سلوت وليفربول

ويواجه النجم المصري صاحب الـ33 عامًا، مستقبلًا غامضًا، حيث سينضم صلاح لزملائه في المنتخب الأسبوع المقبل للمشاركة في كأس أمم إفريقيا.

وتراقب أندية سعودية وضع محمد صلاح في ميرسيسايد، والذي شوهد يصل إلى مركز تدريبات ليفربول، في ظل استمرار الضجة الإعلامية التي أعقبت تصريحاته.

وظهر النجم المصري محمد صلاح بسيارته “الرولز رويس السوداء” مبتسمًا للكاميرات المنتظرة خارج ملعب التدريبات، وقد انضم لزملائه في جلسة تعافي بشكل طبيعي بعد التعادل مع ليدز يونايتد.

Manchester City have now identified a “top-level midfielder” as a priority target, joining a number of Europe’s top clubs in the race for his signature.

Man City set sights on Yaya Toure-esque midfielder

Despite his well-documented fallout with Pep Guardiola, Yaya Toure is undoubtedly a Man City legend, winning three Premier League titles, three EFL Cups and one FA Cup during his time at the Etihad Stadium.

The Ivorian, who is now working as Saudi Arabia’s assistant manager, posed a threat going forward throughout his time in England, scoring a whopping 20 goals during the 2013-14 Premier League season, while also amassing nine assists.

Since then, City’s style of play has changed, with Guardiola’s side reliant on Erling Haaland to provide the majority of their goals, and the Norwegian certainly hasn’t disappointed so far this season, averaging 1.05 goals per 90 in the Premier League, having found the back of the net 15 times.

However, Man City have now joined the race for an up-and-coming central midfielder with shades of Toure, according to a report from TEAMtalk, which states they have identified Trabzonspor’s Christ Inao Oulai as a priority target.

Bayern Munich and Manchester United are also rivalling City for the 19-year-old’s signature, with all three clubs identifying him as one of their key teenage targets in Europe.

In his hometown of Yopougon in the Ivory Coast, the teenager is known as ‘Le Petit Yaya’, while City view him as a long-term partner for Rodri in midfield, and believe he could replace the Spaniard on a long-term basis.

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6 days ago

It could be difficult to get a deal over the line, however, with Trabzonspor unwilling to sanction a departure in January, and looking to receive £35m.

Christ Inao Oulai already a "top-level midfielder"

Former Premier League midfielder Michael Essien is a keen admirer of the Trabzonspor star, saying: “He’s a top-level midfielder, and he’s only 19 years old. I hope to see him one day wearing the Chelsea jersey.”

The two-time Ivory Coast international has emerged as a key player for the Turkish side this season, displaying his attacking prowess by chipping in with one goal and two assists in eight Super Lig matches.

Bernardo Silva’s future at Man City is up in the air, given that his contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and it has been suggested that Guardiola is willing to let the Portugal international move on.

As such, it could be a savvy move to bring in a central midfielder with attacking qualities in January or the summer, and Inao Oulai is exhibiting very promising signs in the Super Lig.

If any side has it in them to gift bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers a much-needed Premier League win, it might well have been Ruben Amorim’s all too often charitable Manchester United outfit.

Indeed, heading into this Monday night clash at Molineux, the Red Devils had previously handed relegation-threatened West Ham United a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

However, the visitors from Manchester were far more ruthless on this occasion, as Wolves’ abject season shows no signs of stopping off the back of United running out convincing 4-1 winners.

Sitting on just two points, you likely could pick flaws all night long in the woeful home performance, with the die-hard Old Gold faithful clearly at their wits’ end with the ownership at their lowly club, having staged a fan protest before yet another defeat was tallied up.

What went wrong for Wolves on Monday

Championship football already looks destined to be returning to the West Midlands very soon, with the fresh appointment of Rob Edwards to replace Vitor Pereira doing very little to save the sinking ship.

Edwards just can’t account for some silly errors that plagued Wolves’ game all evening, though, with Andre in the first half – who has been on United’s transfer radar – dilly dallying on the ball for far too long, before Bruno Fernandes then scrappily gave the fortuitous away side a 1-0 lead. As journalist Liam Keen put it, the defending for this opening strike was ” totally shambolic.”

The likes of Yersen Mosquera in the heart of the ropey Wolves defence didn’t fare any better, either, with the shaky number 15 handing Fernandes his second of the one-sided affair late on, after a handball decision went against him for the penalty.

Mason Mount also had all the time in the world to put away United’s third when both Mosquera and Emmanuel Agbadou left him in acres of space to fire home, with the abysmal defending on show typical of a side that has surrendered a seriously worrying 33 goals already this season.

All over the pitch, there were very few positives to latch onto, with a lacklustre attacker now needing to be dropped by Edwards, after he put in another no-show against the rampant Red Devils.

Wolves flop must now be dropped after Man Utd

Apart from Jean Ricner Bellegarde scoring Wolves’ first league goal since October, there would be little to smile about from an attacking point of view at Molineux for the hosts, especially when it came to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s idle showing.

Long gone now are the days when Larsen was being tipped for a £50m switch to Newcastle United after bagging 14 league strikes during his debut season, with the out-of-sorts Norwegian instead now on the receiving end of some sarcastic cheers when he was substituted off after an uneventful 69-minute spell against Amorim’s men.

As per the aforementioned Keen, Larsen even had to be calmed down by his manager after looking “furious” with the jeers directed at him.

But, when looking at the table below, it’s hardly a shock that the hardened Molineux masses decided to voice their frustrations in such a gallows humour way, with the goal-shy number 29 coming off after registering zero shots and just five accurate passes.

Larsen’s performance in numbers
Stat	Larsen
Minutes played	69
Goals scored	0
Assists	0
Touches	19
Shots	0
Accurate passes	5/9 (56%)
Total duels won	2/12
Stats by Sofascore

Moreover, Larsen only mustering up a sorry 19 touches of the ball in total means even Johnstone in between the sticks for the relegation-doomed side had more touches of the ball, coming in at a far heftier 42.

The Newcastle-linked striker’s notable drop off has impacted the Old Gold so much this season that former Premier League scout Mick Brown, when speaking to Football Insider earlier in the campaign, stated that his presence up top now makes the basement outfit a “worse side.”

This is a far cry from analyst Ben Mattinson’s previous comments that he was a “proper number 9” when scoring goals for fun, meaning Edwards must seriously consider axing him soon, even as his other striker option in Tolu Arokodare, prepares to head to the African Cup of Nations.

Desperate times could call for desperate measures, with Hwang Hee-Chan perhaps the answer in from the cold up top, considering he does have 23 top-flight goals for the Old Gold, one of which came this season, lining up as the sole centre-forward.

Whatever changes do occur, Wolves need to start doing the basics correctly if they stand any chance of turning around their likely insurmountable points gap, with Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher stating that they have “no fight” at the moment.

Larsen could fall victim to Edwards shuffling his pack, with Wolves surely left with plenty of regret now that they handed the out-of-form number nine a new, bumper five-year deal in September, instead of cashing in.

Wolves now want to sign 'top talent' from Man City with player set to leave in January

Rob Edwards’ side need inspiration from somewhere.

By
Emilio Galantini

Dec 6, 2025

Amid their 14-10, NL Central-leading start to the 2025 MLB season, the Cubs have made a trade for some pitching help.

According to Ken Rosenthal, Chicago is acquiring Drew Pomeranz from the Mariners. The 36-year-old has been pitching with Seattle's Triple-A affiliate, the Tacoma Rangers, and over nine games (9.2 IP) this season, has struck out 14 with an ERA of 4.66.

Pomeranz has been quite the journeyman throughout his professional career, having had stints with the Colorado Rockies (2011 to '13), Oakland Athletics ('14 to '15), San Diego Padres ('16, '20 to '21), Boston Red Sox ('16 to '18), San Francisco Giants ('19), and Milwaukee Brewers ('19). His best season—and lone All-Star Game appearance—came in 2016 with both the Padres and the Red Sox. Pomeranz was also a member of Boston's 2018 World Series-winning team.

The Cubs are off on Monday before welcoming the Los Angeles Dodgers to Wrigley Field on Tuesday for a 7:40 p.m. first pitch.

Maphaka, the highest wicket-taker of the T20I series, was added to the squad on Monday

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2025

Kagiso Rabada underwent scans on Monday which confirmed the extent of his injury•AFP/Getty Images

South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada was ruled out of action for the entirety of the three-match ODI series against Australia on the morning of the first ODI.Rabada, 30, underwent a scan on Monday, which confirmed the extent of his ankle injury. He will remain in Australia and undergo rehabilitation under the supervision of the South Africa medical staff. Kwena Maphaka, who was the highest wicket-taker in the T20I series that preceded the ODIs, has been added to the South Africa squad.Related

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With Rabada not available and Marco Jansen still recovering from surgery to his left thumb, the fast bowlers in the squad are Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi and Maphaka. They also have seam-bowling allrounders Corbin Bosch and Wiaan Mulder on the tour. Their spin options are Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy and Prenelan Subrayen.The first of three ODIs is being played at the Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns, after which the teams move to Mackay’s Great Barrier Reef Arena for the next two matches. Australia won the hard-fought T20I series 2-1.

Hay, Neesham and Robinson to join the squad as additional cover for Bracewell, Chapman, Phillips and Ravindra, who are all involved in the MLC final

Shashank Kishore13-Jul-2025A week after being left out of the T20I squad for the tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa, Devon Conway has earned a recall as a replacement for the injured Finn Allen. Allen sustained a foot injury while playing for San Francisco Unicorns at MLC 2025.Conway hasn’t played a T20I for over a year, but he has remained active in the franchise circuit. Most recently, he turned out for the Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket, scoring 135 runs in four matches at a strike rate of 127.35.”We’re really gutted for Finn,” New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said. “I was looking forward to working with him and to see him continue his form from the MLC but unfortunately injuries happen. We’re lucky to be able to call on someone of Devon’s quality to replace Finn.”Related

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The other additions include batters Mitchell Hay and Tim Robinson, and allrounder James Neesham. The trio will join the squad as additional cover for Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra – all of whom will be featuring in the MLC final on Sunday.”We knew there’d be a possibility that a handful of players could be involved in the MLC final, so we’re bringing in Mitch, Jimmy and Tim as possible replacements.”New Zealand will be led by allrounder Mitchell Santner as Walter begins his stint as the new coach, with Luke Ronchi, Jacob Oram and James Foster part of the support staff. The team is without a number of key players, including Kane Williamson, who made himself unavailable for the tour.While Williamson is currently playing for Middlesex in the county circuit in England, fast bowler Lockie Ferguson has been rested as part of his workload management. Kyle Jamieson has opted out of the tour as he awaits the birth of his child, while tearaway quick Ben Sears is out with a side strain.New Zealand open their campaign on Wednesday against South Africa. Each team will play the other two in a double-round-robin format, with the top two teams playing the final on July 26. All the matches will be played at the Harare Sports Club.New Zealand squad for tri-seriesMitchell Santner (capt), Devon Conway, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchel, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Mitch Hay, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Robinson

Glasgow Rangers officially confirmed Danny Rohl as their new head coach on a three-year contract at Ibrox on Monday after Saturday’s return to action.

Steven Smith oversaw a 2-2 draw against Dundee United at Ibrox whilst in interim charge, and Rohl will now lead the team out against Brann on Thursday evening.

The former Sheffield Wednesday head coach will be hoping to fare far better than the man he is replacing, as Russell Martin won just five of his games in charge.

Rohl is tasked with getting more out of the group of players that the former Scotland international struggled with, and he has already shown that he can work well with Djeidi Gassama.

Why Djeidi Gassama will love the appointment of Danny Rohl

The French winger will love this appointment because he enjoyed the best season of his senior career to date whilst working with the German tactician at Sheffield Wednesday in the 2024/25 campaign.

Gassama scored seven goals in the Championship for the Owls, per Sofascore, which is a career high for the attacker at league level in his career to date.

The 22-year-old star has yet to score in eight Scottish Premiership games for Rangers, though he has scored four goals in Europe, and Rohl could ignite his league form if their work together in England is anything to go by.

Gassama is not the only attacker who may benefit from this fresh appointment by the Gers, though, as Thelo Aasgaard’s career at Ibrox could explode after his dismal time under Martin.

Why Thelo Aasgaard could thrive under Danny Rohl

The Norway international was signed from Luton Town for £3.5m in the summer transfer window and mainly played on the left of a midfield three for Martin, which meant that he spent a lot of time in his own half and with his back to goal under pressure from opposition players.

His heatmap, as shown above, for the 2025/26 Premiership season shows that he has spent far too much time in his own half and has hardly had any touches in central positions.

It is not a surprise, therefore, that he managed no goals, no ‘big chances’ created, and no assists in five league appearances for Martin. He looked like a lost cause with no signs of life in his attacking displays, but his performance at the weekend showed that there is life in him yet.

Aasgaard played in the number ten position in a 4-2-3-1 formation on Saturday under Smith and thrived in that role, taking more touches in central areas than he did under Martin, per Sofascore.

Minutes

83

67

Touches

59

40

Shots on target

3

1.2

Goals

1

0.2

Successful dribbles

3

1.2

Key passes

4

0.8

Duels won

10

5.5

As you can see in the table above, the Norwegian star’s performance against Dundee United was significantly better than his average performance level under Martin.

Aasgaard only created one chance in five games under Martin before creating four in one match as a number ten in a 4-2-3-1 formation, whilst also scoring his first league goal for the club.

Per Transfermarkt, Rohl predominantly plays a 4-2-3-1 formation and this means that the former Luton star will be able to play as a natural number ten behind Bojan Miovski in the German’s system.

Rather than being forced to play too much in his own half, as he was as a left-sided central midfielder under Martin, he will be able to take the ball in the opposition’s half and play closer to their goal to make things happen in the final third.

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The Gers look to have finally got their man.

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Therefore, Rohl could ignite Aasgaard’s Ibrox career by coming in to make the Norway international his creator-in-chief in the number ten position, as the hub of the team. It could give him the license to truly impact matches week-in-week-out and emerge as a star for the Light Blues.