We have to say the turnaround in Ryan Naderi and his form from where he was at the start of the calendar year 2026 to where he is now is astronomical. Yes, the boy will never be the most polished of strikers. He’ll never be the most composed of finishers or necessarily the smoothest of operators. But if one looks at his stats and work rate, Naderi has already paid off his £5 million transfer fee and then some.

Naderi reaches remarkable heights

An absolutely remarkable stat emerged last night in the form of 14 goals and assists in 17 appearances. Astonishingly, Ryan Naderi has hit the same form that Antonio Čolak did way back in 2022 when he was scoring for fun at Rangers. Back then, Čolak was joint with only Erling Haaland at Man City as Britain’s top performing top flight striker. Staggeringly, Ryan Naderi is now up there with the same kind of numbers.

And after the start that he made over the course of the first six months, no one ever justified ‘give him a chance ffs’ more than the German born Czech international.

Derek McInnes transforms Ryan Naderi

The fact is that if one man has made all the difference to Ryan Naderi and his form, it’s Derek McInnes. Danny Röhl might have seen something in Naderi, but he wasn’t the right man to get it out of the Dresden born hitman. Derek McInnes might just be one of the few, if not the only manager, to be able to unlock Naderi in the right way.

His run up for the penalty last night was curious, but the finish was clinical. And it summed up the Naderi he’s been in the second half of this year. To have 14 in 17 over the course of this season in all competitions is an absolutely astonishing stat. And every inch a £5 million striker.

Naderi form makes him undroppable

Sure, he doesn’t look much. He has that bizarre gait of Tore André Flo. And he doesn’t exactly scream of a big, strong, physical centre forward who’s going to cause a lot of trouble for defences. But his hard work, his goals and his assists have made him absolutely undroppable.

He’s also a very decent guy who knows exactly what he’s got at Rangers and cherishes every second. Keep this form up and he may just attract other clubs in other leagues. There’s no question that Naderi is on hot form at the moment. And the turnaround from that Bambi on ice that he was in the earlier portion of this year is almost incalculable.

He very much has Derek McInnes to thank for just about everything.