During his two full seasons with Aberdeen, Bojan Miovski firmly established himself as one of the most prolific strikers in Scottish football.
A return of 44 goals in 98 appearances during his time at Pittodrie caught the attention of clubs far beyond the SPFL, with Spanish side Girona forking out £6.8million to take him to La Liga.
Miovski’s exploits across two years in the north east not only made him a fans’ favourite, but also a player very much in demand. And yet, as he prepares to face his former club this evening with Rangers, neither of those things would be true any more.
After joining the Ibrox side last summer, he has been vilified by Aberdeen supporters. The list of admirers has also disappeared. Despite being signed for a fee of £4.2m less than a year ago, there is already a feeling that it could be one and done for Miovski at Rangers. Just as it was when he failed to impress at Girona.
There is a growing feeling that Rangers will look to cut their losses on the 26-year-old striker come the summer, despite there still being another three years left to run on his contract.
Miovski is a player on the slide in Govan. Danny Rohl doesn’t seem to fancy him. It was telling that, in the two recent Old Firm derbies, he never came off the bench.
Bojan Miovski has fared to sparkle for Rangers after joining the Ibrox club last summer
Even in the 1-0 win over St Mirren last week, with Rangers looking to kill the game with a second goal, he was limited to a 10-minute cameo in the final stages.
When Miovski made the move back to Scotland, it was viewed as a smart, shrewd signing. Rangers thought they were buying a proven goalscorer at SPFL level. It’s turned out to be a slog with the North Macedonia international.
He has scored 10 goals in all competitions for Rangers, only four of which have come in the league.
Lacking confidence, the striker has looked a shadow of the player who lit those two seasons in an Aberdeen jersey.
The fact that a hat-trick against Annan in the Scottish Cup has been the highlight of his Rangers career thus far sums up what is proving to be a dismal spell in Glasgow.
There have been moments where the old Miovski has threatened to break through. Last December, he scored three goals in two games, against Kilmarnock and Ferencvaros in the Europa League.
It was a false dawn. He has netted only one more league goal since then, against Kilmarnock on February 4, That was also the last time he started a league match.
Miovski has been a shadow of the players who scored so many goals for Aberdeen
He may not be a lost cause just yet. If he can rediscover his scoring touch over the final eight games, Miovski could still play an important part in the title run-in.
As things stand, however, he’s fallen down the pecking order behind Youssef Chermiti and Ryan Naderi.
Chermiti has proven himself to be a big-game hunter with a burst of goals against Celtic and Hearts.
Naderi was a Rohl signing in January, while Miovski is a player the Rangers boss inherited from Russell Martin’s regime.
This is the one area of the team that still needs to really click under Rohl. If Rangers fall short in the title race, it will almost certainly be due to a lack of goals from their forward players.
This is something Rohl has addressed over recent weeks.
He was asked again yesterday about the impact made by Naderi, who, although lively and energetic with his link play, has yet to score in the league in six appearances since his £4.5m move from Hansa Rostock.
Rohl has been reluctanct to place too much focus on the strikers, instead highlighting the creativity that has to come from other areas in the team.
‘Ryan, at first, is a hard worker for the group, he creates a lot of spaces for team-mates,’ said Rohl.
‘This is really great. In all the games he comes into good situations with great opportunities to score.
‘He can play on the last line in the box, but he can also be the link player between the lines. I think this is great. This is the reason why, with Ryan and Youssef, you can play with two centre forwards.
Miovski could be on his way out at Rangers if his fortunes don’t improve in title run-in
‘You have two different profiles. One is more the guy who can stretch the field. The other can also receive the ball between the lines.
‘This is, I think, not the issue. The issue is the players around them helping them to have the next opportunities. If we do this, then we have a great opportunity to create more chances.
‘We were not clinical enough against St Mirren and that’s what we have to take from this game. We have to do it better now against Aberdeen.’
Rohl had been asked about Naderi, and he chose to highlight the partnership with Chermiti. There was no mention of Miovski, which perhaps indicates his current position in the manager’s thinking.
Running out of chances to prove he still has a long-term future at Rangers, that could all change if he can chip in with a few big goal over the next few crucial weeks.
But this predatory marksman who was once revered in Scottish football is beginning to look like a lost soul in the wrong movie.
