Six most disappointing Scottish Premiership signings - Rangers letdown, Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs high hopes

The Scottish Premiership is very much into the business end of the season. With that, it is time to assess the six most disappointing signings across the season...

Aberdeen – Anthony Stewart

There were always going to be hits and misses with the club's recruitment as 17 players arrived between the summer and January windows. The most success has been with foreign players, especially Duk, Bojan Miovski and Ylber Ramadani. Callum Roberts, Shayden Morris and Jayden Richardson all joined from the English lower leagues but game time has been limited due to a mixture of form and injury.

However, Anthony Stewart has been by far the most disappointing. A stalwart at Wycome Wanderers, he was seen as an experienced head in a younger squad and a leader for Jim Goodwin. His performances in a Dons shirt can be most generously described as erratic, summed up by red cards against St Mirren and Rangers, before being loaned to MK Dons.

Mark Birighitti – Dundee United

It started off so well for the Australian, a clean sheet in the famous 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar at a raucous Tannadice in his second appearance. Sixteen days and three games later, including the infamous 7-0 loss in the Netherlands, he was dropped to the bench for a period. Coming into United to replace Benjamin Siegrist was always going to be a tall order but Birighitti, a one-time Australia internationalist, arrived with an improving CV. The 31-year-old’s final two seasons Central Coast Mariners in the A-League sawhim named the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year. He is not in the running for a similar accolade in Scotland.

He has hindered rather than helped their survival push with an array of errors. Throughout the season he’s been guilty of pushing the ball back into the path of opponents, losing his bearings, poor positioning, allowing shots that are in his near vicinity to go past him and not getting a strong wrist on shots. And then there was being tackled by Stevie May as he dallied on the ball centimetres from his goal line. People often talk about confidence in strikers when they are struggling for goals, it is the same for goalkeepers. Birighitti’s confidence appears not to have rebounded from that night in Alkmaar.

Hearts – Orestis Kiomourtzoglou

Mark Birighitti has struggled since joining Dundee United. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

The Tynecastle Park club had their eye on the German midfielder for a while. With Beni Baningime out injured long term, Robbie Neilson needed to stiffen up his midfield. He spoke of Kio adding presence to the middle of the park and fitting into the team's style of play. After a promising debut against Motherwell he didn't kick on to have as strong an impact on the team. There have been strong defensive performances mixed with haphazard displays where he has been guilty of giving the ball away. He’s been subbed at half-time in the previous two matches. As with any player coming into the league there is a period of adaptation and a need for patience. However, with a six-figure outlay, fans had expected and hoped for a bit more.

Hibs – Harry McKirdy

There was real anticipation amongst the Hibs support regarding McKirdy. On two levels. They were getting a player high on confidence after a dazzling season with Swindon Town. He scored 24 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions as he helped the club win promotion to League One. In addition, they were signing a maverick, someone a bit different, a nonconformist. A character who threw a protein shake on a referee’s suit.

It was enticing to think, and not just from a Hibs perspective, what adding the 25-year-old’s personality into the Scottish football landscape would conjure up. Not much unfortunately. There was a mild social media ‘storm’ over a reply to a post. There have been plenty of haircuts but not nearly as much game time as the player would have hoped. There have been four starts and just when you thought he was finding his feet, impressing in a win over Aberdeen, he was injured 18 minutes into a game with St Mirren, his third consecutive start.

Rabbi Matondo has been hampered by injury since joining Rangers. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Kilmarnock – Kerr McInroy

The 22-year-old's addition was somewhat incongruous in that he was the only summer signing for Kilmarnock who signed a deal longer than a year. His arrival came on the back of an excellent loan spell with Ayr United where he produced a number of eye-catching, elegant and at times dominant midfield performance. He scored two and assisted six in 14 appearances for Ayr. Derek McInnes spoke of McInroy providing “nice left sided balance in the middle of the pitch”. Only he has barely been given a run out in the centre, starting just seven league games and finding himself, at times, on the left. With the team in a relegation battle perhaps the demands of the centre midfield role has changed.

Rabbi Matondo – Rangers

Rangers wanted to invest in a wide player in the summer. Matondo joined on a four-year contract in a reported deal worth £3million. “We are excited with what Rabbi will bring to our group, with his speed and his general style of play," sporting director Ross Wilson said. You can understand the excitement. A young forward with electric pace who had proven to be devastating in a spell with Cercle Brugge in the Belgian top-flight. He had Bundesliga experience and Schalke 04 rated him so highly they paid Manchester City in excess of £11million for him when he was a teenager.

Harry McKirdy was injured just as he was getting regular game time for Hibs. (Photo by Roddy Scott / SNS Group)

Matondo is the third most prolific dribbler per 90 minutes in the Premiership but he has yet to light up Ibrox, frustrating rather than thrilling the Rangers support. He’s yet to score and has missed a chunk of the season through injury, returning to the bench recently. It will be interesting to see how he fares under Michael Beale who has not used much attacking width and will likely find himself behind Fashion Sakala.