£1.7m man really struggling after Rangers exit with only one goal in 4 months.

Antonio Colak’s itinerant, out-of-a-suitcase-and-into-the-plane-seat profession has frequently been a tale of ‘feast or famine’.

He struggled to score goals in Germany with Kaiserslautern and Nurnberg, but was prolific in Croatia with Rijeka. After a catastrophic stint at PAOK, an exceptional spell with Malmo, and an impressive record of 18 goals at Rangers, his lack of presence outside of the penalty box led to his early departure due to Mick Beale’s need for a more all-round centre-forward.

But if Antonio Colak still made a hearty meal out of Scottish Premiership defences, then the well-travelled Croatian is going through a period of starvation in his new Italian home.

From feast, to famine.

Former Rangers ace struggling in Italy

He had a promising start with Parma, scoring three Serie B goals before early October, including a ‘wonderful’ strike against Catanzaro. However, this early success now appears to be a false dawn. His most recent goal, in a 3-2 defeat to Venezia, came four months ago.

Colak has not started a league game since being substituted at halftime against Spezia in December, and he has appeared in only two of the last eight league games.

Colak is, in essence, an old-school centre-forward in an era where strikers are expected to lead from the front and contribute

equally in and out of possession. Colak’s limited skill set led to his departure from Rangers, where he was replaced by Danilo

and Cyriel Dessers. It appears that Colak is facing a similar issue at Parma, with speculation of a move to Spain in the January window.

“It was a match that didn’t put him in the best conditions,” Parma coach Fabio Pecchia remarked after the Spezia match, in

which Colak struggled for service and was generally ineffectual until being substituted at half-time.

“When we were far from goal, he wasn’t in the best conditions (to effect the game).”

One goal in four months

Colak has now scored three goals in 16 appearances across all competitions. Pecchia has even acknowledged to using substitutes in recent matches, leaving Colak on the bench.

But, given Colak’s feast-or-famine career, don’t be surprised if his next team – whoever it is – coaxes a 20-goal season out of a player who continues to swing wildly between inspirational and useless.

Read more news on https://sportupdates.co.uk/