An interesting but hardly surprising statistic that has been shouted from the rooftops by the SMSM today and one that I think we will be hearing a lot about over the next few days, is that theRangers captain James Tavernier now has more top flight goals than any current SPFL top flight player.
Football – 2023 / 2024 Scottish Premiership – Glasgow theRangers vs Heart of Midlothian – Ibrox stadium – 29th October 2023 James Tavernier of Rangers scores a penalty
Quite impressive considering some of the names mentioned, decent strikers too, but is it that admirable? Yes it’s a decent return for a defender and of course it’s based on the sheer volume of penalties awarded to the Ibrox club. Tavernier is their penalty taker for a club that gets them on more than a regular basis, in fact he got two more only yesterday.
Yes, 40 to be precise! Yes 40 penalty’s scored by one player for the same club in the top flight since 2016. That’s not including the ones he’s missed, and there’s been ten or eleven! He missed one only yesterday.
Celtic v Heart of Midlothian – Pr Odsonne Edouard left celebrates with team-mate Kyogo Furuhashi on Sunday August 15, 2021. Photo Steve Welsh
Some have been quick to bump their gums about him having scored more goals than Odsonne Edouard and Kyogo, but Eddy only played here for four years and Kyogo is only in his third season.
They should compare winners medals that would shut them up. Yes our players are serial winners, that’s the fact that’s more important while Captain Tav is a serial loser. He’d swap all those goals for just half of Eddy and Kyogo’s medals.
Odsonne Edouard of Celtic (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
In the whole it’s not that impressive. Bragging about being the current top flight goalscorer when you are the penalty taker of theRangers is like bragging about beating your granny in a sprint.
It’s just a stat to keep their supporters happy, That’s all. They like their captain are well versed in losing and it’s stuff like this that keeps them hopeful of one day catching Celtic, it’s like their very own little trophy. Remember in the summer they had the Bragging Rights cup thought up by that woman on Sky Sports.
Celtic v Aberdeen – cinch Premiership – Celtic Park Celtic s Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates with the league trophy Photo Andrew Milligan
Good for them, we’ll just stick to winning the meaningful ones, like the Scottish Premiership for the twelfth time in thirteen seasons. Now there’s a stat worth bragging about.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
Matt Corr’s new book Majic, Stan and the King of Japan is out now and Neil Lennon, the Celtic captain that season, has written the foreword for us.
You can get a signed copy of the hardback version direct from Celtic Star Books by clicking on the image below. It’s also available an an e-book via Amazon Kindle and please note that all colour photographs that appear in the beautifully presented printed hardback book are also available in the Kindle version of Majic, Stan and the King of Japan…
