Afternoon all.
There has been a lot of discussion recently about Cyriel Dessers’ value to Rangers and he remains very much a marmite figure amongst fans. Pondering this got me thinking about his contribution to the team as a number 9. It is very difficult to quantify this as many will argue the statistics (goals and assists) are the key parameter whilst others prefer to judge with their eyes. I think the answer lies somewhere in-between, taking both approaches into consideration.
I know a lot of fans feel statistics are overused at times and many are not a fan of more modern additions like “expected goals” etc. But when considering the impact a forward player has on the team I have always valued “goals and assists per minutes played” as I feel it is representative of their overall contribution and far more fair than “goals and assists per game” – for example, Jermain Defoe made many substitute appearances for us and so played considerably fewer minutes than his games tally would suggest, which negatively skews his “goals and assists per game”.
With that being said, I have made a list (all information from the “detailed stats” section of transfermarket. com) of who I consider to have been our main forward players in the modern era (2000 onwards), ranked by goals and assists per minutes played. I have excluded the lower division years (other than players with considerable crossover such as Kenny Miller and Martyn Waghorn). I have also excluded Steven Davis as he played a much deeper role in his second spell which skews the numbers. I am not suggesting this is how I would rank the players in terms of my favourites or who I feel offered the most value as there are of course factors beyond the statistics that influence that but I hope you find the list interesting. Where players have drawn level on goals or assists per minutes, I have placed the player who has played more minutes higher on the list.
I am not particularly trying to make a point as such but I found it slightly surprising how well the Warburton-onwards era strikers/ centre forwards show up in terms of goals or assists per minutes played when compared to a lot of the players we look back fondly on from the 2000-2012 era. I appreciate football has changed since then and this no doubt makes it difficult to directly compare the statistics but it does make me wonder what the noise on social media would have been (had it existed in those days) towards our forward players – a lot of whom we look back on very favourably now. Food for thought perhaps?
1. Jermain Defoe
74 games (3224mins) / 32 goals / 10 assists
Goal or assist every 1.7games
Goal or assist every 76 minutes
2. Danilo
38 games (1730mins) / 12 goals / 8 assists
Goal or assist every 1.9 games
Goal or assist every 87 minutes
3. Martyn Waghorn
78 games (5516 minutes) / 44 goals / 17 assists
Goal or assist every 1.3 games
Goal or assist every 90 minutes
4. Nikica Jelavic
55 games (4537mins) / 36 goals / 14 assists
Goal or assist every 1.1 games
Goal or assist every 91 minutes
5. Vladimir Weiss
35 games (1859 minutes) / 5 goals / 15 assists
Goal or assist every 1.75 games
Goal or assist every 93 minutes
6. Hamza Igamane
27 games (1550mins) / 13 goals / 3 assists Goal
Goal or assist every 1.7 games
Goal or assist every 97 minutes
7. Kris Boyd
221 games (14834mins) / 126 goals / 26 assists
Goal or assist every 1.5 games
Goal or assist every 98 minutes
8. Cyriel Dessers
89 games (5290 mins) / 40 goals / 14 assists
Goal or assist every 1.6 games
Goal or assist every 98 minutes
9. Alfredo Morelos
269 games (18904mins) / 124 goals / 57 assists
Goal or assist every 1.5 games
Goal or assist every 105 minutes
10. Antonio Colak
39 games (2221 mins) / 18 goals / 3 assists
Goal or assist every 1.9 games
Goal or assist every 106 minutes
11. Kemar Roofe
102 games (4826 mins) / 38 goals / 7 assists
Goal or assist every 2.3 games
Goal or assist every 107 minutes
12. Sone Aluko
23 games (1843 minutes) / 12 goals / 5 assists
Goal or assist every 1.4 games
Goal or assist every 108 minutes
13. Jean Claude Darcheville
56 games (2845 minutes) / 16 goals / 10 assists
Goal or assist every 2.2 games
Goal or assist every 109 minutes
14. Kenny Miller
295 games (20279 mins) / 111 goals / 58 assists
Goal or assist every 1.7 games
Goal or assist every 120 minutes
15. Tore Andre Flo
71 games (5269 minutes) / 38 goals / 6 assists
Goal or assist every 1.6 games
Goal or assist every 120 minutes
16. Fashion Sakala
91 games (4779 mins) / 24 goals / 15 assists
Goal or assist every 2.3 games
Goal or assist every 123 minutes
17. Billy Dodds
79 games (4438 minutes) / 33 goals / 2 assists
Goal or assist every 2.3 games
Goal or assist every 127 minutes
18. Vaclav Cerny
34 games (2479 mins) / 12 goals / 7 assists Goal
Goal or assist every 1.8 games
Goal or assist every 130 minutes
19. Damarcus Beasley
46 games (2637 minutes) / 7 goals / 13 assists
Goal or assist every 2.3 games
Goal or assist every 132 minutes
20. Steven Thompson
81 games (3370 minutes) / 22 goals / 3 assists
Goal or assist every 3.24 games
Goal or assist every 135 minutes
21. Daniel Cousin
43 games (2355 mins) / 13 goals / 4 assists
Goal or assist every 2.5 games
Goal or assist every 139 minutes
22. Claudia Caniggia
70 games (3786 minutes) / 20 goals / 7 assists
Goal or assist every 2.6 games
Goal or assist every 140 minutes
23. Rod Wallace
114 games (9297 minutes) / 51 goals / 15 assists
Goal or assist every 1.7 games
Goal or assist every 141 minutes
24. Cedric Itten
48 games (1563 mins) / 8 goals / 3 assists
Goal or assist every 4.4 games
Goal or assist every 142 minutes
25. Steven Naismith
136 games (9020 minutes) / 33 goals / 30 assists
Goal or assist every 2.2 games
Goal or assist every 143 minutes
26. Kyle Lafferty
166 games (8978 minutes) / 42 goals / 20 assists
Goal or assist every 2.7 games
Goal or assist every 145 minutes
27. Nacho Novo
241 games (13428 minutes) / 70 goals / 21 assists
Goal or assist every 2.6 games
Goal or assist every 148 minutes
28. Abdallah Sima
40 games (2662 mins) / 16 goals / 2 assists
Goal or assist every 2.2 games
Goal or assist every 148 minutes
29. Peter Lovenkrands
172 games (11265 minutes) / 52 goals / 23 assists
Goal or assist every 2.3 games
Goal or assist every 150 minutes
30. Shota Arveladze
122 games (8887 minutes) / 51 goals / 8 assists
Goal or assist every 2.1 games
Goal or assist every 151 minutes
31. Josh Windass
73 games (5009mins) / 19 goals / 13 assists
Goal or assist every 2.3 games
Goal or assist every 157 minutes
32. Michael Mols
134 games (9198 minutes) / 47 goals / 11 assists
Goal or assist every 2.3 games.
Goal or assist every 159 minutes
33. Ianis Hagi
115 games (6875mins) / 17 goals / 26 assists
Goal or assist every 2.7 games
Goal or assist every 160 minutes
34. James Tavernier*
493 games (43480 minutes) / 128 goals / 138 assists
Goal or assist every 1.85 games
Goal or assist every 163 minutes
(*including penalties – 68 pens scored / 18 pens missed / 79% conversion rate)
35. Todd Cantwell
64 games (4388 mins) / 14 goals / 12 assists
Goal or assist every 2.5 games
Goal or assist every 169 minutes
36. Malik Tillman
43 games (2922mins) / 12 goals / 5 assists
Goal or assist every 2.5 games
Goal or assist every 172 minutes
37. Dado Prso
122 games (9236mins) / 37 goals / 16 assists
Goal or assist every 2.3 games.
Goal or assist every 174 minutes.
38. Ronald De Boer
119 games (9005 minutes) / 38goals / 12 assists
Goal or assist every 2.4 games
Goal or assist every 180 minutes
39. Daniel Candeias
97 games (7369 mins) / 14 goals / 25 assists
Goal or assist every 2.5 games
Goal or assist every 189 minutes
41. Thomas Buffel
79 games (5380 minutes) / 14 goals / 13 assists
Goal or assist every 2.9 games
Goal or assist every 198 minutes
42. Ryan Kent
218 games (17732 mins) / 33 goals / 56 assists
Goal or assist every 2.4 games
Goal or assist every 199 minutes
43. Neil McCann
159 games (9705 minutes) / 24 goals / 21 assists
Goal or assist every 3.5 games
Goal or assist every 216 minutes
44. James Tavernier**
493 games (43480 minutes) / 60 goals / 138 assists
Goal or assist every 2.5 games.
Goal or assist every 220 minutes.
(**excluding penalties)
45. Scott Arfield
233 games (13612 mins) / 43 goals / 19 assists
Goal or assist every 3.8 games.
Goal or assist every 220 minutes.
46. Scott Wright
120 games (4365mins) / 12 goals / 7 assists
Goal or assist every 6.3 games.
Goal or assist every 230 minutes.
47. Chris Burke
139 games (7302 minutes) / 12 goals / 17 assists
Goal or assist every 4.8 games
Goal or assist every 252 minutes
48. Filip Sebo
33 games (928 minutes) / 2 goals / 0 assists
Goal or assist every 16.5 games
Goal or assist every 464 minutes.
Written by Will29 January 26 2025 19:11:03
