Rangers fans make one big demand but the SPL table might not agree | OneFootball

Following a welcome win at Rugby Park Rangers sit a reasonably comfortable joint third in the table. It is not where this club needs to be but it is where we are right now. There is potentially a little bit of an upward trend in the results. Yes we have drawn a couple in recent times in the league but overall Rohl’s league record is not too bad at all. It is five wins of seven which in the league is definitely a significant improvement from recent times. Do Rangers need defenders?

Reinforcements Needed but Debate Growing

There is however a slight twist with what fans are saying compared with what is actually potentially needed. Fans keep on talking about how Rangers need defenders and how they are not happy with Manny Fernandez, Derek Cornelius who is of course out injured and Nasser Djiga. John Souttar is also out injured. Rangers definitely have a distinct lack of quality at the back at least that is how it seems.

Defensive Numbers Tell a Different Story

The big catch here is that at the top of the table Hearts have conceded exactly the same number of goals as Rangers. Celtic have conceded only three less. Rangers needing to get better defenders is not quite backed up by the actual data. Ibrox Noise has looked into the stats of our defenders and yes the numbers are not bad. Both Djiga and Fernandez and indeed Cornelius and Souttar all stay around about the 7/10 mark. That is that the stats sites basically have them in that number range which is about normal for a defender. Even the best defenders will not go that much higher than about 7.

The Real Problem Lies Up Front

This is a significant twist on the fact that Rangers fans think we need new defenders. Ibrox Noise does not remove ourselves from that. We probably do need new defenders but the numbers do not back up the urgency for them. The simple fact is we have conceded exactly the same number as top of the table Hearts. The problem of course is at the other end. It is not even chances created that is a problem. That is improving too. Midfield is not spectacular by any manner of means but it is feeding the forward line. The problem is Chermiti is missing Miovski is missing and Danilo is not having the right impact at the moment. Of course Miovski did improve this at Rugby Park but this is deep into December now.

Strikers Must Start Scoring

Our strikers have not been functioning all season. This is part of why Rangers are where we are. We need strikers who reliably score goals. We are getting all the shots in the world and we are getting into all the good positions but there is just not the end product. It is not about defending it is about scoring. We always said on Ibrox Noise that Walter built from the back and that it was always about having a stable defence. We are not saying that our defence is remarkable but it is not any worse than the top of the table teams. It is really not any worse than Celtic or Hearts.

Data Challenges Fan Assumptions

Fans watching Hearts beat Celtic recently were praising the solidity of Hearts’ defence. Hearts still conceded a goal. It is all too easy to praise the green grass on the other side and to criticise your own but the reality is that numbers do not back up fan opinion. This does not really matter of course. Fans will always believe what they want to believe and they are entitled to. We all have our own views but the data says something slightly different.

January Outlook

And if Rangers are continuing with a data-based approach that will be the approach for January that Rangers will take. And there will not be that many new defenders coming in but we shall see.