It’s been an interesting season so far for Ryan Hardie.
He joined Livingston on loan at the start of the campaign but spent the initial months out injured. At that stage, he looked on borrowed time as a Ger.
However, once back fit and restored to the starting lineup, he caught fire.
Five goals in five games followed, including a brace and Man of the Match performance against Hearts.
In January, he was whisked off to the Gers’ midseason training camp, signed a year contract extension and then returned to Livi seemingly ready to kick on.
Yet, the goals suddenly dried up. Furthermore, he soon found himself dropped to the bench, with Chris Erskine preferred up front.
An eight-game barren spell then came to an end in late March against Hibs. With another against Hamilton the following week, he reached seven for the season.
That’s his current total, and it may not sound overly spectacular.
Yet, when you dig a little deeper into the stats, it’s clear that he’s actually outperforming some of the SPL’s most vaunted performers.
Goalscoring ratio still strong
Hardie averages a goal every 143 minutes so far this season. That’s considerably better than the likes of James Forrest (every 230 minutes), Greg Stewart (285), Florian Kamberi (309), Eamonn Brophy (171) and Scott Sinclair (229) [BBC Sport].
Furthermore, he has achieved these numbers whilst playing up front for a lesser Livingston side, who in general, have struggled to produce goals.
Therefore, it would be unwise to write Hardie off at Rangers just yet. If he can notch a few more before the end of the campaign and then hit the ground running in pre-season, you just never know.
He’s shown glimpses of the ability to produce at this level and with better players around him, he could still conceivably make it back at Ibrox.
