Everyone has spoken about the improvement this season, but here we look at truly comparing Rangers’ form between now and a year ago.
Steven Gerrard arrived in the summer and totally revolutionised the club. New signings who look the part combined with an increase in confidence from having someone of Gerrard’s caliber in charge – it’s all going right at Ibrox.
Everyone knows there’s been an improvement since Gerrard arrived. But just what has the difference truly been from last season in terms of the numbers?
Well, to start off, let’s look at the points tally.
After 13 rounds of fixtures this season, Rangers have managed to gather 27 points. Compare that to last season, where Rangers managed 24 points. Not much to shout about there as we would all agree, but it is a slight improvement regardless.
The standout one is the home form, however. Gerrard has acquired 11 wins from their 14 Ibrox fixtures this season. The other three finished in draws as Rangers remain unbeaten at home under the new man.
Last season, however, Pedro Caixinha failed to make any impact at home. The Portuguese only managed to take charge of seven before being sacked in November due to his poor performances. Out of those six, Rangers won only three and lost two of them.
The goalscoring potential in the Rangers side has been highly praised this season. So how does that compare in the stats? Is that praise justified?
The answer, as you might expect, is yes but not as clear as you might expect. Out of their 28 matches so far, Rangers have slammed home an incredible 58 goals. First of all, it took Gers until the end of January to play 28 fixtures last season. Their goals tally from those matches? 53.
Therefore, whilst Rangers’ attacking play has been lauded this season, they weren’t short of goals after the same amount of games last season either.
Defensive concerns
Then again, it was constant defensive issues that cost Rangers last term. Gerrard instantly looked to improve the spine of his side, bringing in goalkeeper Allan McGregor and four new centre-backs over the summer.
Whilst criticism has continued of the defence this season, they have kept 11 clean sheets from their 28 competitive matches. They’ve shipped a total of only 23 goals throughout those games also.
How does that compare to last season though? Under Caixinha and Graeme Murty, Rangers conceded 30 goals throughout the same amount of games. That’s a seven-goal improvement, a massive boost to Rangers’ chances of success.
The only disappointment for Gerrard this season is the away form. Of his 13 away matches, Rangers have won only four. Caixinha only managed seven before being sacked, and he managed to rack up five wins from his seven away matches. Granted, six of Gerrard’s have come in the Europa League, whilst Caixinha was knocked out of the first qualifying round.
So the stats reflect an improvement in every area outside of the away form. Most noticeable is the improvement in defensive leaks despite this season’s criticism of the back-line.
Rangers fans can be safe in the knowledge that their side now truly are on the right track.
