Rangers‘ underwhelming season continues.
On Sunday, the Light Blues battled to a 3-1 victory over Hearts at Tynecastle, with Václav Černý on target in Edinburgh, while Jamie McCart scored not one but two unfortunate own goals.
That makes it five Premiership wins in a row for Philippe Clement’s team, who are unbeaten in nine league matches since Boxing Day, but this matters very little, considering they remain 13 points adrift Celtic, set for a trophyless campaign, having been ignominiously dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Queen’s Park.
So, all the Light Blues really have to play for is the Europa League, set to face one of Bodø/Glimt, Anderlercht, Fenerbahçe or Twente in the round of 16.
In recent times, Rangers supporters have loved their Europa League Thursdays, getting all the way to the final three seasons ago, and one of the stars of the run to Seville is impressing at another Scottish club, so will they rue letting him go for free?
Rangers’ struggles in front of goal
Rangers have now failed to score on five occasions this season, most notably against Queen’s Park in that historic cup defeat, while, despite bagging three at Tynecastle this weekend, they’ve only netted 19 times in 13 Premiership away matches.
So, let’s compare Rangers’ goal-scoring issues to previous campaigns.
|
Rangers’ goal-scoring season-by-season comparison |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Statistics |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
|
Premiership goals scored |
80 |
93 |
87 |
54 |
|
Premiership away goals scored |
40 |
43 |
36 |
19 |
|
Premiership matches scored nil |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Premiership matches scoring 4+ |
6 |
8 |
6 |
3 |
|
Goals-per-game in Europe |
1.4 |
0.8 |
1.3 |
1.7 |
Rangers are currently on course to score 78 goals in this season’s Premiership, their lowest tally for a completed campaign since 2017/18, while their current tally of 19 goals away from home means they’re projected to score just 28 times on the road, their fewest since returning to the top division.
Failure to score in any of their remaining 12 league fixtures would be record-breaking, while they’ve only scored four, or more, on three occasions in the league so far, down from six during the previous campaign.
On the flip side, the Gers have scored 16 goals in eight Europa League matches so far, netting at least once during all of their league phase fixtures, including putting four past both Steaua Bucharest and Nice.
Nevertheless, consistent goalscoring is a clear weakness for this team, so did they make a mistake letting a goalscoring midfielder depart for free?
Ex-Rangers midfielder flying back at former club
Scott Arfield will always go down in history as Steven Gerrard’s first-ever signing as Rangers manager, arriving on a free transfer from Burnley in 2018, and what an excellent edition this proved to be.
He made 233 appearances for the Light Blues, scoring 43 goals and providing 19 assists, winning the Premiership title and a Scottish Cup, also a key member of the side who reached the Europa League Final, featuring in 16 European fixtures that season.
Then manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst described the Canadian international as “really important”, before the midfielder departed to join Major League Soccer outfit Charlotte FC, following the expiration of his contract in 2023.
He spent 12 months in North Carolina, making 33 appearances and scoring three goals, before returning to British football with Bolton Wanderers in EFL League One, albeit he featured just 16 times for the Trotters.
Arfield was then on the move again, re-joining Scottish Championship side Falkirk in January, returning to the club he had departed 15 years earlier.
Well, fair to say he had an immediate impact, scoring less than 60 seconds into his second Bairns debut, bagging a hat-trick during a 5-2 victory over Partick Thistle, before scoring again during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Ayr.
This means, in just two appearances back in Scotland, Arfield has now scored twice as many league goals as Rangers’ Nedim Bajrami has managed all season. The pair both have four goals between them across all competitions this season, yet Bajrami has made double the number of appearances.
Falkirk, who won the League One title unbeaten last season, are currently top of the Championship, seeking a second successive promotion that would take them into the top-flight for the first time since 2010.
Some supporters may have noticed that, whatever club he has been at, Arfield always wears the number 37 shirt, but the heartbreaking story behind this has only recently come to light.
This is a tribute to his former teammate Craig Gowans who, at the age of just 17, was killed back in 2005 when a metal pole he was holding collided with an overhead electricity pylon.
As outlined by Andrew Slaven of the Scottish Football Show, Falkirk had previously retired the number 37 shirt, with Arfield phoning up Gowans’ father asking for permission to wear it, who replied “wear it with pride”, a gesture Slaven describes as ‘really special’.
As well as being classy off the park, Arfield has shown he still has plenty to offer on it, even if at Championship level, emphasising he might just be the exact type of goal-scoring midfielder – and Bajrami upgrade – that Rangers are missing.
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