If Boyd beats my tally, I will be the first to salute him
SAYS WILLIE WALLACE
KRIS BOYD will have an unlikely ally willing him on from 10,500 miles away as he closes in on yet another major landmark today.
Lisbon Lion Willie Wallace will be watching with great interest to see if the former Rangers striker can hit the target against Hamilton Accies today and move into third place in the list of post-war Scottish top-flight goalscorers.
It would edge the Kilmarnock stalwart ahead of the late Joe McBride — a former Rugby Park centre-forward — and move him ever closer to Wallace in second place. Not that the 77-year-old ex-Celtic striker would be upset to find himself overtaken in the scoring charts.
In fact, Wallace has been as impressed as anyone by the fact that Boyd, who has hit 217 topflight goals in total for Kilmarnock and Rangers, finds himself leading scorer in the league again this season at the age of 34.
He might never catch runaway No 1 Ally McCoist, who scored an amazing 260 goals, but Boyd is definitely closing in on the legendary Wallace, who amassed 224 for Raith Rovers, Hearts, Celtic and Dumbarton during an illustrious career. And if Boyd succeeds, Wallace will be the first to congratulate him.
Speaking from his home in Australia, he told Sportsmail: ‘I hope Kris does it. It would be a fantastic achievement. To score the amount of goals he has in the modern game is really special.
‘Most clubs pay a fortune for someone who can bag ten a season, so that shows you how good Boyd has been.
‘He has been phenomenal and it’s all credit to him that he has consistently scored over such a prolonged period.
‘Records are there to be broken and if he gets past me, then I will be the first to congratulate him.
‘It was only when I had finished my career that I was told just how many goals I had scored.
‘To be honest, I never thought anyone would catch up with my total, so it underlines what a feat it will be if Kris goes on to do it.
‘Of course, Ally did it in the 1990s and that record stood for a while. I can’t see Kris catching him.
‘I believe McCoist has set a record that will never be beaten.’
Lee McCulloch, Boyd’s former team-mate and manager at Rugby Park, is just one of many observers who see the striker as leading contender for Player of the Year after turning the clock back under the stewardship of Steve Clarke.
And McCulloch firmly believes the ex-Scotland international, who has scored 15 goals in the league this season and 20 in all competitions, could play on until he is 40 and set new scoring records. ‘There is a growing feeling that Kris should be the Player of the Year and what a great story that would be,’ said McCulloch. ‘I remember one season when we were at Rangers and he had scored about 38 goals by Christmas. He didn’t win the award then because there was always this expectation he would bang them in every season.
‘But I think he needs to be rewarded for what he has achieved this season.
‘I would be surprised if he doesn’t win Player of the Year and I certainly hope that he does.’ Boyd is the only striker since the war to have scored 100 goals for two different clubs and McCulloch reckons those feats are all the more remarkable considering he has not played all of his football in Scotland.
‘It’s a phenomenal achievement and when you think Kris has been to England, Turkey and America during his career, it’s even more impressive,’ he added.
‘He has been at least three seasons away from Scottish football. To still reach the total he has is fantastic.
‘It would have been interesting if he had stayed longer at Rangers during his first spell at the club.
‘He could then have smashed every record going. All credit to him for scoring 20 goals in Kilmarnock’s team this season. He’s the league’s top scorer as well with 15 — usually it’s an Old Firm player who tops that chart. I’ve said before, Kris is worth his weight in gold and he is proving it again.
‘He’s 34 but I wouldn’t rule anything out with him. He’s defying all odds. He is the type of player who is reliant on his team-mates and, when I was the manager at Kilmarnock, I was trying to build the team around him.
‘I wanted to get guys like Eamonn Brophy around him and that now seems to be paying off.
‘The way Kris plays, I think he could play on until he is 38, 39 or even 40. Everybody goes on about how he might be a little bit heavy, but it doesn’t affect his football.
‘Kris Boyd could undoubtedly play on for a number of years.’