Forget all the stats, look after No.1 and just lose yourself in hard work
Macca urges Kent to blank his snipers
There is an obsession with statistical analysis in datadriven modern-day football.
And for marquee signing Ryan Kent the numbers didn’t stack up at Rangers last season.
Gary McAllister insists the former Liverpool winger shouldn’t become bogged down by numbers.
Instead, the Ibrox No.2 would rather see the 23-year-old immerse himself in good, old-fashioned hard work.
Steven Gerrard pursued Kent throughout last summer and finally landed his man on deadline day.
Following a loan spell the previous season, it took a fee of £7million to beat Club Brugge to his signature.
It is a fee that made him the third most expensive player in Scottish football history alongside Christopher Jul lien and behind only Odsonne Edouard and Tore Andre Flo.
While Jullien was the difference with the only goal in the Old Firm Betfred Cup final, many felt Kent didn’t do enough to justify his hefty price tag.
Kent netted eight goals last term while rival James Forrest bagged double that tally and Ryan Christie fired 19 goals for Celtic.
Some used that comparison as a stick with which to beat the former Liverpool youth but Gerrard leapt to his defence after a brilliant winner in Braga – and branded criticism of the Englishman as way over the top.
McAllister knows Kent better than most, having worked with him during his younger days at Liverpool.
He sees a more mature player than the quiet kid he first encountered on Merseyside.
McAl l ister said: “I know in the modern day a lot of people look at numbers – goals and assists.
“That’s been thrown at Ryan but maybe he should blank that.
“I remember way back when I played at Leeds United, a coach said to lose yourself in hard work.
“That quote is flying around my head and is something I’d say to Ryan: ‘Lose yourself in hard work’.
“You might just get the rub of the green, a ball might bounce nicely for you, you might get a shot at goal and a deflection.
“After that he can go and get a nice run of performances and score goals.
“Ryan is most definitely one of our big players and criticism is part of being a big player at a big club.
“When results go the other way you tend to look at the star player within the group – and he’s one of our blue-chip players.
“But I’ve known Ryan for a while and even though there were times I felt the criticism was a bit unfair I didn’t see a player hiding.
“I see a hard working guy and a player who is pretty robust. He doesn’t miss much training. He’s generally there to be picked for every game.
“He just needs to keep working away. There’s little tactical things we want to impress on him and there’s little areas of the pitch he can improve in. We’re just drip feeding these all the time.
“He’s a young man who loves the city and he’s come back looking sharp so a wee run of form or goals and he’ll be fine.
“I’ve known him a while having worked with him for periods as well. He is a bit left-field and different.
“It’s good when you get to know someone for four or five years and can just see them maturing. To get a conversation with Ryan three or four years ago it would have been one-word answers but now he’s more settled.
“He loves Glasgow and you’re now seeing a player who has loads of potential and can still improve – but who has become a man.
“And as he becomes mature, you will see more mature performances. “He can learn from being able to communicate better and have conversations.
“He’s naturally quiet but I can start to see him come out himself a bit and that’s refreshing.” McAllister’s former Scotland team- mate John Collins claimed in an interview recently that his old club Celtic would have to be weakened as well as Gers getting stronger for the title to end up at Ibrox.
Hoops shot-stopper Fraser Forster – outstanding between the sticks to thwart Gers in the Betfred Cup final – looks unlikely to return to Parkhead whi le Edouard could be a target for top clubs.
But McAllister only has eyes on improving what he can work with.
He said: “We’re looking across the city but our main focus has got to be on ourselves.
“It’s not something that we are sat here hoping for at Rangers.
“Forster is outstanding and Edouard is a good player but we’ve got to focus on and improve on what we do.
“Even when we went into lockdown the recruitment, to improve the group and make us better, went on. We are striving to get a team that can win.
“Game management is a big thing. Your eye goes to McGregor, experienced at the back. Connor Goldson and Filip Helander, not quite as much experience.
“Steve Davis and Ryan Jack are very experienced, then you have Jermain Defoe at the top of the pitch.
“They are the sort of management group at the training ground.
“They have got to keep the levels every day at training.
Not just on a matchday.
“They have got to drive on the younger and less experienced players so that they can keep improving.
“You need experience and the guys who can emphasise those points.”
Criticism is part of being a big player at a big club. But I’ve know Ryan for a while and even though there were times when the criticism was unfair I didn’t see a player hiding. He just needs to keep working away and he can improve