Goldson and Co can eclipse Iron Curtain defence record
Rangers going for fifth clean sheet in a row to beat mark set by likes of Young, Shaw and Woodburn
It is perhaps too early for Rangers supporters to hail the dawn of a new Iron Age at Ibrox.
But if Connor Goldson and his defensive cohorts can shut out Kilmarnock’s attack this afternoon, they will eclipse a post-war record set by their club’s most famous and revered rearguard.
Back in 1949-50, the Rangers backline of goalkeeper Bobby Brown, full-backs George Young and Jock Shaw and half-backs Ian Mccoll, Willie Woodburn and Sammy Cox – collectively known as the ‘Iron Curtain’ – kept clean sheets in the first four matches of the league campaign.
It’s an achievement the current Rangers side matched in last Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Livingston and can surpass today. They would also equal the alltime club record set in 1929-30 when a Rangers team led by legendary captain Davie Meiklejohn conceded no goals in its first five league fixtures.
If solidity at the back is the platform for any successful team – Rangers went on to win the title in both of the seasons those milestones were set – then Goldson & Co can be encouraged by their work in the early stages of this season.
“It wasn’t a statistic I was aware of but we will try our best to try and keep another clean sheet on Saturday,” said the English central defender.
“It is good that we are close to that run because I feel that we are defensively stronger now than the first year I came here. It shows because we are keeping clean sheets.
“We hope that continues but we are only four games into a season. We have done well so far but hopefully there is more to come.
“We conceded the same number of goals in the league as Celtic last season but, obviously, the team that wins the league gets credit for it and the other team doesn’t. We have improved a lot in that area. The previous two seasons, Rangers conceded a lot of goals and we have been trying every year to improve as much as we can.
“Last season, we had a good record overall but we want to improve on that again. We want to keep more clean sheets and we have worked hard on things over the pre-season. It is not just the defensive boys but the whole team and so far the hard work is paying off.”
Such was Rangers’ dominance of possession at Livingston last week, Goldson spent much of the afternoon as an auxiliary midfielder as Steven Gerrard’s men struggled but failed to break down their ultra-cautious hosts.
“That was tough ,” headmitted. “i a made fender but id idn’ t have to defend much. But you still have to concentrate, there are balls that come over the top of your head and if you switch off and don’t concentrate on defending at all times we can get punished, as we have seen in the last two years.
“At Livingston, in the first year I came we lost 1-0 there and it is always harder when you concede a goal, it makes it an up hill struggle and you have to go and score two against a team that is really organised. Keeping clean sheets gives us the best chance of winning games of football.”
Goldson is a mainstay of Gerrard’s defence but has operated with a variety of partners in the centre of it. With Nikola Katic and Leon Balogun currently ruled out by injury, Filip Helander has jumped ahead of George Edmundson to line up alongside Goldson. The Swedish international was sidelined for several months last season by a foot injury and has impressed Goldson on his return to action.
“Fil has done really well,” the 27-year-old said. “He is one of those guys that you would never know if he has played ten games in a row or if it is his first game in ages. He will give you the same performance all the time. He came back in against Bayer Leverkusen, a top team, and I don’t think he had played 90 minutes in about nine months.
“It is credit to him as a player and a person that he keeps himself right and whenever he plays he does a good job so I am happy to play next to him. We have five really good centre-backs here, including Niko who is unfortunately injured long term. You look at the games since pre-season and I have played with all three of the others and all three have done really well. It is not my decision who plays but I am comfortable playing next to whoever is there.”