Boyd is no Larsson but goals record tells a tale

[ian1964 10,377]

Published Date: 15 November 2009

THE EXPECTATION is that it won't be long now, possibly only a matter of weeks depending on the number of times Walter Smith and the opposition combine to offer him the on-field opportunities.

But, all things being equal, few would bet against Kris Boyd leapfrogging Henrik Larsson at the summit of the all-time SPL scoring charts.

 

As the league restarts following the international hiatus, the Rangers player recommences his quest for a pl

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ace in the history books. Bettering Larsson's tally will fool no-one into regarding him the better player, says Billy Dodds, but it would safeguard for posterity Boyd's credentials as a goalscorer.

 

Dodds is ranked ninth in the standings himself and says that Boyd and Larsson cannot be compared when it comes to their all-round ability but the one area where the Scot does measure up is when it comes to the instinctive finishing of chances in the domestic domain.

 

"Boydy is an out and out goal-scorer who does work hard to try to add other aspects to his game but Larsson could do everything," says Dodds. "He had awareness, pace, the ability to bring others into play, he could get in behind the defence and was a natural goalscorer. He had the lot but there are not too many like that, especially playing in the SPL."

 

Which is why he thinks it would be such an achievement if Boyd were to surpass the tally of 158 goals accumulated by the Swede in his 186 SPL outings (the 16 goals from his first season with Celtic don't count as they were scored in the old Premier Division).

 

Already, Boyd has played 275 games, so the ratio will not be equal to the player who finished top scorer in the league in five of the six years he competed in the SPL. The only year Larsson failed to better the rest was in 1999/2000 when he missed eight months with a double leg break. But Boyd himself has been a model of consistency in that respect. Three times in the past four seasons he has taken the plaudits as top goal scorer.

 

His self-imposed Scotland exile means he is fresh for the fight and, just ten goals from equalling Larsson, he will be rubbing his hands given the next sequence of matches. First up it's Kilmarnock next weekend. The club where he learned his trade and earned 63 of his SPL goals. Since leaving them, though, he has found them just as helpful in his ascent up the SPL charts, netting 13 goals in 13 league meetings against them. "We know all about him and what he can do and how to get close to him. But knowing that does not make him any easier to play against," concedes his former boss at Rugby Park, Jim Jefferies. "Even although we know what to expect he still manages to get the ball in the net. He has still done us a fair few times but we're not alone, he has done most teams in the SPL a fair few times."

 

In fact, the striker can look at six of the matches Rangers face between now and the end of the year with some relish. Between them the teams involved have accounted for more than half his SPL tally, with Dundee United and Motherwell in particular surely sick of his penalty box interventions. Of the clubs lined up to play Rangers between now and the turn of the year, only Hibernian and St Johnstone have thus far prevented Boyd rattling in a tally above double figures against them.

 

"There is no doubt what Kris is all about," says Jefferies. "He knows himself that he is no Larsson. He was an exceptional player and brought so much more to the table than Kris does but the one area where you could argue that he is equal to Larsson is scoring goals. He loves scoring goals and has that bit of selfishness and luck that the most prolific strikers have but it is not all down to luck. The more chances he gets, the more goals he gets. He gets a bad press but, maybe a bit like Ally McCoist, Kris gets himself into the positions to score and he takes his chances. You could see that in him at a young age and at training he was always shooting from all over. He just wanted to score goals and when he is taking that into matches and winning his team points you can't argue with that. What makes him better than most is his technique. He has great technique in front of goal.

 

"He can hit it first time, and you can see that by how many goals he scores on the half volley or volley, and sometimes to get that chance he is having to adjust his position at the last minute and he is very good at that. Which means he can convert a chance so quickly and gives defenders very little time to get close to him or get a tackle in."

 

Describing him as a great lad, the other thing Dodds and Jefferies agree on is how keen Boyd will be to supersede the former Celtic player at the peak of the all-time scorers list.

 

"We all know that all the very best strikers love to claim everything, whether they got the last touch or not, and the best ones always want to finish top of the scoring charts," explains Jefferies. "Bettering Larsson would not make him a better player than him but that won't matter. Strikers thrive on confidence and this would be brilliant for Kris's confidence."

 

"Larsson was a class act," stresses Dodds, "but these days, look at the other strikers in the SPL, when it comes to getting goals time and time again, Boydy is in a league of his own. What people don't realise is that he is a very thoughtful lad and he works very hard to improve on other areas of his game and if you compare the player he is now to the player Rangers bought, he has improved. He will never be the complete striker but he scores goals that win games and that's what Boydy loves. He will be desperate to get this record and get his name in the history books but, if he does, it will be a long time before anyone can beat it. In fact, I'm not sure anyone will. It is such a tremendous target."

 

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