Ibrox View: Ex-Rangers ace Halliday absolutely right to praise in-form Kent
It feels as if we’re finally beginning to see the best of Ryan Kent at Rangers.
The winger had a patchy season last time around, but with three goals in his first five league games this term, he’s starting to look like a real match winner for the Gers.
Of course, one of the big transfer stories inside Ibrox at the moment in Leeds United’s interest in the winger, although it is understood that Kent has made it clear that he would rather stay in Glasgow than make the move to Elland Road.
And according to his former Gers teammate Andy Halliday, keeping Kent would be a huge bonus for Gerrard’s men.
In fact, the utility man has argued that retaining the former Liverpool player could be more important than keeping Alfredo Morelos this summer.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “Ryan Kent’s the one that I feel that can change a game with one dribble, one move.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Ryan Kent. I think he’d be a bigger loss to the Rangers team right now.
“Rangers have added attacking options, they have added two strikers. If Ryan Kent does end up leaving, I feel as if Rangers need to spend the fee.”
The stats would certainly seem to suggest that Kent has been the more dangerous of the two players too.
According to Wyscout, he has a higher shot accuracy rate than the Colombian, a higher pass completion rate, and made over five times as many dribbles.
Take a look at his shot map against Kilmarnock, for instance.
Kent got five of his six efforts on target, eventually scoring with his sixth and final attempt.
That gave him an accuracy of 83% over the course of the 90 minutes – 33% higher than Morelos’ best this season.
And his goal, when it did come, was superbly taken.
Kent has started to drift into more central areas with a much higher regularity this season, and as seen in the image above, his proclivity for hanging back on the edge of the box often leaves him with an unusually large amount of space.
In this example, the ball doesn’t fall to him immediately, but he still shows enough patience and cunning to leave himself in acres of space in the box.
James Tavernier slots a simple pass across to him, and he proves his composure and ability by sliding a wonderful effort low to the keeper’s left through a forest of bodies.
We’ve always known that Kent has that kind of quality in his locker, the key has been finding a way for him to tap into it on a regular basis.
This season he looks closer to achieving that than ever before, and if he can, then all of Halliday’s praise will be entirely justified.
In other Rangers news, Alex Bruce has hailed this player’s start to the season.