Jack Butland won’t be feeling Liam Kelly heat at Rangers – here’s why
Rangers may be looking to reassess their goalkeeping options this summer.
Jack Butland is a shot-stopper who firmly splits opinion among the Rangers faithful, with some viewing him as one of, if not the Scottish Premiership’s best, whilst others can’t look past his tendency for a mistake.
2026-27 is set to be the 32-year old’s final season under contract at Ibrox too, meaning that if Gers wanted to sell him, then this summer window may be their last chance to fetch a premium price.
Behind him, Liam Kelly and Kieran Wright are the other two senior options in Danny Rohl’s goalkeeping department, with the former being the number two and the latter the third choice option respectively.
Liam Kelly’s numbers show why Jack Butland is Rangers starter
Kelly is set to become a free agent at the end of this season, with the 30-year-old having penned a two-year contract with Gers upon signing from Motherwell in the summer of 2024.
However, with only three competitive appearances to his name this season, he’s not ever looked close to taking the starting gloves from Butland.
And, when you compare the two shot-stoppers’ numbers, it’s not hard to see why either, and shows why Butland probably won’t be looking over his shoulder at the moment.
As per Sofascore, Butland has prevented plus 5.94 goals in the Scottish Premiership so far this season, and has recorded a very good 79 per cent save percentage from the 86 shots he’s faced.
On top of that, he’s also conceding less than a goal per game on average, and has made three Team of the Week inclusions this term.
Comparing that with Kelly’s numbers from his 10 Premiership appearances last season, he recorded a significantly worse 66 per cent save percentage, and shipped an average of one goal per game.
He also failed to save the one penalty he faced that term, whilst Butland has kept out all three he’s faced in the league this year, which is another huge factor as to why he’s cemented in place as the number one.
One thing Kelly does have going for him though is the fact he made zero errors leading to opposition goals, whilst Butland has made three.
- Read more: Everything we know about Jack Butland’s Rangers contract: Exit speculation, wages and more
Rangers could do far worse than Kelly as the backup
However, all of that isn’t to say that Kelly isn’t a valuable member of Rohl’s squad, and in fact, a lot of those numbers prove it.
Realistically, the number two keeper is exactly that for a reason, as he’s deemed to be not as strong as the starting shot-stopper.
Butland doesn’t disgrace Kelly in a lot of those underlying categories though, and the experienced keeper has proven that he’s a safe pair of hands in his own right, and can be trusted to step up when called upon.
Therefore, with his deal set to expire this summer, Rangers should look to keep him in Glasgow for a little while longer, as it always pays to have a quality backup option ready to go.
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