Celtic are creating slightly more chances than last season. I take an early season look at Expected and Actual Assists. Assists / Expected Assists Christie and Forrest lead the way with 6 assists each. Edouard and Johnston have 5 and Ntcham 4 This suggests that Lennon’s Celtic are an equal creative threat from all of … [continue reading]
assists
The Larsson Benchmark
We all know Larsson was a world class talent and the greatest forward Celtic has seen since Dalglish. But how can we show this using statistic? Advanced in game data is only available relatively recently, but using simple goals and assists (i.e. attacking productivity) allied to minutes played we get overall scoring contribution rates. The … [continue reading]
Comparing Strikers Since Strachan
Celtic have a history of great strikers. How does the current crop compare to recent incumbents? Data on goals and assists is available from 2005, the start of the Strachan era. This is a useful starting place as it marks the beginning of a more prudent transfer policy post O’Neill and record fees. Data is … [continue reading]
Goals and Assists – November 2018
After 27 matches in 4 competitions, Celtic have already used 27 players. Here are the Goals and Assists tables. Goals No one has yet scored in all 4 competitions. Last season McGregor scored in all 5 competitions Celtic entered. Edouard, McGregor or Ntcham need to score in the League Cup Final to have a chance … [continue reading]
Assists and Chances
Celtic scored 126 goals from 1120 chances or a goal every 8.89 chances. Sinclair led the way with 15 assists but does that make him the most creative Celt? Who were Celtic’s creative craftsmen sculpting the Double Treble? The Glossary splits uncertainty with logic like a through ball from Rogic. Assists Not all goals have … [continue reading]
Some Goals Are Bigger Than Others
Not all goals are equal. A last minute winner is clearly more valuable than the 4th goal in the 85th minute of a 4-0 win in terms of securing victory. And we can measure that using Expected Points (xPTS). xPTS is a value assigned to each goal a player scores on the basis that every … [continue reading]
Creative Deficit
I showed in League Performance Regression? Yes. Here’s Why that it was whom is injured rather than volume of injuries that are hindering SPFL performance. In The Roberts Effect I focussed on comparing team performance with and without the mercurial winger. But across the whole squad, what are we missing creatively? The Glossary can open … [continue reading]
Stat Snapshot: Assists and Chances (Nov ’17)
As the international break comes to close, get back in the mood for real football with a reminder of where we are performance wise across some key metrics.Today: creativity. Assists The table below shows Assists per 90 minutes alongside Expected Assists per 90 minutes, and the difference between the two. Comparing players based on per … [continue reading]
What You Could Have Won
Some Celtic numbers to alleviate the ever-lengthening nights as we wait for international football to be over and the real stuff to start again! I look at the creative aspect of the game. For all the categories analysed, I have taken the cut off at Roberts who has played the equivalent of 4.19 90-minute matches. … [continue reading]