THE only statistics that matter right now, and will do come the end of the season, are the ones that everyone knows. In the Championship, Rangers have played eight, won eight, collected 24 points, scored 28 goals and conceded 4.
They are the headline figures, but do not tell the whole story for Mark Warburton. The man who used to handle huge numbers during his career in the City is now dealing in percentages, shots and possession, focusing on the eleven players he has on the pitch and the squad he works with on a daily basis.
It was a disagreement over numbers that ultimately lead to Warburton becoming manager at Ibrox, a difference of opinion with Matthew Benham, the Brentford chairman, signalling the end of his tenure with the Championship club. The desire of Benham to increase the use of figures and statistics in the football operation at Griffin Park and take inspiration from the ‘Moneyball’ scheme was at odds with Warburton’s more hands-on approach.
Just a couple of months on from his departure from Brentford, the fortunes of the manager and his former club are somewhat different. Warburton’s successor, Marinus Dijkhuizen, was this week sacked after just eight league games in charge with the Bees languishing in the Championship.
Warburton has picked up where he left off, his tried and trusted methods proving successful in Scotland. It is still a numbers game for the 53-year-old, but only the ones he needs.
"I think it's a balance,” Warburton said. “Everything's a balance. I don't think you can go too far right or too far left. You are going to have data. Data is going to play a bigger role in the game undoubtedly, but it doesn't mean the scout's eyes are worthless or information flow from within the game is worthless.
"In my opinion I think it's worth that balance, but there's no doubt that statistics and data will have a bigger role to play in the game. It's just how you use it. Right now we can get reams and reams and reams of data. It's what we think is valuable and how you use it."
All the numbers make pleasant reading for Warburton as he has made an immediate impact at Ibrox, his newly assembled squad playing a quick, attacking game and already opening up a gap that is quickly in danger of becoming too big to bridge for the Championship chasing back. Victory over Falkirk tomorrow will extend their advantage to Peter Houston’s side to twelve points, and ensure the lead over Hibernian, who travel to Queen of the South, is at least eleven after the first quarter of the campaign.
Of all the stats Warburton uses to gauge the progress of his side, one – their impressive goal tally – certainly stands out. While Rangers have yet to score a header this season, Warburton points out that few teams have. It shows the change in approach from Rangers, their attacking phases now quick, one and two touch passing on the ground rather than long balls from back to front or crosses from the flanks.
It is a blue print the Ibrox crowd have bought into and one that has been successful thus far. Through the highs and the lows, Warburton will certainly stick with it, and he hopes supporters will too.
“The fans have been great but that’s a danger for us, they might revert to type and encourage us to hit it long,” he said. “If something doesn’t go right or we concede a goal the obvious thing to do is go back to what you know. So we need to be wary off the fans losing patience and if they do that puts a lot of pressure on the young players but the fans have been outstanding.
“I hope they can see what we are trying to do – it’s only three months - and I hope they can see the effort of the players. Work ethic and commitment are important because there will be days when things don’t come off. As long as the commitment is there the fans will buy into it.”
The accumulation of points has been the main positive for supporters in the opening weeks of the campaign but the manner in which the wins have been chalked off has given them extra reasons to be cheerful. The wins matter most, but there has to be style to the substance.
“Hopefully if we do play our way we will be winning,” Warburton said. “That’s not being arrogant. If we do what we do well then hopefully we will create chances and we will score goals and do OK.
“There will be days when you have 27 attempts at goal and score one. We didn’t play that differently against St Johnstone as we did against Morton and we beat them 4-0.
“We gave Morton some chance but they didn’t take any of them. We gave St Johnstone five chances and they scored three.”
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