The Best of 9IAR

By James Dailey

I believe we may have just finished witnessing the best Celtic team of the current 9 in a row run. I am even more certain it is the best of the Treble run. I only have access to advanced stats dating back to the 2015/2016 season, so the following is a simple comparison of non-penalty goals scored versus non-penalty goals conceded over the last 9 seasons.

It is difficult to normalize for the relative strength of the league when comparing seasons, but I believe it is objectively true that the 2019-2020 vintage of The Rangers was the best in that Club’s history, and also the best non-Celtic team in the league since the 2011-2012 season. If domestic performance and success is then supplemented by the success of each season’s European campaign, I believe this season’s team becomes a clear choice.

Advanced Trebles

Comparing some advanced stats (all excluding penalties) starting with the 2015-2016 season also shows the relative performance of this season’s team:

I think there is an interesting debate as to whether this season’s team is the best since the Martin O’Neill era, so let us look at goal data from the 2005-2006 season forward:

Obviously, those Strachan teams competed against the old Rangers at the height of their financial doping, won three consecutive league titles, and included the two European campaigns which reached the final 16 of the Champions League – an impressive “resume.”

Conclusion

When I review and think about the quality of players on the various squads, I think this season’s roster of players compares favorably with Strachan’s teams- particularly with the return of Griffiths. Lennon’s mystifying decisions and subsequent defeats to inferior teams in Cluj and Copenhagen masked what I believe to have been a proper European vintage Celtic team.

Whether or not the players, in total, were better than those on Strachan’s 2007-2008 team, is a question for the ages!

Regardless, what an enjoyable season and team it was to support.