If you were previously unaware, this season The Terrace Podcast has been calculating its own assists table for the players in the Scottish Premiership. We are doing this for two reasons: one, we doubt the accuracy of the current tables on offer; and two, we believe assists to be a fundamentally flawed statistic. It is supposed to represent how creative a player is, but in order for the player in question to get a tally mark beside their name they are relying on someone else to do their job. Is it the fault of the facilitator if he offers chance after chance on a plate that teammates keep refusing to take?
In our ‘True Assist’ table we take into account the chances created and rank them in two categories: where the forward could score and where the forward should score. Then we set in place a points system and view the highlights of every top flight match in order to rank the players.
There’s not been a whole lot of movement the last couple of weeks. Only two new players have come into the list with three dropping out to make it an even top 20. That was because the players who tallied the most points in the last two weeks (Richie Brittain and Marley Watkins) had very little to show for their efforts in the rest of the campaign. Even the top four remained rooted in their positions with Johnny Hayes extending his lead at the summit to 2.25 points. Although there was plenty of shuffling in the chasing pack.
Before we get to the table let us just quickly remind you of the scoring system and the meanings of the abbreviations you’ll need to understand the league table:
Chance Created – Could Have Scored (CS) = 0.75pts
Goal Created – Striker Dispatches Tricky or ‘Half Chance Assist’ (HCA) = 0.75pts
Chance Created – Should Have Scored (SS) = 1pt
Goal Created – Striker Couldn’t Miss Assist (CMA) = 1pt
True Assist Table
1. J Hayes (Aberdeen) – 10 CS; 2 HCA; 2 SS; 1 CMA = 12 pts
2. S May (Saints) – 3 CS; 2 HCA; 4 SS; 2 CMA = 9.75 pts
3. I Vigurs (M’well) – 10 CS; 1 HCA; 1 CMA = 9.25 pts
4. R Gauld (Dundee Utd) – 2 CS; 2 HCA; 2 SS; 4 CMA – 9 pts
5. A Doran (Inverness) – 6 CS; 1 HCA; 2 CMA = 7.25 pts
6. A Stokes (Celtic) – 3 CS; 1 HCA; 2 SS; 2 CMA = 7 pts
T7. M Gardyne (Killie) – 6 CS; 2 SS = 6.25 pts
T7. K Commons (Celtic) – 5 CS; 1 HCA; 1 SS; 2 CMA = 6.5 pts
9. P McGowan (St Mirren) – 2CS; 1HCA; 2SS; 2CMA = 6.25 pts
T10. David Wotherspoon (St Johnstone) – 7 CS; 1 HCA = 6 pts
T10. Emillio Izaguirre (Celtic) – 4 HCA; 1 SS; 2 CMA = 6 pts
T12. Niall McGinn (Aberdeen) – 4 CS; 1 SS; 1 CMA = 5.75 pts
T12. G Mackay-Steven (D Utd) – 3 CS; 2 HCA; 2 SS = 5.75 pts
14. S Clohessy (Kilmarnock) – 4 CS; 2 HCA; 1 CMA = 5.5 pts
T15. J Walker (Hearts) – 3 CS; 2 SS; 1 CMA = 5.25 pts
T15. S Thompson (St Mirren) – 6 CS; 1 HCA = 4.5 pts
T15. C Mulgrew (Celtic) – 3 CS; 3 CMA = 5.25 pts
18. S Armstrong (Dundee U) – 4 CS; 2 CMA = 5 pts
T19. L Craig (Hibs) – 5 CS; 1 CMA = 4.75 pts
T19. N Hasselbaink (Saints) – 5 CS; 1 CMA = 4.75 pts
If you’ve enjoyed the blogs then be sure to listen to the podcast. The latest episode was called Where The Bloody Hell is Kane Hemmings?
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