For Rangers fans it's there very own Ali vs Tyson, Maradona vs Pele, Daddy vs chips
The ultimate battle - Super Ally Vs Van Boydy
For me personally it's Coisty every time, I am a huge fan of Kris Boyd but I grew up during 9 in a row and had the pleasure of watching Ally McCoist throughout the most productive years of his career, watch him score countless goals with countless parts of his body, lift many trophies and become the legend that he is. Always my favourite player and the reason every Rangers top I bought had the number 9 on the back of it, he is a part of the greatest ever Rangers team, twice the top scorer in European football and the proud owner of a shiny MBE.
Kris Boyd on the other hand is the clear successor to McCoist's goalscoring crown and of course his number 9 jersey. Born in the same year that McCoist was signed by John Greig from Sunderland and making his debut on the day that McCoist finished his career at the same club he is Rangers to the core looking to cement his place both in the illustrious history of the club and the hearts of the support.
In the 15 years spent at Ibrox Ally McCoist scored 355 goals in 581 games, smashing just about every goalscoring record there is, like Boyd in the early stages of his career he was in a team that was playing poorly and his chances reflected this but as the team improved he showed what he could do, a predator in the box, an instinct that put him in the right place at the right time, a passion for the club that drove him to success, sound like anyone we know?
Kris Boyd came to Ibrox from Kilmarnock on the 1st of January 2006 after rejecting Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday, he came with a record of 64 goals in 153 games over 7 years at Rugby Park and finished that season as top goalscorer for both Rangers and Killie. Debuting against Peterhead in the 3rd round of the Scottish Cup he got off to an immediate start with a hat-trick he finished that season with 20 goals in 17 games making him the 2nd highest goalscorer in Europe.
While things looked like they were on the up for Rangers with the appointment of new manager Paul le Guen the team was not performing and chances were dwindling, a host of new signings failed to produce the ammunition that a striker like Boyd requires and his season tally for 06/07 was only 26 in 43. With the appointment of Walter Smith and Ally McCoist, Boyd stated his intentions by scoring a double against Dundee United in Smith's first game back and added 2 hat-tricks before scoring his 100th SPL goal in a win over Celtic.
The following season it was rebuilding time down Ibrox way and the first point of business was to make the team difficult to beat, to much dismay and disgruntlement from the support the manager employed the much maligned 4-5-1 formation, the up side of this was that for the first time in 2 years the team was hard to beat and while not pretty to watch the results and the success cannot be challenged, the down side was that the tactics have no place for a penalty box poacher. Nevertheless Boyd finished this season with 25 goals from 23 starts in all competitions and almost single handedly won both domestic cup competitions.
The current season has seen the team revert back to the 4-4-2 formation and Boyd has developed a ruthless partnership with Kenny Miller in which he has scored 18 goals in 19 appearances all before christmas. The season ended with Boyd yet again finishing as top scorer and again in the running for European Golden Boot, he achieved his best return in a season with 31 goals in 39 starts and finally got his hands on an SPL winners medal, scoring the last goal of a championship winning season against Dundee United, and another Scottish Cup winners medal, the raptures applause he received from the fans showed why he loves every goal he scores for the club. During only his 4th season at the club after only 3 and a half years Boyd became the fastest player to score 100 Rangers goals since 1960's star Jim Forrest when he scored the second in the 3-0 Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Mirren.
The fact that McCoist is a part of the development of Boyd's game and sees the potential in him so similar to himself will hopefully see the further rise in work-rate and passion and ensure Boyd goes all the way.
The resemblances are more than just coincidence and if there is a player capable of knocking Super Ally off the top of the red, white and blue pile it's Kris Van Boyd
-/-Ace-\-
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