Possibly the trickiest position for a manager to find is a striker that scores on a regular basis.
In the Premiership, you’ve got Alfredo Morelos, Sam Cosgrove and Odsonne Edouard vying for top goalscorer. The Championship has Lawrence Shankland and Stephen Dobbie at different stages of their careers scoring for fun. Edinburgh City’s Blair Henderson has 24 league goals in League Two this season.
But why does nobody mention the top scorer race in League One?
Stephen Dobbie, of Queen of the South, aged 36 has 19 Championship goals this season and looks on course for 50 in all competitions. (photo by David Young/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Raith
Kevin Nisbet of Raith Rovers and Bobby Linn of Arbroath have both scored 20 league goals in 25 games. Both have staggering records that seem to go under the radar. Whilst Linn’s Arbroath look to be coasting towards the League 1 title, Nisbet’s Rovers must ensure that they are firmly in the playoff places.
Fellow Fifers East Fife have two games in hand. They must win both to overtake Rovers, as they are just five points behind. Rovers are also tied on points with Forfar, as the league begins to reach the business end of the season.
A significantly better goal difference and game in hand separates Rovers and the Loons, largely thanks to Nisbet’s ratio of a goal every 99 minutes.
A frustrating league campaign was somewhat forgotten as Raith beat fellow Fifers Dunfermline to set up a Scottish Cup tie against Premiership Hibernian. (photo by Alan Rennie/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Arbroath
As for the Lichties, as the weeks go by the more likely it looks that Championship football will become reality. Dick Campbell’s side are 16 points clear of second-placed Raith. With both teams on 54 league goals in 25 games, they would both have somewhat ordinary goal records if they didn’t have their main men.
Even more staggering is that Linn, Arbroath’s talisman, will be 34 in October. Having already helped Arbroath to the League Two title, the League One title looks to be just around the corner.
Dick Campbell’s Arbroath look a certainty to be playing in the second tier next year. (Photo by David Young/Action Plus via Getty Images)
With more than 10 games to go, you just can’t call who’ll come out on top.
What is a cert though is that the top two are where they are because they have goalscorers of this calibre. You just can’t put a price on goals as regular as clockwork.