The fascinating stat that ranks Celtic loanee next to Chelsea star Edouard Mendy

By Euan Davidson

January 7, 2022

If you wondered how Celtic loanee Ross Doohan is getting on at Tranmere Rovers, there’s a stat that puts him next to guys like Chelsea star Edouard Mendy.

According to stats firm FBRef, powered by Statsbomb, Ross Doohan has a save percentage is a mighty 77.8% [FBRef]. That puts him way out on top of the League Two rankings.

Extrapolated for all the English top leagues, it puts Doohan in the top 5 performing goalkeepers. At the top is Wolves man Jose Sa, who has saved a ridiculous 85% of the shots he’s faced. Chelsea man Edouard Mendy is second, with 81%, while Aaron Ramsdale is on 80.6% [FBRef].

Nathan Baxter of Hull, in the Championship, is on a whopping 85.3% himself, but he’s played less than 1,000 minutes [FBRef].

For Doohan, that’s some extremely impressive stuff. There are caveats; Edouard Mendy plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, against some of the best strikers in the world. League Two is somewhat different.

Nonetheless, Doohan is showing his worth with Tranmere Rovers, who sit fourth in the EFL League Two at the time of writing. It gets more impressive, too, looking at his overall numbers. Over half of his appearances this season have ended in clean sheets [FBRef].

Considering the competition at Celtic, Doohan might still have a fair way to go. But at 23, he’s making really positive strides, and clearly has the natural ability to keep the ball out of his net.

Ross Doohan is not Edouard Mendy yet, but he’s proof of loan system working for Celtic

Player development can be tricky when it comes to goalkeepers. If an outfield player hadn’t had significant game-time somewhere before turning 23, the alarm bells would ring. For keepers, obviously, that’s different; although the career trajectory of Joe Hart suggests there are outliers.

Still, Doohan is getting opportunities and is having to make a decent amount of saves. In the ever-competitive League Two, his prowess is helping Tranmere Rovers launch a realistic bid for promotion.

A club of their size probably doesn’t belong in the fourth tier of English football.

For Celtic, though, it’s another loanee doing well away from the club. At a relatively similar level, albeit a tier up, Scott Robertson is putting in excellent displays for Crewe Alexandra. In Scotland, Luca Connell is performing well, with 4 goals and an assist to his name for Queen’s Park this season [Transfermarkt].

For Ross Doohan, consistency and continuing to put up solid statistical numbers will get him the attention he needs at Celtic. Although Joe Hart is the incumbent, with Tobi Oluwayemi tipped to be the next big thing, Doohan will know that repeatedly impressive performances and the value of patience will be rewarded.

Ross Doohan is not quite Edouard Mendy yet, but statistically? You can’t argue with numbers.

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