'It's very rare you get a move from Rangers to the Premier League' states Chris Powell - but facts say otherwise

Former Charlton Athletic manager Chris Powell has joined current incumbent Lee Bowyer in disparaging the quality of the Scottish Premiership and its existence as a stepping stone to the English top flight.
Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo.Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo.
Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo.
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Bowyer was annoyed with the player's decision, believing he should have stayed at the club as they ascended to the Championship following last year's promotion, which, according to Bowyer, could have then seen him move upwards to the EPL.

Powell has now backed the former Leeds United and Newcastle United star, saying: "When people from England go and play for Celtic and Rangers it is at the end of their careers.

Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo.Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo.
Rangers midfielder Joe Aribo.
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“That’s because it is very rare you get a move from Rangers to the Premier League.

“They might go from Rangers to the Championship, very rarely is it to the Premier League."

Of course, it's been rare for a player from Rangers to go to the Premier League over the past few seasons, though it's not as if there weren't some mitigating circumstances in place.

Rangers were out of the top flight division from 2012 to 2016. Upon their return to the Scottish Premiership they were then comically incompetent for a club of their stature, failing twice to finish in the top two and going through three different managers.

Prior to that they sold talent to the top flight of England regularly. Here's a quick breakdown...

Nikica Jelavic - Jan 2012 - Sold to Everton

Danny Wilson - Summer 2010 - Sold to Liverpool

Barry Ferguson - Summer 2009 - Sold to Birmingham City

Carlos Cuellar - Summer 2008 - Sold to Aston Villa

Daniel Cousin - Summer 2008 - Sold to Hull City

Alan Hutton - Summer 2007 - Sold to Tottenham Hotspur

That's one player sold to the top flight of English football every season for six consecutive seasons.

"It is very rare you get a move from Rangers to the Premier League."

Of course, football has changed in the years since Rangers have been endured their, erm, unpleasantness. Perhaps he's meaning that in those intervening seasons the appetite to sign players from the biggest clubs in Scottish football dissipated.

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Coincidentally, here's a list of Celtic departures to the English Premier League from the year 2012 to the present day...

Stuart Armstrong - Summer 2018 - Sold to Southampton

Adam Matthews - Summer 2015 - Sold to Sunderland

Virgil van Dijk - Summer 2015 - Sold to Southampton

Fraser Forster - Summer 2014 - Sold to Southampton

Joe Ledley - January 2014 - Sold to Crystal Palace

Gary Hooper - Summer 2013 - Sold to Norwich City

Victor Wanyama - Summer 2013 - Sold to Southampton

Ki Sung-yueng - Summer 2012 - Sold to Swansea City

And that's not counting the interest in the likes of Kieran Tierney, Dedryck Boyata, Callum McGregor and Tom Rogic as Celtic, unlike Rangers in the build up to their demise, are in a strong financial position and don't need to sell their best and brightest.

"When people from England go and play for Celtic and Rangers it is at the end of their careers."

Celtic have been a Championship League club for a lot of that time, which certainly would have helped raise the profile of those players. But just the very act of being a Celtic or Rangers star does that also. You just have to take a look at some of the guys who've been sold by Rangers during the Banter Years era: Martyn Waghorn, Joe Garner, Josh Windass, Declan John, Matt Gilks, Barrie McKay and Lewis MacLeod. Only Windass and McKay were good top flight players and neither of them were what you would call outstanding.

If Aribo is a big success in Scottish football then he can get a move to the English Premier League. Bowyer and Powell are just the latest in a long line of English football personalities who, when it comes to matters north of the border, are completely ignorant to what they're talking about.