It Wasn’t a Boruc Howler, It Was a Rankin “Squiggler”

You’ve probably heard about the goal Celtic conceded during defeat to Hibs at Easter Road this weekend as a howler from Artur Boruc. But that doesn’t give enough credit to the man who struck the ball from 45 yards: John Rankin.

Though Boruc certainly looked silly, the goal had as much to do with Rankin’s strike as the keeper’s mistake. Because apparently the strike is something he’s been practicing in training, and it’s called a “squiggler.”

It’s a technique that Rankin picked up from Derek Riordan, who recently rejoined Hibs from Celtic. Here’s what Rankin told The Scotsman:

“It was a squiggler. That’s when you get the ball in the air and as soon as it’s in the air it travels a distance at the same height and then all of a sudden it will move and dip.

“I don’t know how hard it is for goalkeepers to deal with because I have never been on the receiving end but, from the angle that you hit it from, it certainly moves a great deal.”

“Deek came to the club a couple of months ago and it was his word. We just all took it on board and whenever anyone gets the ball in training now they try to squiggle it. It’s the way that you hit it more than anything else. It took me a couple of months to realise how he was doing it, you kind of get under it and cut across it at the same time. It rises and goes at the same height and all of a sudden it moves. It is a strange technique but, at the same time, it worked for me yesterday and I am sure that I will use it again in the future.”

So go easy on Boruc. Because at least he didn’t do this.

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Category: Scottish Premier League

Tags: Artur Boruc, Celtic, Derek Riordan, Hibernian, John Rankin, Scottish Premier League, squiggler

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