Statistics are a laughing matter

COMEDIAN Vic Reeves once said that 88.2-per-cent of statistics were made up on the spot.

If Athletic’s game at Colchester is anything to go by, the remaining 11.8-per-cent should be looked on with suspicion too.

For some reason, official match stats showed that Paul Dickov's side failed to muster a single shot on target during the game.

Some misers will point to Reuben Reid's new-found penalty prowess — he boasts the unusual record of converting four from the opening six league and cup matches — and say that they don't really count (as if a goal from the spot is somehow less valuable than others).

But even if you subscribe to the dubious line of reasoning discrediting the spot-kick, it is a stretch to argue that it doesn't so much qualify as a 'shot'.

Similarly, the vast majority of spectators at the Weston Homes Community Stadium will attest that Reid sent 'keeper Mark Cousins diving the wrong way, with the ball nestling inside the left-side of his goal netting.

If that doesn't count as being 'on target' then someone, somewhere has moved the goalposts.