Pundit Charlie Nicholas has claimed that Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst needs to drop goalkeeper Allan McGregor for the remainder of the season.
The 40-year-old certainly didn’t have his greatest performance at the weekend as he played a major role in allowing their opponents to get back into the game.
He could only stand and look, along with defender Connor Goldson (1:38), as the ball rolled between them, allowing Motherwell’s Jordan Roberts to tap in with ease, giving them the spark they needed as they eventually went on to draw the game 2-2, meaning Rangers missed out on a perfect chance to close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Writing in his column for the Daily Express (via Football Scotland), Nicholas slammed McGregor for his role in the incident and claimed that he needed to be taken away from the team if Rangers were to have any chance of winning the title once again this year:
He said: “Rangers can kiss goodbye to their title crown if they don’t drop Allan McGregor. The 40-year-old keeper is looking really vulnerable and even some of Gers’ own fans have started to question his position in the starting line-up.
“Giovanni van Bronckhorst now has a big call to make and it could prove fatal to their silverware aspirations if he doesn’t make the right one. The Ibrox manager should give the gloves to Jon McLaughlin or even Robby McCrorie. The big moments look to have passed McGregor by this season.”
TIF Thoughts on Charlie Nicholas’ comments about Allan McGregor at Rangers…
Will Giovanni van Bronckhorst succeed at Rangers?
Yes
No
It does seem to be a bit of an overreaction on the part of Nicholas, because over the course of the season, McGregor has actually proven himself to be one of the better goalkeepers in the division, as he has saved 70.7% of his shots on target – which ranks ninth in the Scottish Premiership – whilst also holding the second-best record when it comes to goals against per 90 minutes (via FBRef).
Meanwhile, compared to 34-year-old Jon McLaughlin (valued at £315k by Transfermarkt), he has a higher save percentage rate and has a better clean sheet rate (via FBRef). Considering McCrorie has only played two games, there is not enough to claim he should step in.
So for Nicholas to say that McGregor should be dropped and replaced with one of those two may very well be a bit ill-advised, as it could be doing them more harm than good in the long run to put another goalkeeper in, especially one who may not exactly be up to speed or rusty considering how little football they’ll have played given McGregor’s dominance of the position.
In other news: Rangers fans will be furious over shocking Sky Sports footage