By George Overhill

28th Feb, 2022 | 2:00pm

Rangers keeper Allan McGregor has 'lost authority', could be dropped

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor has lost authority among his teammates and is in danger of being dropped, according to The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell.

The Light Blues’ defensive weakness came back to bite them on Sunday (27 February) as they conceded two poor goals at Ibrox to draw with Motherwell, having been 2-0 ahead.

The 40-year-old played a part in both of the visitors’ strikes, as he and Connor Goldson both failed to cut out a ball across the box for Jordan Roberts’ tap-in, and the keeper made himself smaller rather bigger as Kaiyne Woolery smashed a shot under him at the near post for the equaliser.

McGregor’s form is contributing to a wider defensive malaise as he no longer has the standing among the squad to demand better from his defence according to Campbell, who says Giovanni van Bronckhorst now has a decision to make on whether to bring in Jon McLaughlin.

Writing in The Athletic he says of the incumbent: “He is now no longer beyond reproach from his defenders, who would not dare have said a word if he made a rare error.

“That loss of authority is significant because he was the figure who could always be relied upon to fortify the mental toughness of others.

“Now that cracks have appeared in his own game, the fragility of Rangers’ defence no longer has the solid foundation to bail them out.”

Porous at the back

Individual errors have plagued the Gers defence domestically, as the club have surrendered top spot.

Despite the stirring performances in Europe, the league form is now a real concern.

Since the New Year the reigning SPFL champions have drawn four and lost one of their eight league matches, in a stretch that has seen a comfortable lead at the top turn into a three point deficit behind Celtic.

The fact that the one-time Scotland number one has lost authority has a knock-on effect and is a major concern.

All defenders benefit from being able to rely on the man behind them, and if that has been lost then the problem is not going to go away.

Both McGregor and Calvin Bassey made mistakes that directly lead to goals in the 3-3 draw at Ross County in January, in what looked like a clear depiction of the goalkeeper’s problem and how it impacts on the mental state of the defenders.

He has been a wonderful servant for the Ibrox club over the years, but if it is going to make the difference between defending their title or not then the manager may have to make a change.

It has to be said however that the Dutchman probably didn’t help with his team selection at the weekend, choosing a back four that included John Lundstram while Leon Balogun sat on the bench.

In other Rangers news, BBC Sportscene pundits were not impressed with one defensive Light Blue against Motherwell.