Charlie Nicholas says Allan McGregor should have been dropped by Rangers before now
Anyone else would have been dropped by Rangers if they had been playing as badly as Allan McGregor has lately, according to Charlie Nicholas.
The former Scotland number one was directly at fault for a goal in the draw at Ross County at the end of January, and was poor for both Motherwell goals as Gers threw away the lead to draw again last month.
Former Celtic star Nicholas believes that it is just reputation that has kept the stopper in the starting XI, but has tipped him to respond to the occasion for the European visit of Red Star Belgrade on Thursday (10 March).
Writing in the Scottish Daily Express, the ex-Arsenal man says: “Rangers do seem to be making hard work of everything just now.
“I look at them and I still think they are defensively vulnerable.
” goalkeeper, Allan McGregor, is not at the top of his game and has looked apprehensive at times.
“As I said last week, McGregor is a very lucky guy still to be in the team.
“If it had been anybody else in goals then they would have been dropped by now.
“What I would say about McGregor is that he does tend to respond on these big nights.
“Also, Rangers have looked much better in Europe as if it is a far bigger occasion for them.”
Approaching the end?
It is true that the goalkeeper has been in shaky form of late, as the whole defence has shown a worrying propensity to ship goals in the league.
The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell recently wrote about how the 40-year-old’s loss of form has also seen his authority at the back diminish.
Perhaps the force of personality that once inspired his back line to push themselves to be better hasn’t fully vanished, if it is managing to keep him in the team.
But while the former effect is hugely beneficial to the Gers team, the latter arguably is not.
Whether Jon McLaughlin would be an upgrade at this point is probably a moot argument.
The upheaval of changing a long-time starting keeper is only resorted to when there is little other choice.
And Giovanni van Bronckhorst has shown a reticence to rely on players outside of his trusted core even in less key positions.
What might have been considered laudable loyalty, had his side been sailing along on a winning run, instead looks like an inability to manage his squad properly with form so patchy.
But as Nicholas suggests, the finest performances of recent weeks have come in the biggest tests, against Borussia Dortmund, so perhaps the key men, including the aging stalwart at the back can raise themselves again.
In other Rangers news, Barry Ferguson has hailed the manager for making one major change.