Hugh Keevins drools over ‘extraordinary’ Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor
Hugh Keevins has lavished praise on Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor.
The Gers will face Liverpool in their next Champions League game on Wednesday (12 October) and they need something from that fixture to stay alive in the competition.
The Bears have lost in their opening three games, and Keevins wasn’t impressed with Rangers players at all, except McGregor, whom he hailed as “extraordinary”.
Keevins has suggested that if the pattern is maintained then the Gers should lose this game by 1-0 margin, but at Ibrox, they are capable of surpassing all expectations.
“You could have fooled me. It’s not as if the Ibrox CEO, Stewart Robertson, could use the footage of that game as a showreel for broadcasters in the eternal quest to prove Scottish football is being undersold in a way that doesn’t reflect the quality of the product,” wrote Keevins for Scottish Mail.
“They’d take one look and tell him it looks as if we look to be getting paid what we’re worth, thanks very much. Three defeats so far mean no bonus payments for points. Bonuses have been replaced by minuses, with the exception of Alan McGregor.
“His extraordinary goalkeeping has at least introduced a descending scale of failure. He came in after four goals were lost to Ajax, restricted Napoli to three at Ibrox and somehow kept the score down to two-nil at Anfield.
“If that pattern’s maintained in midweek Liverpool will be one-nil winners. Unless Rangers can summon up the blood that has largely drained from their faces so far in the competition.”
Superb
Eyebrows were raised when McGregor extended another one-year deal at the club during the summer.
The veteran goalkeeper was outstanding last season, and he was one of the reasons why the Bears reached the finals of the Europa League.
Ideally, Rangers should have signed a new and top young goalkeeper in the summer, but they didn’t.
Van Bronckhorst started the season with Jon McLaughlin, but after his disastrous performances against Celtic and Ajax, the Dutchman quickly changed his decision.
McGregor was back at goal and the defence has slightly improved. Against Liverpool, he needs to make top-class saves once again in midweek, as the Bears’ defence will be severely tested.
Liverpool have some of the world’s finest attacking talents and they are looking to maintain some sort of momentum after a poor start to the season.
McGregor has once again proved why he is still one of the best keepers in Scotland around, and his performance against the Reds could be crucial if they are to pick up something from that game.
In other Rangers news, the club now had a record-breaking striker on trial at Ibrox and he’s gone on to make headlines in the United Kingdom.