Robby McCrorie could save Rangers millions as he is spotted back at Auchenhowie, time for Michael Beale to make good on promise
Robby McCrorie’s return to Rangers training must spark a reaction from Michael Beale with potentially millions of pounds at stake in the transfer market.
The Ibrox boss is coming under the first sustained pressure of his time in charge of the club, with the Viaplay Cup final defeat to Celtic on 26 February opening up many of the same issues that were present when Giovanni van Bronckhorst was sacked.
An overhaul of the squad is still required and goalkeeper is a position that could require more work than any, so with McCrorie apparently back from injury Beale needs to make good on his promise to give him game time before the end of the season.
The 24-year-old posted on his Instagram stories on Tuesday (7 March), with an image of him out on the pitch at Auchenhowie and the caption “Back out and about”.
Beale said less than a month ago, as per the Daily Record on 11 February: “I have goalkeepers in mind for the summer that I’d like to add.
“But I want to give Jon [McLaughlin] access to playing because he’s been here a long time and he did well in the season we won the title. I want to give Robby the same opportunity as well. Allan [McGregor] understands that because of his age. He knows I have to see what’s here.
“Because I don’t want to be looking for three goalkeepers in the summer. I’ll be looking for one that comes in to compete. We have a budget in mind and there are three or four goalkeepers that we’re looking at.”
McGregor has been an important player for Rangers over two significant spells at the club, but he is 41 and came close to retiring last summer.
He can still pull out a performance but his sloppiness as the Light Blues threatened to throw away a comfortable 3-0 against Kilmarnock last weekend (4 March) was not an isolated incident.
The former Scotland international almost gave away a needless penalty and then made a mess of an attempted punch as Derek McInnes’ pulled a goal back.
Jon McLaughlin is himself 35 and has not proven he is the right man to start for a side faced with a battle to overhaul Celtic for trophies.
Beale apparently has £3.5million Preston North End keeper Freddie Woodman at the top of his list for the summer [The Sun, 1 March].
Woodman is a year older than McCrorie and has more experience, but that is largely because in his time at Ibrox the Scot has only been given two senior appearances.
He kept a clean sheet in both, including a 1-0 win over Celtic, and with the SPFL title apparently out of reach he must be given his chance now that he is back from injury.
With McGregor and McLaughlin possibly both on the way out in the summer a keeper may need to be signed either way, but if McCrorie were to show he is starting calibre before then it could save the club millions, when transfer funds are apparently at a premium and plenty of other work needs doing on the squad.
The Rangers man only signed a new contract to 2025 earlier this season so the club clearly believe he has potential, so Beale must take heed and give him a chance to realise it now.
In other Rangers news, Stephen Craigan defended the club against a “really unfair” situation in the face of Chris Sutton.