Rangers ‘must know’ Robby McCrorie future ahead of Celtic start amid Allan McGregor and Jon McLaughlin exits – pundit
Rangers “must know” if Robby McCrorie is good enough to be the main man in goal at Ibrox if he’s been at the club for so long, claims Neil Murray.
The 25-year-old stopper has been with the Gers for well over a decade but only made his third senior appearance in the 1-0 win over Aberdeen at the weekend (7 May), impressing with a clean sheet, and Alan Rough expects him to stay there for the last Old Firm derby of the season on Saturday (13 May).
Amid a huge amount of upheaval at the position this summer, with Allan McGregor and Jon McLaughlin both tipped to leave and Jack Butland trailed to come the other way, Murray doesn’t think the final weeks of the season will make the difference for McCrorie.
Speaking on PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show (9 May, 19m 30s) Rough reacted to the prospect of 41-year-old McGregor coming back in for Celtic to say: “No I think that decision he made at the weekend there was the decision. He gave the boy a chance, they’re obviously impressed with him. He’s been there for a long, long time. They’ve got to give him a chance.
“I do think they’ll bring somebody else in, but maybe Allan’s identified that [he’s] going to retire. I know you want to say ‘cheerio’ to the fans and all that but there’re ways of doing it, he’s got a testimonial, he can say it then, he’s been a great servant. But they have to look to the future.”
Murray cut in: “The one question I’ve got about McCrorie, people bring him up all the time about giving him a chance. If he’s been at the club since he’s 12 they must know if he’s good enough or not. He trains every day, he’s been out on loan, what difference does it make if he plays three or four games?”
Peter Martin suggested that buying Jack Butland could see all three Rangers keepers leave if they aren’t going to start.
Fair point
Nothing quite matches game experience in a Light Blues jersey but the Ibrox hierarchy should have some idea of what McCrorie can offer by now.
And the fact that he has been given the chance for the final few games by Michael Beale perhaps suggests he is in line to remain next season.
Stepping up from afterthought to regular back up itself would be a positive move for the Auchenhowie product, and Butland could theoretically come in and still lose the battle for the starting role anyway.
But if McGregor has remained the starter into his 40s and McLaughlin has been given 32 appearances in the past two seasons when McCrorie wasn’t out on loan it would be a surprise if the club did a full 180-degree turn and decided he was the number one from now on.
Three clean sheets from his three appearances, including one against Celtic, is obviously a solid record, but there must be a reason why he has been given so few opportunities.
Either his talent has been wasted for multiple seasons and there are questions to be asked of the coaching staffs in that time, or he is only rated as high as a serviceable back up and is just being thrown in now the pressure is off.
If it is the latter then Butland, or another option, better be up to the challenge because the stakes are high from the get-go next season.
In other Rangers news, a BBC Sportscene pundit outlined the importance of finding a quality replacement as bit-part player set for exit.