Rangers announced this week that former number one Allan McGregor would be returning to Ibrox on a free transfer.

There will be plenty of debate doing the rounds as to whether or not this is a good signing for new Gers boss Steven Gerrard.

With that in mind I thought I’d take a look at the possible Pros and Cons, then weighing up my opinion on the deal. 

PROS:

Been There Done That

McGregor knows what’s expected of a Rangers goalie and he thrived playing under that pressure in the past.

He’ll come in and expect much higher standards from his defence. He’s also got a decent record against Scottish Premiership champions Celtic and isn’t going to be intimidated by their recent dominance or the Old Firm atmosphere.

Age

People might raise their eyebrows at McGregor being thirty-six years of age but I think that experience could be invaluable especially if Gerrard picks youngsters like Ross McCrorie in his backline.

The goalkeeper’s coming back to Glasgow after a few years playing in different leagues, so you’d hope he’s matured.

Winning Mentality

He will walk into the dressing room knowing he’s already won all the medals in Scotland’s top competitions. He will need to reinforce that mentality throughout the team but he seems keen to get back to winning ways at Ibrox:

“You need to win games and it doesn’t matter who you are playing.”

“Every game is an opportunity for three points and if you keep doing and doing that and doing that, as we’ve seen before that’s what wins titles.”

Bringing In More Funds

Allan’s arrival will probably see current shot-stopper Wes Foderingham departing Govan.

The Englishman has been one of the club’s better performers in recent seasons but with that comes the fact that you can get decent money in for him. I’d imagine Rangers will look to bring in at least £2m for him from an English side.

He’s A Good Goalkeeper

We sometimes forget that the Scotland international is still a very handy keeper. He was one of Hull City’s top performing player’s last term and the English Championship team’s fans have expressed sorrow at his departure on social media.

CONS:

Behaviour

The veteran has had plenty of on-field incidents and off-field sagas that have hit both sides of the newspapers.

What with ‘boozegate’ and receiving retrospective bans on his CV, Steven Gerrard will hope McGregor has learned his lessons (there’s been a few) and won’t cause any problems at Ibrox this time around.

Injury Record

Since leaving Rangers, the goalie has had quite a few injury setbacks. He’s had kidney trouble and a shoulder injury that’s seen him miss over a month on each occasion. Then there was the back surgery that kept him out for 237 days.

In the last five seasons, McGregor has missed a total of 48 games. Rangers can’t afford him to miss large chunks of a season. It should be noted that he did make 44 starts for The Tigers this season.

No Resale Value

Obviously being in his mid-thirties means that Rangers won’t get any transfer fee for the goalkeeper in the future. A lot of commentators and some Gers fans, will scrutinise Rangers transfer business this summer and expect young players with plenty of potential to come through the doors. Such talent can then be sold for a big profit in the future.

Although the more optimistic in the Ibrox stands will hope that the keeper can help teach either Robby McCrorie or Liam Kelly to become the next Rangers number one.

All in all, I believe as long as Allan McGregor can stay out of trouble and clear of injuries then it makes sense to bring him back. Especially if they can sell Wes Foderingham and use the cash to strengthen the team in another important area. 

Posted on May 17th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article