It’s that time of year again where planning for next season begins and players approaching the end of their contracts are either offered extensions or told that they are free to look for another club.
Rangers have six players in this category, all with varying levels of importance in the squad, but the one that I’m going to look at is one who shows no real signs of a drop in standards despite being just a couple of weeks short of his 39th birthday – Allan McGregor.
We only need to look back to the recent Old Firm win to see his importance to Steven Gerrard’s side, when the outfield players were struggling to get a foothold on the game, he was the one who kept us in the game – the boss going as far as to brand him “world class” – and gave us the platform to go on and hammer another nail in the coffin of Celtic’s title hopes.
The gaffer has spoken recently about it being down to the player as to whether or not he extends his contract which would suggest that the conversation has already been had and one that signals a potential fairytale ending for a true Gers great.
Will McGregor be around next season?
Yes
No
If McGregor was intent on prolonging his career, surely he would have signed a new deal by now?
Some players want to play for as long as possible, others want to bow out at the top, and it could be that the 42-times capped Scotland international feels that the latter would be a more fitting way to end his career – being the bedrock that Gerrard built his “Iron Curtain” defence on to finally return the Scottish Premiership title to where it belongs, safe in the knowledge that, in Jon McLaughlin, there is a safe pair of hands ready to assume the mantle.