Alex McLeish has spoken boldly on the very short-term future for Rangers’ Jon McLaughlin on the back of the goalkeeper losing eight goals in the last two games.
The treble winning Ibrox boss sounded sceptical in his analysis of the situation as well as the elephant in the room – Allan McGregor on the bench.
This predictable situation comes about due to the ambiguity of who is or should be the undisputed Number 1 for Rangers. Either a legend in McGregor who is past his best, sadly, but still quite capable or McLaughlin who is generally adept at playing out from the back and a good all round keeper, but lacks the quality or consistency as witnessed over the years between the sticks in the mould of his current competition as well as earlier standard bearers, Woods, Goram and Klos.
That is the crux of the matter and in the here and now, McLaughlin was caught in the eye of the recent storm, highly culpable at Parkhead yet helpless in Amsterdam as he was on the wrong side of a 4-0 loss on both occasions.
Big Eck told FI, “Jon does have a little bit of inexperience in that respect. He has played top-level football in England. Since coming up to Scotland he has had some good games.”
“That’s right though. He doesn’t have that massive experience at that level. When you make those mistakes, it’s devastating.”
“In his head, it will be devastating for him. There will be a lot of criticism. Giovanni has chosen him over Allan McGregor, whether this will now result in a change remains to be seen.”
“The thing is, if you aren’t going to play McGregor, you have to be sure you have a number one who is as good as you can get between those sticks.”
Solution
How is the problem resolved? It won’t be until Rangers secure a new goalkeeper of quality.
Even if McGregor is restored, that will only be a short-term fix given that he is now just over four months away from his 41st birthday. It isn’t harsh on McLaughlin, it’s just the reality of the matter. He is a good keeper, but not at the level of a permanent first team goalie at Ibrox.