In a 90 minute game, it’s unfair to point at one single moment as the reason for a team dropping points, however, Allan McGregor is big enough and old enough to know that yesterday was on him, even if his manager did shift the blame.
Yes, the strikers didn’t do their jobs – particularly Alfredo Morelos – but goalkeepers know, and sign up for, the consequences if they make a mistake and against Hearts, McGregor made one of his worst for a long, long time, potentially the worst since Steven Gerrard took over as manager.
🔊 🔛@jallanfilms pic.twitter.com/vvgikucNMW
— Heart of Midlothian FC (@JamTarts) October 17, 2021
He wasn’t under any real pressure but looked unconvincing as he decided to punch rather than catch Gary McKay-Stevens’s corner, totally mistiming it, and only succeeding in dropping it straight onto Craig Halkett’s head.
This might sound unfair but as Richard Gough said, at Rangers, you are only as good as your last pass or in a keeper’s case, their last save – and McGregor’s was a stinker.
🗣 Richard Gough – “At other clubs,you’re only as good as your last game… At Rangers, you’re only as good as your last pass.”
— WATP 🇬🇧🏆 (@WATP_com) April 5, 2021
He’d made a couple of good saves from Barry McKay and Liam Boyce in 1 v 1s, but this doesn’t absolve him of any blame for failing to make a relatively simple catch or punch from a corner, it’s no different to when Morelos was scoring goals for fun but also getting sent off – you can criticise poor mistakes regardless of how much credit a player might have in the bank.
After the final whistle, Rangers fans were venting and few players were missed, ironically, John Lundstram was probably the only one who came out unscathed.
McGregor has won us an awful lot more points than he has cost us but I can guarantee when he walked into the changing rooms after the game, he was the one who took responsibility, but it’s time for the rest of the team to do the same.