The goalkeeper debate is one that should have been settled a couple of seasons ago, despite winning the league, Allan McGregor shouldn’t have been offered a new deal which made giving him another one last summer even more bewildering as he approaches his 41st birthday.
There has been a lot of names linked with taking over from McGregor, however, there hasn’t been anything concrete so far with Michael Beale suggesting that it won’t be looked at again until after this season has finished.
One name who has the experience to fill the sizeable gloves of McGregor is Asmir Begovic, who has been linked, but, speaking to Football Insider, Alan Hutton thinks that it is a move we should avoid:
“Begovic has got lots of experience behind him, he can handle the situation of being at Rangers and being number one.
“But personally I would like to see them bring somebody in who has got experience but of a younger age, somebody that is going to be the number one for a number of years to come.
“A team that you can build around about them, I think that is what they need as well.
“Allan McGregor, as fantastic as he has been, is coming to the end. Jon McLaughlin has had plenty of opportunities. Even though he has come in and done well I think he needs competition. McCrorie we have hardly seen.
“For me, moving forward for the future of Rangers, they need to bring in somebody of a decent age that they can rely on for a number of years.“
I agree completely with Hutton, it is a position that we need to identify someone who can come in and keep the jersey for the next five years, or even longer.
My thoughts have always been pretty clear on this with Nikita Haikin, the former Bodo/Glimt stopper, an absolute tap-in for Ross Wilson and his recruitment team.
The 27-year old has just left the Norwegians on a free transfer after seeing out his contract and signed for Bristol City until the end of the season to cover the departure of their number one, which means that he will be able to discuss another move at any point between now and the end of the campaign.
Begovic is the same age as McLaughlin which doesn’t solve any problems, yes, he has an impressive CV but we are about five years too late. regardless of how good he might still be
Spending money on a goalkeeper is always a risk given how different each player approaches the position, the last thing we would want is a Vasilis Barkas situation where we spend good money only to realise they are miles below what we need – Haikin looks like a good keeper, statistically performs well and has the sort of experience that we will be looking for.
Please don’t mess this one up, we’ve already had two years to fix it and getting it wrong isn’t an option.