Keeping up (83) appearances
GreegsstartedhisEuro adventurein2006and isso proudhe’s setto beat pal Barry’s record
RANGERS have been to hell and back since Allan McGregor made his European debut 14 years ago.
McGregor? He’s been to Hull and back.
And since returning in the summer that coincided with Steven Gerrard’s arrival, this remarkable keeper has been the cornerstone of a revival that looks increasingly likely to bring the first meaningful silverware to the club since the dark days of 2012 that prompted his departure to Turkey with Besiktas before a return to Britain and Hull 12 months later.
Tonight, an odyssey that started against Molde in September 2006 becomes a record- breaking one as McGregor overtakes Barry Ferguson’s Euro appearance record of 82 matches.
Fergie was in the line-up that night in Norway as McGregor made several fine saves to keep a clean sheet in a 0-0 that eventually led to a 2-0 UEFA Cup aggregate win.
Tonight, in match No.83 of his career on this stage, another one will ensure that his club reaches the knockout stages of the Europa League for the second year in a row.
T h a t ’ s Mc G re g o r ’ s motivation. The satisfaction from personal landmarks like the one he’ll achieve against Standard Liege can wait until the gloves are finally hung up.
Yesterday, when asked to convey his feelings on his achievement, the Rangers No.1 downplayed it a lot more than his manager did.
He said: “At the moment I’m just concentrating on the game. But it’ll probably kick in later in life to realise what an achievement it is.
“Obviously it’s a very proud one and just to be part of the history will be unbelievable.”
But Gerrard said: “His consistency levels from day one have been at a really high level and Allan deserves to break this record.
“I’m really pleased for him. We’re all proud of him here.
“He has never let us down and he is someone we are extremely happy with.
“To take the record off someone like Barry Ferguson, who has an incredible legacy at the club, it should be a proud day for both.
“I’m sure Allan will be very grateful to take the baton from Barry but I’m sure Barry will be very proud as well because they played together and are two fantastic servants for the club.
“He is certainly up there alongside the best I’ve played with in terms of how he goes about his business on a daily basis. His standards are top and it certainly helps my job when there are people in the dressing room who help relay the message and basically set the standards themselves.”
With a five-point cushion on Liege and Lech Poznan, and only two games left to play, Rangers are just about over the line in Europa League Group D.
The fact the Scots remain unbeaten domestically and in Europe after 22 games this season gives them reason to believe that qualification will be achieved tonight.
If it is, McGregor is hoping the side that reached the last 16 last term before going out to Bayer Leverkusen can do even better in this campaign.
He added: “I suppose every season you want to do better than last. When the draw was made if we’d put ourselves in this position we’d have taken it.
“The job is certainly not done yet but progression year on year is to do better than last year. First of all we need to concentrate on tomorrow night, get a good result and take things from there.
“Since the gaffer came in we’ve been very good in Europe. We could be in a better position but we can take the positives out of it – we are in a decent position.
“Standard will be difficult opponents, as they showed in the first game, so we’ll do our due diligence and try to do our best as we do in every game.”
McGregor and understudy Jon McLaughlin have lost only three goals domestically and although five were conceded against Benfica, the goalsagainst column after 22 games
A VITAL DUTCH Gers No.1 keeps out Feyenoord last season makes for great reading from a Rangers perspective.
Typically, though, McGregor doesn’t take all the credit.
He said: “Over the three years there has been a gradual improvement. It comes with winning games – consistency is keeping on winning and at this moment in time that’s what we’re doing.
“It’s just about good players communicating, doing their job well and getting on with it.
“It’s just the way the whole team defends actually. It’s not just the back four, or the back five including the goalie. The whole team contributes to it.”