Brian Laudrup I never thought I’d say this, but McGregor and Goram are now equals
ICAN think of no higher accolade for a Rangers goalkeeper than to place him in the same bracket as Andy Goram. When I left Ibrox in 1998, it felt unthinkable. Goram was just too good. As a former team-mate and a friend, he is still very close to my heart.
His crucial part in the achievement of nine in a row made him a hero for generations of Rangers fans. And rightly saw him voted as the greatest goalkeeper in the club’s rich history.
He was just astonishing. But so, too, is Allan McGregor. A debate has raged since Saturday about who now deserves to be considered the greatest. To me, it’s honestly too close to call. It’s almost impossible to split them. And that’s something I never thought I would say.
If McGregor becomes the goalkeeper who brings the title back to Ibrox — and prevents Celtic from winning ten in a row — you could say it would be equally important to Goram’s fantastic achievement in the 1990s. That’s how much this season means to Rangers.
Anyone watching McGregor’s brilliance on Saturday would have wanted to check his birth certificate to make sure he was really coming up for 39. He seems ageless.
But his contract expires at the end of the season and I’ve read Steven Gerrard say he will wait before speaking to him about what happens next.
We only see the player on the park. We don’t know what his body feels like off it. Could it be the perfect way to end his career if Rangers go on to get two hands on the Premiership trophy? Right now, I will admit they have one hand there.
Only McGregor knows if that is in his mind. But his performances show he could go on at a high level. I look at Peter Schmeichel, my great colleague with Denmark, who ended his career playing for Manchester City when he was almost 40.
It is possible. And I can tell you one thing. If you asked any of the Rangers defenders, they would love to see McGregor behind them again next season. He will be such a tough act for any goalkeeper to follow.
Hunger is a huge part of it as well. To me, McGregor looks as every bit as hungry as any 20-year-old trying to make their name in the game. If he feels fine physically, I can see him playing on for another year.
To be performing for Rangers at this age is one thing McGregor has over Goram. But let’s not forget just how sensational my friend was. Game after game. season after season. I repeat, there can be no bigger compliment f or McGregor t han being mentioned alongside him.
The weekend Old Fi r m game was like a flashback for me. It brought back memories of the New Year match in 1996, when Tommy Burns made that famous quote about Goram breaking his heart i n the post-match comments. But that was far from the only derby in which he performed magic.
It was like s o mething happened to Goram before these games. He was always an excellent goalkeeper, of course, but there was another edge that upped his display by five or ten per cent.
There were times when he was simply i mpossible to score against. You could see it in the eyes of the Celtic players, whether it was Paolo Di Canio or Pierre v an Hooijdonk back then. Real quality finishers but they knew even penalties were not a gi ven when Goram was standing in front of them. Believe it not, he was actually incredibly quiet before playing Celtic. No shouting. No sign of the personality that brought so much laughter in our time together at Rangers.
He wouldn’t speak to anyone in the dressing room. Not a word, usually. He was so focused. If you looked in his eye, you could see he had entered the zone and that was it. It was like a kind of Zen.
He was in his own place and all his energy was going to be put into a world-class performance to get the team a result.
I’ve read that McGregor is exactly the same in terms of how he deals with games. He centres himself with complete concentration. It’s surely an essential trait to be a great goalkeeper in t he biggest games because any slip can carry huge repercussions. These guys carry a individual burden but never show it.
I loved McGregor’s reaction to his world-class save from Leigh Griffiths. No grand-standing. He turned around to the referee, claimed he didn’t get a touch and said it was a goal-kick! That was pure Goram. It was always all about the team, even though he knew within himself that he could make a huge difference.
Seeing our old boss Walter Smith i n the stand for the weekend match also felt appropriate. Rangers had to dig this one out. As we had to do at times in the 90s.
In the nine-in-a-row season, I scored the winners in a couple of 1-0 victories at Celtic Park. Goram was brilliant in the first of those. When he was injured, Andy Dibble filled in for the second.
It’s not luck to have a top-class goalkeeper. It’s part of the game. And it was an essential element for Rangers on Saturday, because none of their creative players could get going. You have to credit Celtic for the way they played in the first half.
But that’s what’s changed about Gerrard’s team this season. Even without operating to their full potential, even without any of their key attacking players functioning, the team retained a durability that was all about getting the three points. They made sure Celtic paid for their red card. Beauty isn’t important when the stakes are so high.
The message from Gerrard about resetting and treating the rest of the season as a fresh start is the right one. Complacency can’t be tolerated.
But Rangers have the title i n their sights now. If they follow the standards set by McGregor, a place in history awaits this team.