Mccoist tips ‘fantastic’ Mcgregor to keep on keeping on at Rangers
Ally Mccoist looked on in disbelief from the technical area in Bremen 14 years ago when Allan Mcgregor made a breathtaking save to defy Boubacar Sanogo during Rangers’ remarkable journey to the Uefa Cup final.
But it comes as no surprise to Mccoist, who was assistant manager to Walter Smith back in 2008, that Mcgregor is still pulling out the stops in Europe at the age of 40 when it matters most for Rangers.
The veteran goalkeeper has not been without his critics this season, with errors in domestic fixtures prompting some Rangers fans to question whether he should still be their club’s No 1.
Mcgregor provided the perfect answer to the doubters at Ibrox on Thursday night with his brilliant one-handed penalty save from Aleksandar Katai which helped Rangers forge a 3-0 first leg lead in their Europa League last-16 tie against Red Star Belgrade.
“Allan has been a fantastic goalkeeper,” said Mccoist. “It doesn’t matter it you’re a goalkeeper or a centre forward, when you have a bad game at 36 or 39 people say it’s because of your age. You can understand them saying that.
"Yeah, Allan has probably had a couple of bad moments which have been uncharacteristic this season, he has made a couple of mistakes. But I have to inform you that he still made those mistakes at 19 and 29.
"It is easy to point the finger
and say: ‘It’s his age!’ I don’t believe it is. His performance on Thursday was remarkable, it really was. His big hand for the penalty save is actually unbelievable. To make the save and get the hand to it was one thing, but the ball was struck fiercely. To get the power in his hand to push it away… I thought it was a tremendous save.
"He carried a wee bit of luck, which you need to, with a couple of the offside decisions. But they were offside. But
Mcgregor has been and will continue to be fantastic for Rangers.
"I still remember his incredible save against Werder Bremen in Germany on the way to the final in 2008. I couldn’t believe he saved it.
“So there are things that need to go your way. But, yeah, of course - once you get to this stage of the tournament you’ve got as good a chance as any.
“But there are still teams in the tournament you would think have a better chance of
winning it than Rangers, of course there are.
“But it’s a cup competition and they have given themselves a right good chance of getting to the last eight.”
Mccoist was a rare absentee from Ibrox on Thursday as he fulfilled alternative punditry duties at Elland Road.
“Much as I enjoyed Leedsaston Villa, I’d love to have been at Ibrox,” he admitted. “What a brilliant result and performance.
“I watched it when I got back
to my hotel. The final result could have been anything”.
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