The LEADER within
McGregor’s influence on the Ibrox dressing room marks him down quite rightly as...
JAMES TAVERNIER wears the captain’s armband but Lee McCulloch has no doubt over the identity of the de facto general in the Ibrox dressing room. When McCulloch joined Rangers in 2007, he experienced the heft of Allan McGregor’s personality.
McGregor would make a name for himself as one of the best goalkeepers in Britain during Rangers’ run to the UEFA Cup Final that same season but McCulloch was just as impressed by the influence the goalkeeper wielded on each and every player in the dressing room.
As McGregor stars in his second spell at Ibrox after stints at Besiktas and Hull City, McCulloch sees no dimming of the internal fire that continues to drive the shot-stopper in the twilight of his career.
While McGregor’s avowed disdain for the media means he could never fulfil the ambassadorial duties of club captain, McCulloch knows no character brings more value to Steven Gerrard’s men.
‘It’s just in you,’ says McCulloch, who himself captained Rangers for three years. ‘It’s not whether you are a goalie or a centre-half, whatever position you play, you’ve got these characters and leaders that enhance a team. ‘They motivate people and get
them out of their comfort zones, making them ready to play and show up in the big games.
‘That’s what Allan is. He’s captain material without having the armband on, and it must be brilliant for Steven Gerrard.
‘He does everything. He’s like a captain, he’ll go round individually on training days.
‘He’s probably not as vocal at training, but in games he’s probably the one that will come in at halftime and have a go at the full dressing room before the manager.
‘He does the manager’s job and he’s acting like a captain would and should. It’s not all about bawling and shouting, but he’s got unbelievable hunger and desire to win trophies and football games.
‘Rangers have only been beaten once all season and that’s no surprise with the amount of leaders down the spine of their team. For me, though, it’s all about McGregor.’
McGregor turns 38 later this month but, having recently extended his contract for an extra season, there is an argument to say he is playing as well as ever.
His penalty save from Ryan Christie gave Rangers a platform to go on and beat Celtic in the top-of-the-table Premiership fixture before the winter break, proving at once his enduring reflexes and mettle for the big occasion. ‘Ability-wise, Allan is top class — he’s shown that since his debut,’ continued McCulloch (below), now assistant manager at Dundee United. ‘He’s a winner on the pitch, but now that I’ve taken up coaching I think the biggest factor for me is his character, how influential he is in the dressing room.
‘He gets everybody going before the big games, but even in training, he hates conceding goals.
‘He gets on at defenders if they aren’t defending properly, his standards are sky-high. ‘He was like that as a young player, too. He’s always had that nasty streak, wanting to win at whatever cost.
‘That leaves some people, while some people don’t develop it until they are older, but I’ve not seen it leave Greegsy.
‘He’s retired from Scotland to concentrate on his club career and I think the benefits of that have been shown. It’s no surprise to me at all that he’s doing so well.’
‘At Wigan I played with Roy Carroll, who went on to Man United, and he was much the same as Greegsy, but probably not as mad or vocal.
‘Obviously I played with Andy Goram at Motherwell and John Filan, too, the Australian goalie who was down at Wigan.
‘But for the all-round package it’s got to be Greegsy. He was the best. You would have him in the trenches, you would have him going into the big games as the captain without the armband.
‘If you’re in an Old Firm game and 1-0 down, you want to know who’ll stand up for you and get you back in the game. Instead of rolling over and accepting you’re beat.
‘You need to show character and that’s one thing Allan’s got.
‘He’s saved a couple of penalties in
Old Firm games, his mental strength is phenomenal. I remember him making a mistake in an Old Firm game at Ibrox when one went through him from Badr El Kaddouri, and he brushed it off, which was probably a really hard thing to do in that moment.
‘He went on to have a brilliant second half, so that speaks volumes.’
Off the pitch, McCulloch recalls McGregor standing at his shoulder in Rangers’ darkest hour.
Back in 2012, McCulloch faced the daunting challenge of leading the dressing room through the rubble of the club’s financial collapse.
The pair helped broker a deal that saw Ally McCoist’s first-team squad take significant pay cuts to keep the lights on until the end of the season.
Although McGregor ultimately chose not to transfer his contract over to Charles Green’s newco as Rangers rebooted in the lower leagues, McCulloch insists he left for Turkey with his head held high.
‘The manager at the time was probably caught inbetween the players, staff and administrators,’ he recalls.
‘So it was basically myself and Allan who were the spokespeople for the rest of the squad.
‘He was brilliant to have on side. We asked questions and decided what we were going to do.
‘He took a bit of the responsibility off me, which was good. That speaks volumes for him. ‘Thank God that’s all in the past.’ McGregor returned to Glasgow in the summer of 2018 on freedom of contract and his performances over the past 18 months have betrayed no ill effects from the back problems that blighted his time at Hull.
‘I don’t see why he can’t play until 40,’ adds McCulloch. ‘You can see his body shape, he’s probably lost a bit of weight and is maybe as fit as he’s ever been.
‘It’s just a question of whether he’s still agile enough and in recent weeks you can definitely say that he is.
‘He’s got the desire to play on to 40 and maybe even beyond that because he just loves winning things. Competing and winning is what he’s all about.
‘If Rangers win the title, I think he’d probably say it was his best ever.
‘I played to 38 and when you get to that age you’re mentally fighting with the idea of stopping.
‘You don’t ever really want to stop and you have to think about what to do next. He could be a coach, a manager, it all just depends on what he wants to do.
‘He’s able to hold a dressing room and is a leader, so you could argue that’s two essentials going into coaching or management.’
That’s what Allan is, captain material though without having the armband
l LEE McCULLOCH was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.