McGregor’s next glove rival must embrace chance to learn from the master
WES FODERINGHAM admitted in January that playing understudy to Allan McGregor had felt like a wasted two years of his career. The announcement of his departure from Rangers last week confirmed that on approaching the peak period of his time in the game, the Englishman, 29, couldn’t afford another season operating in McGregor’s shadow.
Yet that’s precisely the test the next man up to challenge McGregor’s supremacy will face, insists former Ibrox goalkeeper Cammy Bell.
He suggests unearthing the 38-year-old’s long-term replacement will be one of the priority recruitment plans for Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson and manager Steven Gerrard this summer.
And establishing a succession policy would be a shrewd move to prime their selection for taking over from McGregor in a year or, perhaps, two.
The ex-Scotland No 1 actually saw off two goalkeepers this month. In addition to Foderingham, Jak Alnwick — who had spent the season on loan at Blackpool — also leaves Rangers at the end of his contract.
They join Andy Halliday, Jason Holt, Jordan Rossiter and Jon Flanagan in being free to find a new club this close season.
McGregor’s high-class displays for Gerrard since returning to the club show no sign of stopping and he will play through his 39th birthday in January on a richly-deserved one-year deal. Now, stressed Bell, is the time to find the heir.
‘Rangers have probably been looking at this over the past six months knowing and appreciating that Wes was looking to get firstteam football,’ says Bell (below).
‘The club will be looking to bring in someone this summer who could be the long-term replacement for Allan, with the understanding that he’s going in there to challenge one of the top goalies in the UK.
‘I’m not saying he will replace him straight away because it takes a period of time to get a goalkeeper into the Rangers model and of the quality that they need. It might need a year to phase him into what the expectations are at that club.
‘If the one selected to join the club proves that he’s ahead of Allan next season, then I am sure they will play him — but I feel it will be really tough to get Allan off the No1 spot.
‘I think he’s still got enough in the tank to go another good season at the top level. But there should be plenty of younger high-class goalies who would jump at the chance, knowing that goalie ahead of you will be retiring in the next couple of seasons.
‘I think it also works because you know you’ll be working alongside Allan McGregor. That should be a huge draw as well.
‘Whoever is recruiting, Ross Wilson and Steven Gerrard will be using that as a selling point. Working with Allan every day, that experience and knowing the club inside out can help you get to the level of where you need to be as a Rangers No1. ‘That would ultimately progress their career at the club.’
These are the type of football department decisions Bell would like to be paid to make in years to come. He is keen to follow former Kilmarnock team-mate James Fowler into a directorof-football post at a club.
For now, with doubts over when the lower leagues can start again, the 33-year-old is just hoping to play at some stage next season with new club Queen’s Park. McGregor, meanwhile, could play on at the top level at the age of 40. That’s a decision that Bell suspects will rest with the man himself, who he knows won’t be satisfied by retiring without having restored Rangers to top place in Scotland.
‘Allan has been at the top of his game since coming back and I don’t see him letting up,’ adds Bell. ‘I don’t detect any cracks, he has made very few mistakes. There have been games where Rangers got points purely on his saves.
‘For me, he’s been phenomenal since he came back, one of the best signings of the last couple of years.
‘Week in, week out he has been a top performer.
‘So I think the decision will be his when he picks the time to hang up his gloves. I don’t think it will be anyone else telling him he’s not good enough any more. He will say this is the time for me to retire and walk away from football.
‘Knowing the type of character he is, he will want to do that at the top level. He won’t want to taper off and become surplus to requirements or not good enough. He came back to the club he loves because he knew they had turned the corner and he wanted to win a major trophy again. He will be desperate for that to happen, probably next year, and I really think he can do it.’
Former Liverpool academy prospect Andy Firth and Scotland Under-21 international Robby McCrorie remain the Ibrox goalkeeping back-ups.
Firth, 23, has played non-league for Chester and Barrow, and seven minutes for Rangers at Rugby Park as substitute for an injured Foderingham one year ago.
McCrorie was a highly-touted teenager in the Rangers system when Bell played for Ally McCoist, then Stuart McCall at Ibrox in the Championship.
Now 22, he has enjoyed four different loan spells, most recently a Livingston stay curtailed at eight Premiership games by the coronavirus shutdown. Bell believes McCrorie, twin brother of Rangers defender Ross — who has been loaned out to Portsmouth — could follow McGregor’s example by learning on loan on the patient path to becoming top man at Ibrox.
‘Robby was young but he’d train with us in the first team most days,’ says Bell. ‘He’s a fantastic talent, with great prospects.
‘Being on loan at Queen of the South was a good move for the first half of last season, playing in the Championship every week.
‘Playing on Saturday ups your training every day, you need to be sharp. The move to Livingston was great for him to reach that higher level at such a young age.
‘Next season, he and Rangers would benefit from another loan spell, a Premiership one again.
‘I remember a young Allan McGregor going out for a full season in the top flight with Dunfermline — and that turned out pretty well.’
Working alongside Allan would be a huge attraction for a young keeper