McLaughlin needs to make a statement in Eindhoven… or Rangers need a new keeper

BIG nights — and big performances — in Europe have often helped define the careers of the very best Rangers goalkeepers. Everyone remembers those iconic goals from Mark Hateley and Ally McCoist at Elland Road back in 1992 that decided the Battle of Britain with Leeds United and earned a spot in the first-ever group stage of the Champions League.

Those present on that incredible, thunderous night, though, remain equally in awe of the way the red shirt of the late Andy Goram proved the ultimate stop sign to Eric Cantona and Co.

After a handful of fine saves from the Frenchman to lay the foundations for a 2-0 lead, Goram produced a quite brilliant stop from Rod Wallace as the home side turned sustained pressure into a siege, diving low to his right to flick the ball onto the upright.

Cantona did get the better of him with five minutes to play, but the tie was over. Goram had been just over a year in the door from Hibs. He already had his feet comfortably under the table, but, having lost two bad goals in a European Cup exit to Sparta Prague in his debut campaign, it was a display that can be viewed as a real staging post in a terrific seven-year period of service to the Ibrox club.

If that full-length leap to deny Wallace was something special, though, it still lives in the shadow of Allan McGregor’s heroics in Bremen on the way to the 2008 UEFA Cup final. And that late, great save that took Walter Smith’s side into the last eight of a major European tournament for the first time since Lancashire-born Goram silenced Yorkshire with his oneman War of the Roses.

Boubacar Sanogo still wakes up with the night sweats over it. A sclaffed effort from Markus Rosenberg fell the Ivorian’s way just a few yards from goal. A number of Rangers players, as confirmed by Lee McCulloch on the night, had already turned their backs to prepare for the trudge back to the halfway line for the restart. For an instant, Rangers were out, broken down at last by a torrent of attacks.

Until McGregor — another unyielding vision in red, just like Goram all those years before — intervened. Instinctively, incredibly, he scrambled across his line, got both hands to Sanogo’s toepoked effort and diverted the ball onto the underside of the crossbar.

It was Gordon Banks v Pele for a new generation. The one save of all those hundreds of saves that encapsulates McGregor’s storied career. And, yet, even last season, he was doing it again.

Rangers’ journey to the Europa League final threw up some unforgettable nights against the likes of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. Less discussed, though, is the role McGregor played in a torrid visit to Belgrade in the last 16.

His display against Red Star, producing save after save with the aggregate scoreline at 3-1 before Ryan Kent’s deflected goal sealed it, turned back the years. Even in the 3-0 first leg win, his penalty stop from Aleksandr Katai was something to behold.

How Jon McLaughlin could do with delivering something similar in Eindhoven in midweek. While those displays in Europe helped cement the legacies of Goram and McGregor, McLaughlin needs one to convince the doubters he really does have the minerals be a

Rangers No 1 in the first place — or else manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst might have to start thinking about drafting in another keeper before the end of the transfer window.

McLaughlin (right) hasn’t done an awful lot wrong in his two years or so at Rangers. Were it not for an excellent close-range block from Philipp Max last Tuesday, the Ibrox club would be travelling to Eindhoven for the second leg of their Champions League play-off 3-2 down.

It’s just that the 34-yearold hasn’t exactly set the heather on fire either. Letting a Teddy Teuma shot go straight through him in the 2-0 defeat at Union Saint-Gilloise in the last round saw private questions over his credentials become public debate.

The fact he is now talking openly about the scrutiny that comes from having McGregor still hanging over his shoulder and the need to have a thick skin to deal with the noise and the comparisons doesn’t augur well either.

In truth, it is becoming clear that McGregor, now in danger of becoming a diversion, should have retired in summer. He will be 41 in five months’ time. Even though he still delivered a range of trademark stops in a pre-season friendly against Spurs, he’s had his time. McLaughlin had to be given his chance this season. It’s just that you begin to wonder whether McGregor’s presence on the bench — presumably to play in the domestic cup competitions — is becoming counterproductive. Actually increasing the pressure on McLaughlin at a club where it is intense at the best of times.

What’s more, there is a valid question to be asked over what will happen should McLaughlin suffer a sustained dip in form. Could McGregor, at his age, really be expected to play twice a week in a breakneck fixture calendar created by the World Cup in Qatar? And if not, why have Rangers settled for him as their secondchoice keeper this term at all?

Certainly, McLaughlin, criticised by fans for his kicking in yesterday’s draw at Hibs, needs a statement performance to quieten some of this noise he talks about. And everything points to him being needed — and severely tested — when PSV endeavour to build on the 2-2 draw earned at Ibrox in three days’ time.

In Cody Gakpo and Ismael Saibari, they have two splendid young attacking players. Luuk de Jong is just a proper old troublemaker up front. Joey Veerman in midfield surely just makes Rangers fans wish their board had been willing to spend proper money on him a year ago.

McLaughlin isn’t helped, of course, by the defence in front of him too. Filip Helander and John Souttar are injured while new signings Ben Davies and Ridvan Yilmaz don’t seem fit enough to start.

Whether it is down to zonal marking, a change in the method of defending corners or simply a lack of height and physicality down to the departures of Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo, dealing with set-pieces is an issue right now.

McLaughlin will require all the confidence and self-belief he spoke about midweek. He needs to plant the flag, prove he can carry this season on his shoulders.

If he doesn’t, it leaves Van Bronckhorst with a decision to make — and everything points to there being real worth in looking for another available goalkeeper. If not to replace McLaughlin altogether, just to heighten competition.

Sure, that isn’t ideal with less than two weeks of a window left. Good goalkeepers don’t come cheap. However, as Celtic showed with Fraser Forster, another guy who built his reputation on fantastic displays in UEFA competition, there might even be an interesting loan deal out there to be done.

For all this, Rangers are right to be optimistic about getting past PSV. There was enough in that electrifying first leg to suggest they will make chances. It is just that they are likely to face even longer periods in the Netherlands of having to weather the storm.

Goram and McGregor crafted their reputations on doing just that. Big nights bring out big characters. And both in terms of finance and status, they don’t come much bigger than Wednesday. Never has so much weighed so heavily in McLaughlin’s hands than this.