The word legend is often bandied about in football these days and in the days of social media everyone can publicise their opinions. In the case of Allan McGregor the word fits like a glove. Starting the 06/07 season as third choice behind Klos and Lietzi he had to bide his time until Klos picked up an injury in pre-season leading to McGregor being the backup. Then Lietzi suffered an injury leading to McGregor finally getting his big chance. He endured a setback as Lietzi returned and was re-instated as No1 but following another injury to the Frenchman McGregor was installed as No1 in his own right.
What happened next is history as he went on to cement his place as first pick, bagging multiple honours along the way. Unfortunately it all came to a shuddering halt as Rangers entered administration in 2012 and McGregor refused to TUPE his contract to the new company. He went on to make over 100 appearances for Hull City, whilst also taking a trip overseas to play in Turkey. Then in 2018 he agreed a return to the club as one of Steven Gerrard’ first signings.
Adding a league and cup winners medal to his haul in his second stint with the club ensured his place in the hearts of Rangers fans and resulted in him being inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame. Across both stints he racked up over 500 appearances for the club and is now considered in the same breath as Andy Goram and Chris Woods. You have to wonder if we will see someone with his longevity and brilliance between the sticks again.
Although this was the Allan McGregor testimonial Beale only allowed so much sentiment into the game and pulled him off just short of half time to ensure he could enjoy the rapturous applause from a packed Ibrox. It may have been McGregor’ night but Beale also wanted to ensure he got some more competetive minutes into his players legs.
A full house at Ibrox to salute the career of Allan McGregor
So what did we learn in this one?
The Opposition
Before we dig too much into Rangers it’s important to note that Newcastle haven’t just stumbled into the UCL by accident. They are a strong team and Howe has been clever about his business, bringing in what they need rather than going out and signing the big names. I wouldn’t expect to face many better teams this season, even if we do qualify for the UCL groups.
Slow Starts A Concern?
It’s only the first proper game of pre-season, the team is still getting fully up to speed, there are a lot of new faces on the pitch and Beale will still be trying to get his tactics over to the players but Rangers didn’t start well. Looking a bit lost when they did get the ball, it’s fair to say it took over half an hour before Rangers really did much of anything, by which time we were a goal down. We didn't really come into the game until the second half which probably evokes memories of many a game, last season.
Defensive Worries are Still Worries!
There wasn’t really many surprises with how Rangers lined up, especially at the back. Perhaps the only real selection debate was at LB but Borna’s pinpoint deliveries probably made sense to start this game. Souttar did reasonably well and made a few drives out from the back, which helped break Newcastles high press but Tav was quiet, with most of his work in the defensive half rather than attacking as he prefers. Davies didn’t make any howlers but didn’t do much to enamour himself to the fans. In comparison we looked far more solid in the second half when we changed personal at the back. Most of Rangers window has been focussed on attackers but it’s clear we still need to bring someone in at the back or we are going to be an injury or two away from the position we found ourselves in last year.
Creative Sparks
We were not playing fast, free flowing football in the first half but there were moments of play where you could see what they had in mind. Lammers had a few nice touches and found some good space whilst Sima demonstrated he has considerable pace chasing down balls. Midfield struggled in the early game with Jack not covering himself in glory and Lundstram having another quiet, uneventful evening. Dowell doesn’t appear to be the creative genius we have in Cantwell but he is not afraid to put in the hard yards. He was all over the ptich chipping in with attacks and linking play, whilst showing to support the defence when Newcastle put on the pressure. Raskin seemed to replace this when he came on and it's great to see we have multiple players willing to dig in and do the hard work. As the game wore on the momentum turned and we showed a little more on the front foot, quickly moving the ball forward. We enjoyed some spells of dominance in the second half hemming Newcastle in for sustained periods of play.
The Press is Back
Again it was only shown in parts but when Rangers did come together to press it looked good. The team were hunting in packs, driven on by Kieran Dowell and then Nico Raskin, shutting down multiple plays. It also paid dividends when Lammers pressed a poor pass out from the Newcastle keeper and converted his shot. As fitness builds I hope to see more of this as we know it works, we’ve enjoyed it’s fruits in previous seasons and it will make a massive difference when we do face opposition who want to play.
Overall it provided another opportunity to get minutes into the legs of players, it allowed the fans to say goodbye to a legend and it showed there is cause for optimism as the group looks to come back from our rivals securing a domestic treble. As we approached full time it felt like a draw was a fair result with Newcastle being dominant in the first half whilst Rangers edged the second half but it wasn't to be as Newcastle sneaked a last minute winner against the run of play. There was some lethargy in the Rangers performance but that’s to be expected in early pre-season and we should resist the urge to be too quick to criticise. The signs we did see were encouraging, especially when you factor the ability of our opponents.
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