Boab Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 BILLY THOMSON believes Allan McGregor is going into Sunday's Old Firm showdown in the form of his life. The former Ibrox goalkeeping coach tutored the young custodian through the ranks, and believes McGregor's temperament is as crucial to his success as his ability to keep out the goals. McGregor's form slumped earlier this season in tandem with off-field stories about his private life hitting the front pages of the papers. But, since the last Old Firm game, McGregor has lost just one goal and has enjoyed a return to the kind of form that had him attracting the interest of English Premiership sides last term. For all that McGregor was in sparkling form for Rangers last season, he ended the campaign with only a League Cup medal to show for his efforts. An injury at Celtic Park near the end of the campaign, as the league started to slip away from the Ibrox side, ruled him out of the Uefa Cup and Scottish Cup Finals as Neil Alexander stepped into his shoes. As such, there is much for McGregor still to prove and, having never had the taste of winning a title and playing regularly - when Rangers clinched the league on the final day of 2005 McGregor was on the bench at Easter Road and he was also an unused sub in every game of Rangers' Treble season in 2003 - Thomson expects the keeper to be desperate to get his hands on the trophy that has eluded the club for the past three years. "It is a good time to be hitting top form," he said. "Every goalkeeper at some point in a season goes through a wee ropey patch, but there is no question for me that Allan has the temperament and the talent to stay as first-choice keeper at Rangers. "He is hungry for success and doing it at Rangers would be massive for him because, since he was a young boy, that is what his sights have been set on. "I was at Rangers for seven years and I worked closely with Allan and with Graeme Smith, who is now at Motherwell. I didn't have any doubt that Allan had it in him to be the No.1 at Ibrox. When Paul Le Guen came in and he was getting frustrated and wanted to quit the club in search of first-team football, I urged him to be patient because I knew he could make it. "I always saw the ability he had, even from a young age. We still speak to one another regularly, although these days he is the one who gives me advice. "I laugh at all the stuff I read about his apparent antics off the park because, as a matter of fact, he is seriously one of the most laid-back characters you could ever meet. There is nothing at all that fazes him and he is the type of boy who just lets things wash over him. "That kind of temperament if you want to be a top keeper is as big a part of making it as natural ability, and the fact that he has both was always going to help him on his way to the top. "Winning the title would mean everything to him because he has always wanted to make a name for himself at Rangers and that's the way to do it." McGregor turned 27 last month and his growing maturity is perhaps reflected in more settled on-field displays. "Goalkeepers never grow up," laughed Thomson. "They are always big kids! But seriously, as you get older, you do tend to calm down a bit and I think the biggest thing as you mature is that things don't affect you as much as they did. If you make a mistake it is easier to let it go and look to the next game rather than dwelling on it and letting it affect your confidence." McGregor will come under the cosh at Parkhead this weekend as the Hoops support attempt to make life as uncomfortable as possible for him, but Thomson has urged the Ibrox stopper to keep his cool, regardless of the pressure he might come under. "You can become a hero in these games if you sustain a decent level of performance," he said. "It sounds like a cliche, but my advice would be to treat it as another game because it can be very easy to get swept up in it all. "I played once in an Old Firm game back in 1995 and it was at Hampden because Parkhead was being refurbished. We lost 3-0, I was sent off and it was just one of those days when nothing went right for me. "You can get caught up in it all and, as a goalkeeper, you hear more than most because you are standing right in front of the fans and it's not as if you have anywhere to go. "Allan will get pelters on Sunday, I'm sure, but there is always a simple way to quieten people and that is to play well. He is more than capable of doing that." 10:10am today Exclusive By Alison McConnell http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/misc/print.php?artid=2488799
Coopermania Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 I would like to see more consistency in this 'top form' to be honest. I'm not criticising, I like McGregor, but like everyone else I want to see him flawless.
Poetry_In_Blue Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 Even the greatest of players have a cock up from time to time, at least he is really starting to find his form again when it's really important, some of his stops is why we have the best defensive record in the SPL.
radlord Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 Him getting injured for us last year was possibly the biggest factor in our collapse in my opinion.
BlueSuedeSambas Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 Him getting injured for us last year was possibly the biggest factor in our collapse in my opinion. Losing that last minute goal to Celtic swung it IMO.
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