Allan McGregor may be an ‘angry maniac’ according to Scott Arfield, but he’s still the perfect Rangers coach for Jack Butland at the moment.
McGregor was installed as Rangers’ interim goalkeeping coach until the end of the season as part of Barry Ferguson’s backroom staff.
The former Ibrox goalkeeper retired from playing in 2023 and passed his gloves to Jack Butland, who had just signed on a free after departing Crystal Palace.
Around a year-and-a-half later, the pair were reunited at the Rangers Training Centre with McGregor tasked with getting the best out of Butland until May at least.
Butland says McGregor has been ‘nervous’ to impress as Rangers’ goalkeeping coach, yet praised their relationship on and off the park.
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Scott Arfield on Jack Butland & Allan McGregor Rangers link-up
Arfield is intrigued by the Butland-McGregor link up given their differing personalities. However, the Falkirk star thinks McGregor is an upgrade on previous long-serving coach Colin Stewart.
Writing in the Daily Record, Arfield said: “I’m so intrigued by the relationship at Ibrox right now involving Jack Butland and his new goalkeeping coach Allan McGregor.
“There’s no doubt it’s been a difficult season for Butland as Rangers No1. He had a near flawless first year at the club, right up until his right up to his last minute mishap that handed Celtic the Scottish Cup.
“Since then there’s been more mistakes than you’d expect from the big fella, with Saturday’s spill at Dundee another he won’t want to see back again.
“From being described as unsellable by Philippe Clement, some fans are now questioning his place in the team and his future. While I understand why, I have to disagree as I still think he’s a major asset to the team and the club.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how he recovers from that Dens mistake and especially how Greegsy goes about raising his spirits. I’m sure anyone who saw Allan play has a strong idea of his personality make up – an angry maniac!
“And they’d be right – but only when talking about his on-field character. I’ve no doubt he’ll be a totally different persona in his coaching role. He’ll be a calm, soothing voice and will be able to empathise with what Butland is going through.
“With all due respect to Colin Stewart, who was brilliant as goalie coach before leaving the club with Clement, he never played for Rangers so he never knew what it was like to be the man in the spotlight when fingers are being pointed.
“Allan McGregor has lived and breathed that existence and will know what’s needed to get back to form.”
What happened to Colin Stewart?
Whatever Arfield says about McGregor being an upgrade on Colin Stewart – which is true in many respects – the latter was a fantastic servant for Rangers.
After a journeyman career across Scotland that started in Kilmarnock and ended with a short stint at Raith Rovers, Stewart moved into the goalkeeping coaching.
He actually started that path in Qatar with Al-Khor SC in 2012, before making a return to Scotland with Kilwinning Rangers as their co-manager.
Again, that didn’t last very long and Stewart was soon recruited by Rangers to be the club’s Head of Academy Goalkeeping.
In 2017, Rangers caretaker boss Graeme Murty decided to promote Stewart to the first-team ranks and that’s where he stayed until early 2025.
Stewart was entrusted by several Rangers managers including Steven Gerrard, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and latterly Philippe Clement.
But when Ferguson arrived as interim manager, he wanted McGregor to replace Stewart, ending the latter’s eight year stint in Govan.
