Following Wednesday night’s late win over Hibernian, Steven Gerrard criticised Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor for his part in the opening goal of the game, as captured by RangersTV.
The visitors took the lead through Paul Hanlon, 35 minutes into the fixture at Ibrox, but it was all very preventable.
After George Edmundson gave away a free-kick on the wide right, Scott Allan whipped in an out-swinging cross, which was headed up in the air by Christian Doidge.
With the ball on its way down just outside the six-yard box, McGregor elected to come and try to punch it clear, but could only flap at it, leaving the sharp Hanlon with an empty net to fire into.
“We’ve obviously conceded a goal, I think Allan will be disappointed with it,” said Gerrard, as captured by RangersTV. “Obviously, he’s been phenomenal for me as a goalkeeper.”
“But I think maybe when he watches that back he’ll probably say to himself, should I have come? Should I have stayed?
“Which I’m sure he’ll discuss with Colin Stewart, but once he does come, he has to do better.
“But, he’s saved us many many times before so maybe, we can excuse him from criticism.”
Verdict
Despite the last line thrown in by the manager, this certainly was a criticism of McGregor, which he was clearly keen to air, considering it was in response to a question specifically about George Edmundson’s performance.
Yet, as a player with extremely high standards, it’s unlikely the stopper will have too many complaints.
It was a risky decision to come out for the ball and he didn’t get anywhere near it under pressure from Steven Whittaker.
There’s no doubt that his errors are extremely few and far between, though, after a near-flawless first half of the season.
Thankfully, from the veteran’s point of view, it wasn’t to be costly for his team, with goals from Edmundson and Ianis Hagi earning a deserved comeback win.
