Six months ago, Allan McGregor was untouchable as the first-choice goalkeeper at Rangers.
The 38-year-old had returned to the club for a second spell 18 months earlier and had barely put a foot wrong since.
A particularly strong 2018/19 campaign showed him to be one of the squad’s most consistently impressive performers, as he bailed out an unsettled defence on countless occasions.
Wes Foderingham performed well when called upon but it seems Steven Gerrard was never really a fan and the Englishman didn’t realistically challenge McGregor for the no.1 jersey.
Now, though, things have taken a surprising turn.
Niggles ensured McGregor didn’t have a full pre-season but he did start the first Premiership fixture, keeping a clean sheet away at Aberdeen.
A tougher assignment followed in Leverkusen and the veteran picked up an injury in the 1-0 defeat.
In previous times, he would have taken a few games out to get himself fit before waltzing back into the XI.
Yet, Jon McLaughlin’s presence and performances have changed the dynamic completely.
The Scotland international impressed in pre-season but it’s a different level of pressure representing Rangers in competitive action.
So far, though, he’s looked unflappable and is yet to concede a goal, forcing his manager into a difficult decision last Saturday.
McGregor trained for the entire week ahead of the trip to Hamilton [Rangers FC Twitter] and was clearly fit to play. Yet, despite that, Gerrard went with his summer signing and left the former on the bench.
After McLaughlin’s clean sheets against St Mirren, St Johnstone, Livingston and Kilmarnock, it would have been scandalous to drop him and he rewarded his manager’s faith with another shutout thanks mainly to a superb second-half save.
With McGregor retired from international duty, he could well be sitting back and watching McLaughlin between the sticks for Scotland this weekend, as the 32-year-old looks to enhance his reputation further.
Obviously, there’s no suggestion that McGregor has been relegated to backup for the remainder of the season.
Yet, he now has a quality operator to compete with and for the first time since his return to the club, he may have to wait patiently for his next opportunity.
