So we covered the basics in an earlier piece today, but yes, Rangers’ summer transfer work has sincerely heated up in the past 48 hours – the return of Leon Balogun, and the likely exits now of Fashion Sakala, Antonio Colak, Glen Kamara, Robby McCrorie and we even forgot to mention Scott Wright who’s also moving on when the right offer arrives.
In this piece though, we’re looking specifically at McCrorie, and the unfortunate circumstances that have led to his asking to leave.
Simply put, knowing he’s not the first choice, and probably never will be, has made his mind up.
Robby did well, very well, last season in the Split, but the Split only matters when there’s something to play for.
McCrorie has had just two serious first team outings – a Europa League qualifier, and that Celtic win.
We cannot judge him on the Split because even though he was impressive, there was nothing riding on that lot, even the Celtic win, aside pride. We recall even Jermain Defoe looked outstanding during the Split of 2019, as a holding lone striker – trust me, that was never his forte.
So we still don’t really know, in serious competitive football, how good McCrorie is – unlike the man we all compare him to, Allan McGregor, who took over from the hapless Lionel Letizi in 2006 amid serious SPL football, and soared.
While McCrorie SHOULD have taken over from the similarly-hapless Jon McLaughlin, that didn’t happen, either because of bad judgment calls, or he simply isn’t good enough?
When we did see him in the Split, the pressure was off him – fans were infinitely more generous to his displays because we wanted him to do well and there was nothing to play for.
Will he cope when there truly is something to play for over an extended period and not just one match?
It’s hard to make a case for McCrorie when you have Jack Butland with England caps and a 100 Premier League appearances in your squad.
It’s sad, and it’s harsh, but McCrorie has no major case to be appointed the number one ahead of such a stopper, but equally, we can’t argue with his case to be made it either given how long he’s waited.
He will now leave, for around £1M or so, and we wish him the best.
Pity we’re now left with McLaugh as the deputy.