Given his record of five goals in Old Firm derbies, alarm bells were probably ringing in the Rangers defence on Saturday when the board went up in the 63rd minute for Kyogo to be introduced into the action at Ibrox Stadium.
They needn’t have worried. Because one moment in the game showed Robby McCrorie was already wide awake and alert to the danger of the Hoops Japanese talisman as he sensed the threat and thwarted an attack to prevent Kyogo finishing off a move and adding to his impressive tally against the Light Blues.
It came just two minutes after the former Vissel Kobe star entered the fray alongside compatriot Daizen Maeda as the duo replaced the ineffective Liel Abada and South Korean striker Oh Hyeon-gyu. Battling desperately to get back into the game, Kyogo and Maeda offered Ange Postecoglou’s something different going forward. And as the clock struck 65 minutes fellow Japanese star Reo Hatate picked up the ball deep in his own half before threading a lovely defence-splitting pass through the middle for Kyogo to chase. The 28-year-old beat John Souttar for pace but McCrorie was lightning quick off his line and cleared the danger. Chance gone.
It was a rare moment when Celtic managed to get in behind Rangers during the 3-0 defeat at the home of their rivals. And on the other occasions McCrorie came to the rescue, doing enough to put off Oh as he saw an effort come back off the post and a one-handed save to deny Matt O’Riley.
But it was that speed off his line to snuff out any danger that was arguably the most pleasing. Few will dispute Allan McGregor’s status as one of Rangers’ greatest ever goalkeepers – if not THE greatest – and his shot-stopping ability. But one of the major criticisms of his game has been his pace off the line, as was evident in the defeat to Celtic at Parkhead in last month’s league meeting for Jota’s goal, albeit Souttar was woefully short with a passbook in the first place.
And it’s no surprise at 15 years his junior that McCrorie is much sharper in that aspect of his game. And this one moment showed that. There was a noticeable difference and it had a major impact on how Michael Beale’s side performed, that sweeper keeper instance allowing Rangers to play further up the pitch and pin Celtic back.
McCrorie has now had four games and four clean sheets, two of those coming against Celtic. He’s certainly done himself no harm in terms of staking a claim for the gloves next season and he could be faced with a big decision next summer. If Beale does land Jack Butland or an experienced keeper in the mould of the on-loan Manchester United man, would McCrorie be happy playing second fiddle at the age of 25?
Beale embraced McCrorie at full time and had a word in his ear as the post match celebrations were in full swing. But does he have faith in him to be first choice? McGregor himself was at a similar age when the late goalkeeping coach Billy Thomson had to talk him out of quitting. He had been overlooked once too many times, with Paul Le Guen’s signing of Lionel Letizi the final straw.
But McGregor stuck around and outlasted the Frenchman. Walter Smith arrived, installed him his first choice and the rest his history. Will McCrorie have to show the same patience if another keeper is signed in the summer or will he feel the need to move on to be No. 1 elsewhere? The early signs are he could be good enough to be first choice.
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