If there’s one thing I’ve learned from 20 years in football, it’s that goalkeepers are all a bit weird.
Some of them can be the most opinionated guys you’ve ever met, others just go with the flow. But believe me, the one thing they’ve all got in common is a strangeness somewhere in their make-up!
That’s why I’m so intrigued by the relationship at Ibrox right now involving Jack Butland and his new goalkeeping coach Allan McGregor.
Jack seems like a pretty suave character but I’m willing to bet that somewhere in his psyche there’s something a bit odd! There has to be! Why else would you want to spend your life diving about having shots fired at your face?
You’d say something similar about Tom Heaton, who I played alongside at Burnley. He was quiet and friendly of course but spend any more than 10 minutes with the big man and you’d come away thinking, ‘he’s definitely not right!’
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.
It’s often said that some players can flick and switch and become a different player as soon as they cross the white line and Greegsy is the most extreme example of that I ever saw.
In the dressing room, he was so calm, so composed and impossible to ruffle. But as soon as the whistle went, the adrenalin would take hold and he’d become this frantic, furious figure forever arguing with referees.
I’ve tried to get my head round that transformation down the years. The only way I can rationalise it is to say that as goalkeeper for Rangers and Celtic you spend a lot of the game doing nothing, so his way of staying connected to the action at the other end was to make sure he was emotionally invested – and that usually meant a lot of shouting and swearing!
For the most part, it worked a treat and we can all remember those occasions were Greegsy would pull off a wonder save having spent 89 minutes as a spectator.
But there were other times when those emotions may have boiled over.
Who can forget that infamous moment at the end of Steven Gerrard’s first season as boss when he got himself sent off for booting Marc McNulty up the a**e.
I was playing that day, we were 1-0 up with a minute to go just needing to see the game out. Greegsy had the ball in his hands but next thing I know I’m thinking, ‘F***ing hell, he’s just kicked him there!’
Seconds later I see Allan rolling about the floor claiming he’s been the one booted.
I actually burst out laughing on the park but he was so insistent that he’d been the one fouled. I actually started to doubt myself.
As the red card is flashed, Greegsy storms down the tunnel going mad, chuckling his gloves and boots about the place. ‘He’s f**cking done me, he’s done me!’
He was still protesting his innocence when he made it back to the dressing room, followed in by Andy Halliday who’d been sent a clip of the incident by a pal.
When it shows Greegsy clearly booting McNulty’s back, he turns round and goes, ‘Aye it’s no great, is it?’
We all came in after the final whistle to find the pair of them rolling about the floor laughing.
You could see Gerrard wanted to be angry but by that point even he was grinning as he said to Greegsy to go get his head checked.
I’d have been up for taking the gloves that day but Stevie G decided to stick the worst player in the team in nets, so that’s why Ross McCrorie got the nod!
I’m only kidding with that one but I did enjoy winding his twin Robby up by reminding that his brother had managed to get a game in goal before he did.
As for Greegsy, that’s the kind of crackpot we’re dealing with but 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.
I certainly can’t see him employing the hairdryer treatment. There will be enough of that going round with Barry Ferguson reading the riot act like he did at half-time at Dens, so Butland will need a different tact when looking over his own performance.
For me that is sound tactics from Barry. I plan to go into management after my playing days finish and there’s no way I’ll employ the same kind of characters as myself on my backroom team.
You need a mix of energies to make sure you get the best out of the various characters that make up a squad. Just don’t ask me to figure out what’s going on in the minds of the goalies…