TWO strands to emerge from Sunday's 1-1 draw at Ibrox have inadvertently thrust the plight of Stefan Klos back into sharp focus. On one hand, as Paul Le Guen and Barry Ferguson indulge in a footballing equivalent of a Commons debate on leadership, it has not gone unnoticed that a former Rangers captain has watched the recent drama unfold impassively from the substitutes bench in recent weeks.
Which brings us to the second issue, one that has already forced Le Guen into a reluctant and uncharacteristic climbdown. The sight of Allan McGregor launching into Superman mode in the lead-up to Thomas Gravesen's opening goal on Sunday will doubtless have caused a wry smile to crack the features of Lionel Letizi from whichever vantage point he watched the Glasgow derby.
Had the Frenchman been responsible for such an eyewatering hash, the campaign to have him removed from duty would have commenced in the time it took Gravesen to cushion Lee Naylor's cross, consider his many options and eventually bludgeon the ball past the flailing McGregor.
Before we proceed, a point of order: in offering McGregor a new contract and an elevated position, Le Guen has potentially secured Rangers' goalkeeping situation for a decade or more. None the less, while Letizi has gone from first to third-choice, the elevation of Klos to the bench has offered a tantalising look at past glories for a support who had come to take the German's brand of heroism for granted until some untimely fallibility two years ago cost him his peak years.
There is still an element of the Rangers support willing Klos to a fairytale end to seven years at Ibrox, yet the fact is he could be denied a farewell not just to Ibrox but football in general by the time he walks away next summer, having already decided to retire from the game and pursue other interests.
He will be two months shy of his 36th birthday when his contract ends next June, an age at which some of his contemporaries are enjoying a new lease of life. Edwin van der Sar has only just agreed a new contract at Manchester United, and SirAlex Ferguson predicts that the Dutchman will remain the first-choice custodian for at least the next two years.
Jens Lehmann is another in the throes of rejuvenation. He was signed from AC Milan by Borussia Dortmund as a replacement for Klos in the summer of 1998, six months after Dick Advocaat spent GBP700,000 for Santa Klos on Christmas Eve, and has since overcome apathy at Arsenal.
Lehmann's persistence finally paid off in the summer, when he replaced Oliver Kahn as No.1 goalkeeper for Germany when they hosted the World Cup. At the same time, Klos met more misery when he damaged his shoulder while cycling on holiday.
He has since recovered and has fought his way past Letizi but this seems destined to be an undeserved, if preferred, lowkey end for a once celebrated goalkeeper. Klos' close circle of friends have confirmed he has no intention of playing on beyond the summer, a decision based in part on what he perceives to have been a catalogue of contemptuous treatment by Alex McLeish.
The previous manager showed little regard for Klos' loyal service - and obsessive rehabilitation - when he appointed Ronald Waterreus his No.1 goalkeeper while on pre-season duty in Toronto 18 months ago. It was not so much the decision as the manner in which the captain had been relieved of duties, after having consistently rejected overtures from elsewhere even at the height of Rangers' financial and competitive woes.
Klos was eventually restored to the team, albeit fleetingly, for two games last season after a situation not dissimilar to that involving Letizi and McGregor this season. A series of spillages from Waterreus generated a public campaign to have Klos restored despite having curiously been exempt from reserve team practice.
Klos' rustiness manifested itself in two uncharacteristic mistakes in the CIS Insurance Cup loss to Celtic. He has not featured in the first team since, in spite of the managerial changeover. Klos has maintained a dignified silence ever since and, in fact, has been so reluctant to to share his story it has been wrongly perceived as a lack of interest.
He remains the club's highest earner, on a reported GBP26,000per-week, and his wage is considerable consolation for his diminished status. It is also a source of annoyance to David Murray that Klos has shown little inclination to pursue firstteam football elsewhere, having become content with life in Helensburgh.
Martin O'Neill sought to sign Klos as a replacement for the injured Thomas Sorensen at Aston Villa but short-term loan rules in England do not extend to the Scottish Premierleague.
Those members of Klos' close friendship circle depict a man uninterested in rocking the boat. Twice he has recovered from injury only to be ignored.
He has won a European Cup at Dortmund and a glittering array of trinkets at Rangers, yet in his quiet moments, Der Goalie must surely reflect on the wilderness years.
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