Glaring goalkeeping stats underline Rangers need for No1 action

However, figures from leading statistics company StatsBomb suggest there may be reason for Beale to consider a move for a goalkeeper in the transfer window.

Regardless of statistics, there has been serious debate over the goalkeeper position under both Beale and their predecessor Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

McGregor signed a new deal in the summer to stay at Ibrox but was replaced as No1 with McLaughlin the starter under Van Bronckhorst.

After a couple of high-profile errors, McGregor was back in. Now, under Beale, McGregor appears to be his pick - albeit the keeper missed the win over Ross County due to illness.

McCrorie meanwhile hasn't featured for the first-team this season but has been on the bench on occasion and is training as part of the group with McGregor and McLaughlin. 

Beale also insisted he'll put Rangers players against each other in the coming weeks to give every player at the club the chance to stake their claim for a starting spot.

READ MORE: My dad threatened to punch me if I didn't sign for Rangers - Gattuso

He said: "We won't be strengthening the goalkeeping position next month.

"When the ball goes in the goal everyone looks at the goalkeeper for a mistake but Allan McGregor has saved this club time and time again.

"He made a big save last week against Hibs that kept the score where we needed it and got us to half time.

"I thought the second strike from Leighton Clarkson was an excellent goal; the first one, well he's gone the goalie's side but the goalie has obviously moved.

"No issue with Allan. Jon McLaughlin at the start of the season did very well, makes a mistake in a high-profile game but I trust him.

"And Robby (McCrorie) moving forward he knows I have got a lot of faith in him. In the last month before leaving here he played away at Alashkert and at home against Celtic and was excellent in both games, believe man of the match in probably both games.

"I think we are in a healthy place but I do get it, when the ball goes in everyone looks at the goalkeeper.

"I want massive competition in the building. We will get a break after this New Year period where we will have more training - it'll open out for ten days or so.

"I'm hoping to pitch people against each other. What I've tried to do in quite an unstable time in terms of the back four is try to keep the players that I know in the team quite stable.

"I would say in some positions there has been a fair chance to fight for the jersey and others I've just wanted to go with what I know for the minute, to get through the fixture list.

"It's not an area I'll look to strengthen because I don't feel that we need to right now."

Here's what the stats tell us about the Rangers goalkeeping situation...

Save Percentage

The first statistic to consider when comparing McGregor and McLaughlin to the rest of the league is general save percentage.

This general figure is the percentage of shots saved by a goalkeeper per 90 minutes - regardless of the xG of the shot faced.

McGregor has a score of 61 percent which is five percent higher than team-mate McLaughlin who saves just over half of shots faced at 56 percent.

By contrast, Joe Hart saves 74 percent of shots faced putting him joint-top of that statistic alongside Kelle Roos of Aberdeen.

Expected Save Percentage

The next key figure to analyse is the somewhat related expected save percentage. This evaluates the percentage of shots goalkeepers are expected to save, again per 90 minutes.

McGregor tops that section of analysis with a score of 76 percent expected save percentage, while McLaughlin is rated at 70 percent.

StatsBomb explain the stat as: "Given the post-shot xG of shots faced by the goalkeeper what % would we expect them to save?"

The stats appear to suggest McGregor is down 15 percent on the saves he makes compared with the expected shots saved percentage. McLaughlin is down 14 percent.

Goals saved above average

StatsBomb also measures a key statistic titled goals saved above average. Simply, it details how many goals the goalkeeper conceded or saved against expectation.

Aberdeen's Roos is the top keeper per 90 minutes in this particular stat as 0.30 goals saved above average. It translates to the keeper having saved 5.82 goals above average throughout the season so far.

Comparing that to McGregor makes for unpleasant reading for the Rangers keeper. Stats show he has conceded 4.29 goals more than expected throughout the season, or 0.36 per 90 minutes. It's the second worst in the league, only better than Dundee United's Carljohan Eriksson.

McLaughlin is third bottom in the unwanted stat having conceded 0.30 more than expected per 90, which equals 2.25 more goals across the season as a whole.

READ MORE: John Lundstram assesses Rangers changes under Michael Beale

Shot stopping percentage

Another area of major concern for the Ibrox goalkeeping department is glaringly displayed in the shot-stopping percentage column.

StatsBomb explains the statistic as: "The measure of goals saved above average, as a percentage of shots faced by the goalkeeper."

In this measure, McGregor and McLaughlin are ranked as the worst goalkeepers in the Scottish Premiership.

McGregor comes in at minus 15 percent in shot-stopping percentage with McLaughlin just in front at minus 14 percent.

Roos is the only top-flight goalkeeper in Scotland to feature in the positive end of the spectrum with a score of 7 percent above average in the shot-stopping percentage.

Celtic keeper Hart and Hearts' Craig Gordon are both down the middle at 0 percent meaning their saves are equal to the expected saves.

Positioning Error

While McGregor and McLaughlin appear to be lagging behind in most categories both men are on a similar standing when it comes to positioning errors. 

StatsBomb detail the positioning error stat as: "How far from the optimal position for facing a shot the goalkeeper is (on average)."

The analysis considers deviation from the optimal position goalkeepers should be in when facing shots from similar positions.

In this stat Celtic's Hart is the most unorthodox at 2.05 away from the "optimal position" with Sam Walker closest to the expected positioning at 1.41.

McGregor is in the middle of the pack at 1.57 with McLaughlin achieving the exact same score.

Distribution 

In the modern game much more emphasis has been placed on the need for goalkeepers to be capable of impressive distribution.

StatsBomb takes that into account through 'positive outcome', 'pass into danger' and 'pass into pressure' analysis.

McLaughlin is fourth top in the positive outcome percentage stat which measures "possessions that connected through the player and resulted in either a shot, free-kick in the attacking half or a corner".

His score of 1.78 is contrasted with a 1.58 for McGregor. By percentage it means McLaughlin finds a positive outcome for eight percent of his passes, and McGregor achieves a positive outcome for seven percent of his passes.

McGregor does better his team-mate however in the safety of his possession with the keeper only playing a pass into danger eight percent of the time and into pressure two percent of the time.

McLaughlin passes into pressure four percent of the time - the highest in the league - and into danger ten percent of the time - third lowest behind McGregor and Celtic's Hart.

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