In what is likely to be a summer of change at Rangers, one player who looks to be approaching an Ibrox crossroads is Robby McCrorie.

As he celebrates his 25th birthday today, the goalkeeper has struggled to force his way into the first-team reckoning with Allan McGregor and Jon McLaughlin being preferred by Michael Beale, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Steven Gerrard.

His future looked promising when he was thrust into the spotlight 19 months ago after Covid decimated the Rangers squad. Two clean sheets in as many games in powderkeg fixtures against Celtic and Alashkert gave hope he was capable of succeeding McGregor as No.1.

Fast forward to the present day, however, and despite being sidelined recently through injury, he remains third choice at Ibrox.

Being back-up to the back-up was a role that former Rangers stopper Lindsay Hamilton had no qualms with when he was plucked from Stenhousemuir to become Graeme Souness’ first Scottish signing in November 1986.

The current East Fife goalkeeping coach was third in line in a pecking order containing Chris Woods and Nicky Walker.

However, despite not making a competitive appearance for the first team, Hamilton was still playing regular reserve team football, something McCrorie is not. It’s why he feels a move away from the club may be advisable come the summer if his pathway to the first team remains congested.

"When I joined Rangers, essentially you were working Monday to Friday and then there would be a game at the end of it,” he told the Rangers Review.

“If the first team played Celtic at Parkhead, we would play Celtic at Ibrox in a reserve match and vice versa, so I was getting games. We had competitive games every week.

“Maybe if the boys were away in a hotel the night before, Nicky or I would go with the first team. Okay, we didn’t get on the bench at that particular time but the fact is you always got a game at the end of it.

“That’s what the difference is for players now. It’s frustrating for them because there are very few games and there’s no reserve league so the game has changed dramatically. Every team across Europe and the world takes three goalkeepers to games now so you’re spending more time in the stand which can’t help them at all.

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“The game has changed in terms of there are no reserve teams now and there’s not that competitive edge. It’s just academy, Under 20s and then it’s a quantum leap from Under 20s to the first team. With all due respect, a lot of them find it difficult to make that leap.

“This is the problem Robby’s got, it’s a conundrum for him. He has to make that choice and that's when it becomes difficult.

“Does he know that Greegsy’s going to retire at the end of the season? Are they going to bring another goalkeeper in?

“If you listen to the media, they’ve got it done and dusted. Greegsy’s going to retire and they’re going to bring another goalie in and Robby’s going to be in the same situation.

“I think at 24 years of age, you should be playing at any level, sometimes you have to take that step back to move forward.

“I’m sure a lot of clubs would take Robby. He has to sit down and go, ‘Where does my future lie? Do I sit and take my money?’

Rangers Review:

“I think in respect of what he’s earning just now and I’m only speaking from experience, if he wants to go to a club within Scotland then it becomes limited but if he goes down south then you’ve got a lot more opportunities down there.

“That’s not going to hamper his international chances. It’s just at 24 years of age, you’re saying to yourself, ‘Where can I play?’ Sometimes you have to dismiss the money side of it and look at your career because it’s very short.

“It’s one of those situations where you have to bite the bullet and say, ‘I need to take those tinted glasses off and I need to be moving on here. I need to be looking for first-team football.’

“He should’ve probably been thinking that at 20/21. At 24/25, you have to look at it and go, ‘How many appearances have I made over the last two or three years?’

“It’s okay training but he’s got to be playing games.

“You then need to factor in his technical ability, his tactical ability, the psychological side of it, how’s his head? If something happens to Greegsy, is he in a good place mentally to go in and take that spot and make it his own?

“Only Robby can answer that question.”