Rangers' Jack Butland opens up on Allan McGregor, England and his Celtic 'speak on other side' rule

There is no better way to prepare to succeed someone than having the opportunity to ask them anything and everything in advance.

Goalkeeper Jack Butland is looking forward to a fresh challenge at Rangers.

Sometimes football is no different to any other workplace. They permit job shadowing. New Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland is too old to be labelled the sorcerer’s apprentice. Now 30 and with nine England caps to his name – to date – he is an experienced campaigner. But it’s never too late to learn, particularly from one of the Ibrox club’s greats.

Butland is relishing the opportunity to spend some time with Allan McGregor before the veteran former Rangers goalkeeper’s testimonial against Newcastle United later this month. He isn’t fazed by the prospect of following in McGregor's footsteps. Nor should he be. He has worked with some of the game’s best while also operating at the very top level himself.

Last season’s loan spell at Manchester United will have cured any self-confidence issues – Butland was on the bench in the FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City – and he is not unfamiliar with being tasked to replace major goalkeeper personalities, Joe Hart at Birmingham City among them. Butland also had Shay Given to contend with at Stoke City.

Butland will seek advice from his predecessor Allan McGregor, who retired at the end of the season.

In a more historic context, he knows he has joined a club where a strong tradition of goalkeeping excellence exists, stretching back to Andy Goram and beyond. There has even been a book written on the subject. Peter McCloy, McGregor and Goram all grace the front cover of In Safe Hands: Rangers' Goalkeeper Greats. There were plenty of other candidates, including Stefan Klos and, going much further back, Bobby Brown and George Niven.

“I’ve had big goalies to follow in the past,” noted Butland. “Top goalies have gone before and they’ll come again. That’s the beauty of the position. We are all different and we can all make it our own. There’s no denying the impact some of those guys have had on the club. It’s something I have paid attention to.

“I think we’ll get to see Allan and hopefully get to train with him for a couple of days before the Newcastle game," he added. “That will be really nice and an opportunity to pick his brains a little bit. Just about his experiences and what the club means to him and how that can help me. We’re different goalkeepers and I’m just looking forward to getting the gloves on and trying to emulate some of the things they have achieved.”

Despite his own achievements, Butland appreciates that Scottish football, and the Old Firm dynamic, is a new frontier. McGregor can certainly help on that front. “There’s value, 100 per cent, in talking to Allan,” he said. “It’s a very unique city, the way that it operates and he knows it better than anybody. There’s no better person for me to talk to than him about his experiences at the club and how to deal with that and how to deal with the Old Firms. It’s about getting insight into all of that and how he went about it. It can only be beneficial for me and I’m looking forward to it.”

Capped nine times by England, Butland is not giving up hope of a recall to the international set-up.

Someone Butland was less forthcoming about seeking guidance from is Hart, his old rival for the England goalkeeper shirt and now Old Firm adversary. The chances are they will have spoken. However, he wasn’t getting drawn into that. “The first rule is not to speak about the other side!” he said. “I’m excited to be here. I’m picking the brains of everyone I can to get a feel for the area and places to live.”

Another of Butland’s Rangers predecessors is Chris Woods, who managed to claim the No 1 England spot while playing in the Scottish top flight. Indeed, Woods, now the Scotland goalkeeper coach, won 20 of his 43 caps while at Ibrox.

Butland earned the last of his nine England caps five years ago in a friendly against Switzerland. With Jordan Pickford still the popular choice as No 1 for Gareth Southgate’s side, and such able deputies as Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Pope stacked up behind him, it's possible to wonder whether Butland's time has come and gone.

Just refrain from mentioning this theory to him. Butland is entering his peak years as a goalkeeper and could well enjoy Champions League exposure in the coming months. He remains confident he can take his caps tally into double figures as long as he can secure and then retain the No.1 spot at Rangers.

He did not play at all last season, meaning his last competitive outing was the penultimate game of the previous campaign for Crystal Palace against Everton. “It can happen,” he said with reference to an England return. “It’s all about performances. I have been in the squad with Gareth, he knows what I am about. The only thing I have not been able to do is show them that for a few years now. That’s certainly a target for me: show them what I am about again. They know, but I need to play. I need to play.

“I’ve always been patriotic,” he added. “I’ve always loved playing for my country. That will never go away. But it’s not something I can control. I couldn’t control it when I was younger and I was in the squad. That all came down to club football so that’s what this is about. It’s about being successful at Rangers and that will follow if it follows.

“That is down to the manager of England. I can’t control that, but I can control what I do here and that is starting the season well and qualifying for the Champions League. Age-wise, there is no issue. Others have done it. It’s honestly not my focus because that will come if things are going to plan here and that is my focus.”