McGregor protests innocence over v-sign

December 30, 2009

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor says he would take a lie detector test to prove the infamous v-sign gesture that threatened to end his international career was not aimed at Scotland fans.

McGregor is in line for a recall to the Scotland squad following the appointment of Craig Levein as replacement for sacked boss George Burley.

McGregor and Scotland team-mate Barry Ferguson were told they would not play for Scotland again after being caught on camera making v-sign gestures during the World Cup qualifying win over Iceland in April.

The incident occurred after McGregor and Ferguson were dropped to the bench by Burley following reports they had been drinking for more than eight hours before the match at the team’s hotel.

McGregor is adamant the gestures were not directed at the Tartan Army and he hopes he can be forgiven if Levein does hand him a recall.

“I’m not a bad guy – anyone who knows me will tell you that,” McGregor told the Daily Record. “But that night at Hampden I felt I had been thrown to the wolves if I’m honest.

“The whole Boozegate thing had not been well handled and Fergie and myself felt we were being hammered for something others had been involved in.

“Then we had to sit there with 300 cameras pointing in our faces. And that’s when it happened.

“People think we hatched it between us in the dressing room as some kind of way of sticking our fingers up at the whole country.

“But that’s honestly not the way it was. It happened at the spur of the moment when we were sitting there with all the cameras flashing.

“I can say this with my hand on my heart – the V signs were not meant for the Tartan Army or for all of Scotland.

“It was just a stupid, childish reaction to the situation we were in. If I had felt that way about the fans I would have walked out into the centre circle and stuck two fingers up there.

“What else can I say? I’d take a lie detector test if I could – that’s how strongly I feel about it. I wish I could turn the clock back.”

GLASGOW (AFP)

Share and Enjoy: