'I'm ready for it' - Former Hull City goalkeeper Ivor Pandur happy to embrace the ‘pressure’ at Rangers
FORMER Hull City goalkeeper Ivor Pandur insists he has the character to embrace the intense pressure of playing for Rangers.
The 26-year-old joined the Scottish Premiership side on a four-year deal shortly after helping Hull gain promotion to the Premier League, the Tigers going up after beating Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
Pandur then headed off to the World Cup with Croatia but, following that experience, has now swapped locations with former England goalkeeper, Jack Butland, who headed in the opposite direction to Hull after three years at Ibrox.
Pandur made his Rangers debut in a 2-1 win over French side Saint-Etienne in a friendly at Ibrox on Wednesday night.
From discussions with former players about the club, Pandur knows that under new boss Derek McInnes and with a revamped squad, Rangers, who have won one Premiership title in 15 years, are expected to turn the tables on Old Firm rivals Celtic.
“Yeah, they told me it is pressure,” said Pandur. “They demand a lot from the players and they want trophies, they want to win.
“I want all of that as well. I’ve never ran from pressure, from responsibility, all my career. It’s just the way I’ve been raised, so it matched perfectly in my opinion.
“I want to test myself at the biggest stage. I think Rangers is one of the biggest clubs in Europe, so I want to see how I will handle it because in my mind, I know I’m ready for it.
“It’s a privilege and honour to be in this position and to give absolutely everything I have for this club. It’s just a proud feeling.”
Pandur is thrilled to be under the watch of former Rangers, Hull and Scotland goalkeeper Allan McGregor, who rejoined the Ibrox club as goalkeeping coach this summer.
He said: “It means a lot to me to have him as my coach because I can only learn and it’s up to me to take everything from him, ask him questions, from his lessons, if I can learn anything."
“He’s a legend of the club, but also in Europe, he played a lot of games for the national team as well so when I found out he’s a goalkeeper coach, it just fills me with happiness.”
Pandur insists Rangers are getting a better goalkeeper than the one they were interested in four years ago when he was playing in the Netherlands.
He said: “Obviously, in football, there is always some interest, but rarely something happens.
“I remember my agent was talking with the director who is not here any more at this club, and it came close, but our paths didn’t align at the time.
“It’s probably better because now I’m much better than I was three or four years ago.
“I’ve developed quite a lot and there’s still more to come and I think I’m in a perfect place to improve.”