Rangers have been criticised by fans and pundits alike for failing to give enough youth players a chance to break through to the first-team.
Philippe Clement is keen to change this and knows that the academy needs to be the backbone of the squad as well as signing younger players who can be developed and sold at a profit.
One of those is Hamza Igamane who has been signed to support the forward line with one of the main reasons being the lack of any strikers from Auchenhowie capable of stepping up from the age groups.
Ross McCormack names Rangers legend as best ever
One player who did make the breakthrough is Ross McCormack, arguably the best striker other than Robert Fleck to work his way all the way through and make a name for himself at Rangers.
Unlike Fleck, who was a regular before moving to England, McCormack only made 13 appearances in the senior team, however, what he did have in common was an equally as impressive career south of the border.
Speaking on the Open Goal podcast, in a CV that features Leeds United, Aston Villa and Fulham, the diminutive forward has named who was the best player he ever played with:
“It’s a country mile, Fergie. People say he passes the ball sideways, never gives it away. He was just a joke, mate. Absolute joke. Tugay was skillful, like you would watch him, and he would be doing what I would call the pointless stuff. Don’t get me wrong, he was a very good player, but Fergie was a different level.”
With 120 goals and 55 assists in 333 games in England’s second tier, McCormack played at a consistently high level for much of his time across the border.
He also played with a lot of good players.
It isn’t a surprise to see him name Barry Ferguson as the best he has seen though.
What often gets forgotten, is that Ferguson moved to Blackburn Rovers, became captain and was regularly collecting man of the match awards before fracturing and dislocating his knee cap.
There had already been talk of a move to another club with Liverpool named as potential suitors by none other than Craig Moore.
Rangers need to find the next Ferguson or McCormack
What Philippe Clement would give for a Barry Ferguson to come through the academy now.
McCormack made his impact scoring for Rangers as a 17-year old whilst Ferguson was a few years older before he was playing regularly.
That Dick Advocaat spent millions on players like Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Tugay Kerimoglu and Claudio Reyna but built his team around Ferguson says it all about how talented he was.
Rangers fans never truly appreciated just how good the Hall of Fame skipper was until the Little General gave him his chance.
Maybe Clement should show similar bravery by giving Bailey Rice the chance to prove that he could be Rangers answer to the number six position after all.
