It has been a long time since Rangers brought through a forward from the youth system and they made a serious impact in the first team.
Questions are consistently asked of the Rangers academy and its ability to produce players for the senior XI with a host of talented individuals failing to make the grade.
Robert Fleck was a Rangers mainstay 40 years ago, but there has been little else to shout about even if Robbie Ure is proving the doubters wrong in Sweden now and Ross McCormack scored plenty of goals in England.
Another who left Ibrox to go on to carve a solid professional career for himself was Rory Loy who, speaking on the Scottish Football Podcast on the BBC, has previously talked about the Rangers move being a mistake.
Playing in the same team as Scott Arfield for Scotland Under-21s, Loy was asked by presenter Ray Bradshaw if there was any jealousy about the Falkirk veteran’s current form.
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Rory Loy issues warning for Rangers academy graduates
There is an easy comparison between Bailey Rice and Lennon Miller, two players who were teammates at Motherwell with one of them now being linked with a move to Serie A and the other struggling for game time.
Loy, reflecting on a similar move to Rangers at the same age said:
“But no, listen, I look at Scott Arfield and I said recently that when I was a young boy at Kilmarnock from 16 to 18, I was an apprentice, I ended up going across to Rangers.
“If I could have one moment back in my career, I would have probably stayed at Kilmarnock. I look at Scott Arfield and I’m not saying I would have went on and had the career Scott Arfield’s had, but I watched him rack up 100 appearances for Falkirk, which I reckon I would have done at Kilmarnock by the time I was 21, 22.”
It is a familiar story for many youngsters who sign for Rangers.
If Philippe Clement did anything, it was recognising that the current system was doing the club no favours at all.
What changes have Rangers made to avoid a repeat?
A host of players left Rangers in January to go out on loan to get game time, but for some of them, like Leon King, it might be too late.
At the age of 21/22, if a player isn’t a first team regular at Rangers, there is very little chance of them sticking around for much longer.
Arfield might not have been at a ‘big’ club as a teenager, but he was playing games, getting experience, learning from his mistakes and developing.
It is an experience that can’t be replicated playing academy or youth football.
It might be too late for Alex Lowry or King, however, the next generation must be given the sort of chance that Loy regrets not taking.
