Rangers’ successful acquisition of Dundee midfielder Lyall Cameron on the final day of the winter transfer window has two Ibrox stalwarts of the past in agreement about a potential Ibrox stalwart of the future.
It was not just large swathes of the Rangers fanbase struggling to fathom why their beloved club were not making more of an effort to make Glasgow’s blue corner home to the best young talent in the country.
To the bemusement of many both on the terraces and in the media, Rangers did prevent to let Josh Doig, Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson and co departing for new adventures abroad. Well, Italy, specifically.
Rangers were missing in action when Luke McCowan joined Celtic either.
So the confirmation of Lyall Cameron’s transfer, on a pre-contract agreement, not only secures the services of a box-crashing, all-action midfielder who could add a goalscoring streak from the centre of the park.
It also goes some way to writing the wrongs of previous transfer windows.
Kris Boyd and Alan Hutton agree as Rangers sign Lyall Cameron
“We’ve all had a say on Rangers kind of neglecting Scottish boys for a period of time now,” says Kris Boyd, a former striker who’s tally of 126 goals after joining the Ibrox outfit from Kilmarnock ranks as one of the finest Premiership-to-Premiership transfers of the modern age.
“I think [it is important] you have got people who get it, who understand it.”
“I go back years. I remember when I was at Rangers, there was a core group of Scottish players,” agrees Alan Hutton, a right-back for the Light Blues between 2002 and 2008. “Kris Boyd, Steven Naismith, Kevin Thompson, Steven Whittaker…
“I just think they have overlooked the Scottish market for far too long and tended to buy foreign players who are untested. [Cameron] will be a good signing.”
Michael Stewart, formerly of Hearts and Hibernian, feels that Cameron is not quite in the same league as some of the other locally-sourced talent Rangers could and probably should have signed. Take Ferguson for example; The man who captained Bologna into the Champions League last season.
Yet, Cameron’s arrival is a step in the right direction for The Gers, for a number of reasons.
“If you look at the last few years, the club have been negligent or dismissive towards the domestic market,” Stewart argues. “They’ve missed out on what I would say are better players than Lyall Cameron, and it’s actually good to see them now realise you need to have a good core of Scottish players just for the actual identity of the team
“I think it’s a positive. Lyall Cameron is a good player who has got plenty of growth to come, but I don’t think he is as good as some of those they have passed up or ignored in the recent past.”
Boyd thinks Rangers a ‘huge’ step up for Dundee dynamo
One of the big questions is how will Clement manage to incorporate Cameron into his team. Connor Barron has struggled for game time recently, and that in itself is testament to the quality and form of both Mohamed Diomande and Nico Raskin.
“Lyall Cameron will have to hit the ground running,” Boyd accepts. “There is going to be competition for places, that’s for sure.
“I think it is a decent addition. He’s got time to grow and develop into a Rangers player. It’s going to be a big jump for him but he’s shown promise.
“[Celtic star and former Dundee teammate] Luke McCowan is a little bit older and probably a little bit more experienced, and he is going into a team thats winning. That always makes it a little bit easier.
“But I think, with Lyall Cameron, it’s an opportunity to make a move to a huge football club. You are going to be under pressure but, with the progress that he’s had, this is the next step. He has done really well at Dundee.”
