At times this season Rangers have been woefully short of creativity and invention, although things have improved significantly under Philippe Clement.
The Gers boss has revitalised a team that was struggling to break teams down, with the squad buying into an ethos built on hard work and unity.
Rangers injury list is easing which means that Philippe Clement can trust the players on his bench of plan A isn’t working, with one forgotten playmaker back on the grass after injury.
Rangers boost with Alex Lowry out to impress Philippe Clement
Having burst through from the academy under Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Alex Lowry looked to have a bright future at Rangers.
The former Gers manager clearly believing the same after seeing him score on his Ibrox debut against Stirling Albion:
“We had the chance to get Alex into the game and I was satisfied with how he played.
“I’m happy he made his debut and I’m looking forward to working with him in the future.
“I think he is one of the big talents in the academy so it’s good to give him his chance.
“I have seen Alex in training over the last few weeks and you could see his qualities.
“He has many things to improve on, but I think he is a really good player. You could see he was enjoying the game and he wasn’t really nervous.
“His goal was very composed and it shows good ability to counter attack and he passed the ball into the net.
“Besides his goal, he had many good moments on the ball so I’m very pleased with his performance.”
There is a reason why Man City and Newcastle United were sniffing around.
There were moments of magic and a BBC Sportscene analysis segment on the Scotland Under-21 international’s performances, Michael Stewart brandishing Lowry a “proper player”.
As a number ten or playing off the left-hand side, it seemed as if there would be plenty of opportunities in the following season to stake his claim for a regular place.
Things didn’t quite go to plan though and 2022/23 saw injury after injury as well as the devastating loss of his mum.
It’s easy to forget sometimes that footballer’s are only human and Alex Lowry is only just out of his teenage years.
This season was one where he needed to reset.
His attitude during the summer seemed to be that of a player who knew that he had ti work harder and videos of him training on holiday were encouraging.
Then, the opportunity to join Hearts presented itself and it was one that was too good to turn down.
The chance to play more games for a good team made perfect sense.
There were flashes of what he was capable of but the style of play and system just didn’t suit someone who likes to get on the ball dictate play, despite early signs that it was going to be a good fit.
Rangers and Hearts decided to cut the deal short and Alex Lowry was back at square one.
Lowry back, can he make same impact as breakthrough season?
Now, almost two years since his goal scoring debut against Stirling Albion and, if anything, further away from the first team than he was then.
Posting on Instagram, Lowry seems to be in a good frame of mind and, if he works hard enough, there is no reason why he can’t force his way onto the bench under Philippe Clement.
As his statistics for this season show, he has the intent and ability to play a pass but, if he is to have a future at Rangers, he needs to put the graft in too.
Thankfully, he has new boots to help him do it.
