Rangers will need to rebuild in the summer, however, Philippe Clement won’t just be looking further afield to see how he can strengthen.
The manager has a history of playing young players, and assessing the academy talent at Auchenhowie will form part of his squad construction.
One player who will be hoping to make the cut left Rangers to go out on loan in January, but will be up against it to see his time at Ibrox extended.
Arron Lyall looking to sort out Rangers future
Arron Lyall couldn’t have tried any harder this season in his attempts to earn a new Rangers contract.
He is consistently available, is hard working and has the right attitude.
The 20-year old attacking midfielder/winger, has impressed at Airdrie in the second half of the season and, speaking to The Daily Record, Lyall is hoping that he gets his shot at the big time:
“Conversations need to be had, and my contract is up in the summer. A lot of the finer details aren’t down to me – I just want to be playing football.
“You need to have conversations with the parent club and the club you are coming on loan to. We thought Airdrie was the best fit.
“Being at Rangers, they dominate most of the ball in most games. Airdrie is similar, they play a lot of football, dominate the ball and play a lot of lovely stuff.
“I think for all parties, it was beneficial for everybody.
“You absolutely want to be playing at the top level, for as long as you can.
“If you can get your shot there [at Rangers], it’s the biggest club in the country, really. I’m going to take it if I can.”
Rangers need to get loan system right for academy prospects
It’s been nearly 20 years since Charlie Adam went out on loan to St Mirren and proved that he had the talent and ability to get a chance in Rangers first-team.
There hasn’t been an outfield player who has done something similar since.
Stephen Kelly always did well at clubs like Ayr United, Ross County and Livingston, but Steven Gerrard just didn’t trust him enough.
Alex Lowry started well at Hearts this season until a change of system saw him spend more time on the bench and he returned to Rangers.
Arron Lyall, in the same way that Stephen Kelly is, is a very good young footballer.
There will be no shortage of teams in the SPFL who will be considering offering him a contract this summer.
As Rangers fans have seen this season with Ross McCausland though, numbers are what attacking players will always be judged on, regardless of how old they are.
Lyall, like McCausland, just hasn’t done enough.
