Rangers made a few strange decisions in the summer and one of them was letting a proven Premiership quality defender in Lewis Mayo leave whilst signing Leon Balogun again.
It was the latest in a long line of negligent calls that ultimately saw Gers boss Philippe Clement without a left back in his imbalanced squad for a key Europa League tie with Sparta Prague.
There is a snobbery surrounding youth players but Rangers need to accept that they need to form part of the squad and Lewis Mayo is proving that he is more than good enough with Derek McInnes backing his international aspirations via PLZ Soccer.
Rangers need to start trusting players like Lewis Mayo
Capable of playing either as a defensive midfielder or at the heart of defence, Mayo’s main strength has always been his ability on the ball.
To rub salt into the wounds, the 23-year old was outstanding on the opening day of the league campaign where he strolled through a 1-0 win against his former side.
Would I want Rangers to rely on Lewis Mayo week in, week out?
Probably not, he’s not quite at that level yet.
But, then again, few expected Scott Wilson to pocket peak Patrick Kluivert on his debut at Ibrox in a Champions League game either.
You never truly know what academy players are capable of until they are given a chance in the first team with the regular starters.
For example, Jack Simpson. Did Steven Gerrard really need to sign him with Mayo and Leon King coming through?
Speaking ahead of this week’s fixtures, Kilmarnock boss McIness is clearly impressed with the former Rangers youngster and has backed Lewis Mayo for the top:
“I think he will, I think he will play for Scotland, I’m pretty sure he will.
“I actually think, if circumstances allow and maybe injuries or whatever, he could more than hold his own in the international level set up.
“He’s been right through, I think he’s got as many Under-21 caps as any young player.
“I think he can play, absolutely.
“The plan for Lewis is to get in that Scotland squad as soon as he can.”
Mayo could have saved Rangers money
The only quality that Mayo ever really seemed to lack was pace, he isn’t slow but he has had to work at his positioning to compensate for this, similar to Filip Helander, but his development has been impressive.
Mayo is almost the same age as Dujon Sterling, who has hardly played this season after a transfer that made little sense.
All it has done is block Adam Devine and see a talented, home grown player be allowed to leave.
Rangers already had a versatile defender in Lewis Mayo, Dujon Sterling wasn’t needed other than because the manager at the time knew him from when he was younger.
Hardly how an effective player trading model should be operating.
