According to Chris Jack, Alex Lowry and Leon King will not be able to join the first team going forward, so they will need to depart the Rangers soon. Speaking on October 11, during the Rangers Review Morning Briefing, he said the two homegrown players belong to a “lost” generation of Gers talent that the team will no longer be able to use.
He also questioned whether players from the next generation, such as Bailey Rice and Zak Lovelace, are following in the same footsteps.
Jack also stated that Adam Devine would probably be leaving the Light Blues sooner rather than later because the team has not been able to secure a return from a number of young players who were highly anticipated. “We’ve seen with the likes of Lowry and King, it’s not worked out for them, they will have to move on,” Jack remarked (22 minutes and 10 seconds).
They won’t be starting players for the Rangers. “That generation, which includes people like Adam Devine, is practically extinct, and Ranger will not benefit from anything from that generation.
“They cannot afford for the next one to end in the same way. You consider Lovelace and Rice to be the two most well-known ones. Set to leave the Rangers are Alex Lowry and Leon King. The dearth of quality coming through the academy has been a contributing factor to the decline in Ibrox standards for some time.
Lowry, 21, looked like he might have a last chance to establish himself heading into this season with the field clearing ahead of him, but he was seemingly bombed out of contention after the pre-season loss at Birmingham and has been stuck in the B Team ever since.
Despite scoring a “simply ridiculous” goal for the reserves [4 Lads Had A Dream, 14 August] there has been no hint of the manager giving him a chance, and with £3.4million spent on Nedim Bajrami [Sky Sports, 30 August] plus Ianis Hagi’s own exile ending in the weeks since there looks to be no way in for Lowry.
With 37 first-team appearances under his belt, King, 20, is definitely way down Clement’s pecking order since he isn’t even currently making the bench. His only starts came towards the end of the previous season. Devine, 21, has very little chance if Dujon Sterling has found it difficult to get a look at right-back past James Tavernier.
The fact that homegrown players are typically only brought in as a last resort during an injury crisis without any clear plan to develop them hasn’t helped the situation in recent seasons, nor has the succession of management.
Although Rice and Lovelace still have some time on their hands—both are 18—the fact that they have combined for just seven first-team outings doesn’t bode well. Furthermore, Rice’s predicament is made even more obvious by the inevitable comparisons to his former Motherwell teammate Lennon Miller, who played 50 games under Stuart Kettlewell and is currently a highly sought-after target for the Gers [Open Goal, 26 September].
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