Rangers have fallen badly short with Scottish talent | OneFootball

Whatever anyone thinks of the Scottish national side and their qualification to USA, there’s no getting away from the lack of Rangers in there. Rangers players for Scotland just aren’t there.

Once upon a time the NT was filled with McGregor, Weir, Whittaker, Ferguson, Thomson, Boyd, Naismith, Miller and frankly others too like Broadfoot.

Managers

It was of course managed by the likes of Smith, McLeish, and going further back, Brown, Roxburgh and that wee German most folk have forgotten about.

The point was there was plenty of Rangers in it, just as there was a good helping of Celtic too.

Today Rangers’ presence in the NT is negligible. John Souttar is the only real player Rangers have in the NT setup, with Liam Kelly and Connor Barron reduced to bystanders.

Reasons

And why is this?

Because Rangers aren’t producing or even signing quality Scottish talent any more.

Even in Rangers’ first team Souttar is the only Scot. It’s a pretty damning and depressing stat, with Barron in and out, Kelly on the bench, and Lyall Cameron completely out of favour under Danny Rohl.

Unless we’ve missed someone that’s it.

And no, we’ve not forgotten Wright, Rice and Curtis, they’re as negligible as Cameron at the moment.

This is it, this is our lot.

Scotland XI

The Scotland team who made it to America only had two SPL Scots in its XI – Hanley and Gordon. The entire matchday squad barely had more, a couple of Celtic players and a Hearts man.

It had just 3 Rangers players, Souttar of course injured in the warm up.

Rangers (and Celtic) simply do not have enough talented Scottish players, and of course a major reason is the best players in Scotland move to better leagues.

Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour, Josh Doig, Calvin Ramsay and Nathan Patterson. They all moved elsewhere and the SPL is left with the surplus.

Producing talent

Rangers no longer hold onto our best talent, and sadly, don’t seem to produce much either.

And don’t sign very much from the rest of the division either. Shankland being a prime example.

Scotland don’t care – they’re off to the world cup with or without Rangers (and Celtic).

But from a Rangers point of view we do miss the days when we had plenty in the NT and in our Ibrox first team. Rangers players for Scotland is gone.

But that’s just the way it is now.