Two Rangers Youngsters To Watch Out For Next Season
The way Rangers won the Championship last season should have been a lesson to their hierarchy; youth is the way to go in Scotland at the moment.
Players like Dominic Ball, Gideon Zalalem, Nathan Oduwa and the emerging Barrie McKay all made big impacts in that division and for the most part, they were forgotten quickly afterwards.
Instead, upon promotion back to the Premiership, they brought in old geezers Senderos, Barton, Kranjcar, and Hill which did not go well. Since then, the emergence of David Bates and Myles Beerman has been good to watch but Rangers have more youngsters in their locker and we may get to see more of them next term.
Here are two of the best who may cause a stir in Scotland’s top division next season:
Ryan Hardie
The young striker from Stranraer has already represented Scotland’s under-21’s and will look to keep progressing at that level. He has spent this season on loan at Raith Rovers where he has netted 13 times in 41 games. In total this season, Hardie has produced a goal or an assist every 157 minutes which is not bad for a player still learning his trade.
Players like Hardie, as mad as it seems, are often better suited to games at the top level than they are to games in the lower divisions. So watch out for him getting the odd cup appearances in the first half of the season depending on who Rangers can entice to Ibrox during the transfer window.
Aidan Wilson
The 18-year-old centre-back’s progression is starting to motor now and after appearances for Scotland’s under-17 side, he got a surprise Premiership debut for Rangers against Aberdeen recently.
That appearance had been coming and with Wilson having been an unused substitute on 4 occasions before that since Pedro Caixinha’s arrive, it seems the Portuguese manager is unafraid to play the younger players. There is no telling yet as to how good Wilson could be, though he’ll have plenty of competition when the new season starts.
Bates is an excellent prospect and it seems Danny Wilson will be retained, with Caixinha also appearing to suggest that he will sign two more centre-backs over the summer. With that in mind, Aidan Wilson will have to be patient after August but it would be no surprise to see him get some chances in the cup competitions and he is just the type of player who’d grab the opportunity with both hands.
