RANGERS CONFIDENTIAL: Why Tom Lawrence’s Ibrox future appears to be like short-lived, goalscoring wonderkid will get promotion to first workforce and the weird case of the duplicate package you possibly can’t purchase
Tom Lawrence will be out of contract at Rangers next summer and, as things stand, the club have shown no inclination to extend his deal.
Lawrence is currently out of action for up to six weeks due to an injury he suffered in the League Cup semi-final win over Motherwell.
He has scored some important goals for Rangers this season and is clearly the preferred option at No 10 in Philippe Clement’s 4-2-3-1 system.
But, quite simply, he could be deemed to be too injury-prone to be offered a new deal, having missed a huge amount of football since arriving at Rangers just over two years ago.
Lawrence will turn 31 in January. He is an international midfielder with Wales but his time at Ibrox has seen him spend far too much time in the treatment room.
Tom Lawrence will be out of contract at Ibrox at the end of the season and at the moment the club have no inclination to extend his stay
He suffered another injury setback in the League Cup clash with Motherwell and will be out for up to six weeks
He will be on a decent wage as well. The smart money would be on Rangers cutting their losses next summer on a player whose injury record is too significant to overlook.
Academy prospect looks to sparkle with the first team
With more than 50 goals to his name over the past two-and-a-half seasons, there is a growing clamour among Rangers supporters to see B team sensation Findlay Curtis earn a call-up to the first-team squad.
And it is crystal clear that the 18-year-old is just as eager to get his chance at turning the club’s fortunes around after a disappointing start to their Premiership campaign.
Curtis has been connected to Rangers since the age of six and has been very much on manager Philippe Clement’s radar since pre-season, when he travelled with the first team to their training camp in the Netherlands and took part in some of the summer friendlies.
It is understood he has had further involvement with Clement’s side in training at Auchenhowie. And his performances in the B team have been watched by the Belgian in recent weeks.
Curtis, who can play central midfield, has been tried in some unfamiliar positions this season, on both the left and right sides of attack.
He admits he has been working hard on parts of his game that he hopes will catch the manager’s eye and win his confidence.
‘You see it with the first team, how the manager talks about wingers getting in behind, getting in at the back post and scoring goals, so that is what I am trying to do,’ said the youngster. ‘Hopefully, he recognises that.’
Youngster Findlay Curtis has more than 50 goals to his name in two-and-a-half seasons
His performances with the B team have been watched by boss Philippe Clement of late
Speaking to the Ibrox club’s in-house TV channel, Rangers B coach Malky Thomson praised the teenager’s personality as well as his goalscoring prowess.
‘He’s an enthusiastic character,’ said Thomson. ‘He’s a fun person to be round about.
‘He plays the game with an enthusiasm and I think you can see it. He always gets a chance in any game he plays.’
Gerrard ally returns to Ibrox
Former Rangers kitman Jim McAlister returned to Ibrox for Sunday’s 1-0 win over Hearts – the first time he’d been back since winning his unfair dismissal case.
The former Morton, Dundee and Blackpool star was a key figure in Steven Gerrard’s backroom team.
Promoted to chief kitman after the sudden death of Jimmy Bell in 2022, the 39-year-old was ‘devastated’ when he lost his role.
Despite moving to rejoin Gerrard in Saudi Arabia, McAlister took his Rangers departure to an employment tribunal, which found that his claim was ‘well founded.’
Rangers were ordered to pay £8,727 in compensation and a further £1,572 for breach of contract within 28 days. The club were also told to pay out an additional £2,575 when they were found to have ‘unreasonably failed to comply’ with disciplinary and grievance procedures.
The case was settled in January with McAlister pictured on Instagram, posing alongside Rangers defender Leon Balogun in the Blue Room at Ibrox.
Jim McAlister was a key member of Steven Gerrard’s backroom staff and moved to rejoin the Liverpool legend in Saudi Arabia
No need for Rangers’ ‘heritage’ strip
When is a replica strip not a replica strip? Probably when you cannot buy it in the shops.
Take the case of the new goalkeeping shirt recently modelled by Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland.
The outfield version of the ‘125 Heritage Collection’ – designed to commemorate 125 years at Ibrox – is apparently flying off the shelves. The long-sleeved blue shirt has already sold out on the club’s website.
Unveiling the kit, the club said: ‘Celebrate 125 years of history at Ibrox with the Rangers Ibrox 125 Kit – a tribute to the stadium that has witnessed so many of the club’s greatest moments.
‘This special collection honours the legacy of our home by blending timeless design with modern performance.’
Curiously, though, there is no means of purchasing the yellow goalkeeping kit which the former England goalkeeper was recently pictured in. The club have confirmed they won’t be retailing it.
You might then legitimately ask: what’s the point of it?
There is no way of purchasing the yellow goalkeeping kit which Jack Butland was recently pictured in
Clement’s clever call
Philippe Clement’s pressing need to lower both the wage bill and the average age of his squad saw him part with some vastly experienced figures in the summer.
After joining from Osijek, Borna Barisic played 236 times for Rangers over six years.
John Lundstram managed 152 games over three years after signing from Sheffield United.
Both were part of the side which faced Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 Europa League final and were undoubtedly assets for the club until they had too many miles on the clock.
Now the wrong side of 30, they are at Trabzonspor in Turkey and it’s fair to say they have yet to make much of an impression.
Lundstram has at least featured at some point in each of his new club’s 17 matches. But his former Ibrox team-mate has only been given a run out in 10 of those.
While the pair cannot take all the blame for their new club winning just four times in that dismal sequence, their impact has been negligible.
Some of the big personnel calls Clement has made this season have been questionable. He got those ones spot on.
Borna Barisic played 236 times for Rangers before joining Trabzonspor in the summer window
Phillippe’s Athens snafu
It’s fair to say that Rangers’ display against Olympiakos last week impressed local reporters more than Philippe Clement’s performance in the media room.
The fact that the Ibrox manager wasn’t due to conduct his pre-match press conference until 7.45pm on Wednesday didn’t go down too well with the scribes in Piraeus.
So you can imagine how they felt when word reached them that Clement wouldn’t even make the appointed hour because the team had taken longer than expected to clear passport control and were now stuck in traffic.
While Rangers’ performance in Athens last week was impressive, the same cannot be said for Clement’s display in the media room
As anyone who has been to Athens will tell you, heavy traffic is not exactly a new thing.
The first question was finally put to Clement at 8.51pm local time. He fielded a number of inquiries, ranging from team news and his side’s form to injuries and the challenge posed by Olympiakos.
Rising to his feet after 15 minutes, the Belgian bizarrely claimed that he hoped he could have spoken more about football when, in fact, that’s all he was asked about.
Let’s just say that if Olympiakos ever part company with Jose Luis Mendilibar, Clement won’t have too many pushing his case in the Greek media.
