RANGERS CONFIDENTIAL: Why Tom Lawrence’s Ibrox future looks short-lived, goalscoring wonderkid gets promotion to first team and the bizarre case of the replica kit you can’t buy

Tom Lawrence is out of contract with Rangers next summer and as things stand the club have shown no inclination whatsoever to extend his contract.

Lawrence is currently out for six weeks due to an injury he suffered in the League Cup semi-final against Motherwell.

He has scored a number of important goals for Rangers this season and is clearly the preferred option at number 10 in Philippe Clement’s 4-2-3-1 system.

But it can simply be assumed that he is too injury-prone to be offered a new contract, having missed a huge amount of football since joining Rangers just over two years ago.

Lawrence turns 31 in January. He is an international midfielder for Wales, but his time at Ibrox has seen him spend far too much time in the treatment room.

He suffered another injury during the League Cup match with Motherwell and will be out for up to six weeks

He will also get a decent wage. The smart money would be for Rangers to cut their losses next summer on a player whose injury record is too great to overlook.

Academy prospect seems to shine in the first team

With over fifty goals to his name in the past two and a half seasons, calls are growing among Rangers supporters to see B team sensation Findlay Curtis earn a call-up to the first team.

And it is abundantly clear that the 18-year-old is equally keen to seize his chance to turn around the club’s fortunes after a disappointing start to their Premiership campaign.

Curtis has been with Rangers since the age of six and has been on manager Philippe Clement’s radar since pre-season, when he traveled with the first team to their training camp in the Netherlands and took part in some summer friendlies.

It is understood he has had further involvement with Clement’s squad during training at Auchenhowie. And his performances in the B team have been watched by the Belgian in recent weeks.

Curtis, who can play in central midfield, has been tried in a number of unfamiliar positions this season, both on the left and right of attack.

He admits he has worked hard on areas of his game that he hopes will catch the manager’s attention and earn his trust.

“You see it in the first team, how the manager talks about wingers coming in at the back, getting in the back and scoring goals, so that’s what I’m trying to do,” the youngster said. “Hopefully he recognizes that.”

Youngster Findlay Curtis has more than fifty goals to his name in two and a half seasons

His performances with the B team have been watched by boss Philippe Clement in recent times

Speaking to the Ibrox club’s own TV channel, Rangers B coach Malky Thomson praised the teenager’s personality as well as his goal-scoring ability.

“He’s an enthusiastic character,” Thomson said. ‘He’s a fun person to be around.

‘He plays the game with enthusiasm and I think you can see that. He always gets a chance in any game.”

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 has 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 following the sudden death of Jimmy Bell in 2022, the 39-year-old was ‘devastated’ when he lost his role.

Despite wanting to rejoin Gerrard in Saudi Arabia, McAlister took his departure to Rangers before an employment tribunal, which ruled his claim was ‘substantiated’.

Rangers were ordered to pay £8,727 in damages and a further £1,572 within 28 days for breach of contract. The club was also told to pay an additional £2,575 when it was found to have ‘unreasonably failed’ to comply with disciplinary and grievance procedures.

The case was settled in January when McAlister took to Instagram to pose 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 the Rangers ‘heritage’ strip

When is a replica strip not a replica strip? Probably if you can’t buy it in stores.

Take the case of the new goalkeeper shirt recently designed by Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland.

The outfield version of the ‘125 Heritage Collection’ – designed to commemorate 125 years of Ibrox – is apparently flying off the shelves. The blue long-sleeved shirt is 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 honors our house’s heritage by combining timeless design with modern performance.’

Strangely enough, however, there is no option to purchase the yellow goalkeeper kit in which the former England goalkeeper was recently pictured. The club have confirmed they will not be selling it in store.

You can rightly ask yourself: what’s the point?

There is no way to buy the yellow goalkeeper kit that Jack Butland was recently pictured in

Clement’s smart decision

Philippe Clement’s urgent need to reduce both wage costs and the average age of his squad saw him part ways with a number of highly experienced figures this summer.

After Osijek’s move, Borna Barisic made 236 appearances for Rangers in six years.

John Lundstram made 152 appearances in three years after signing for Sheffield United.

Both were part of the squad that faced Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2022 Europa League final and were undoubtedly an asset to the club until they ran out of miles.

They are now the wrong side of 30, playing for Trabzonspor in Turkey and it’s fair to say they haven’t made much of an impression yet.

Lundstram has featured in at least each of his new club’s 17 games. But his former Ibrox teammate only managed a run-out in 10 of them.

While the pair cannot take all the blame for their new club winning just four times in that dismal run, their impact has been negligible.

Some of the big personnel calls Clement has made this season have been questionable. He got it right into place.

Borna Barisic made 236 appearances for Rangers before joining Trabzonspor in the summer

Phillippe’s Athens snafu

It’s fair to say that Rangers’ performance against Olympiakos last week impressed local reporters more than Philippe Clement’s performance in the media room.

The fact that the Ibrox manager would not hold his pre-match press conference until 7.45pm on Wednesday did not 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 it to the agreed time, as the team had taken longer than expected to get through 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 performance in the media room

As anyone who has been to Athens will tell you, heavy traffic is not exactly something new.

The first question was finally asked to Clement at 8:51 PM local time. He answered a number of questions, ranging from team news and the form of his side to injuries and the Olympiakos challenge.

After fifteen minutes the Belgian stood up and bizarrely claimed that he hoped he could have talked more about football, when in fact that was all he was asked about.

Let’s just say that if Olympiakos ever part ways with Jose Luis Mendilibar, Clement won’t have many people pushing his case in the Greek media.