It’s been over 15 years since Rangers had a genuinely exciting academy striker establish themselves in the first-team squad but there have been signs this season that we might not have to wait much longer for another.
Ross McCormack was the fresh faced teenager who broke into a team that had players of the quality of Kris Boyd, Dado Prso, Shota Arveladze, Nacho Novo and Peter Lovenkrands available and yet he was still given an opportunity by Alex McLeish to show what he was capable of.
Ultimately, he knew that he wasn’t going to get the game time that he needed to develop and left for Motherwell where goals would be a common occurrence, that he then spent several seasons as one of the English Championships most prolific strikers demonstrated that he was justified in his decision, but it was always a case of “what might have been” at Ibrox.
Since then there has been little to shout about in terms of out-and-out strikers, but Chris McKee, the 18-year old Northern Ireland youth international is showing the sort of form that could finally end the barren run for academy forwards.
The former Linfield youngster joined the Light Blues in the summer of 2018 and with eight goals for the “B” team this season – mainly against senior opposition – he could soon earn the same privileges afforded to the likes of Nathan Patterson and Leon King in earning a promotion to first-team training under the watchful eye of Steven Gerrard.
That the gaffer’s right-hand man, Michael Beale, watched the “B” team’s 3-1 win over Brechin City won’t have done his chances any harm at all; Rangers history is littered with “home-grown” defenders, midfielders, wingers and even the odd goalkeeper but strikers are a rarity and to have “one of our own” scoring match winning goals on a regular basis would be a sight worth waiting for – no pressure Chris!