Rangers B team took their first steps towards regular senior football in the Lowland League when they played Edinburgh City on Saturday afternoon with one shock addition to the starting line up for the 1-0 defeat.
The team consisted mainly of Under-18 players, however, first-team squad member Jake Hastie was also included, a sure sign that his days at Ibrox are numbered, especially when you consider he failed to make any sort of positive impact.
The 22-year old was signed from Motherwell with the hope that he would add to Rangers forward line through his direct running style and ability to shoot on sight, but it simply hasn’t worked out like that.
He had limited experience before signing for Rangers and his subsequent loan spells to get him more game time have done little to suggest that he is ever going to be good enough to play regularly for Steven Gerrard.
The recruitment team isn’t going to get it right every time and on a free transfer – with a small development fee – there was nothing wrong with taking a punt on a player that had scored six goals in 12 games in the Premiership, the fact that he is tall, powerful and quick made him look like a real prospect.
Hastie will have to take a step back, regain his confidence and go again if he is to find his way back to the top of Scottish football and not become another statistic joining the catalogue of promising Scots to fall by the way side.