I’m not a great believer in the use of the loan system in Scottish football, in my life time alone the figures speak for themselves in terms of how many youngsters have left Rangers to get games and then come back and make an impact in the first-team – the ones who make it are usually given their debuts and stay there.
For Lewis Mayo, he is on a similar path to Stephen Kelly in that he is clearly a talented player and, so far, couldn’t have done much more when he has been away from the club, earning a place in the Championship team of the year justifying a step up in levels with Kilmarnock this season.
Personally, given the number of centre-halves we have and because of the emergence of Leon King, I thought that Mayo’s time at Rangers might be coming to an end, however, an extension to his contract and the chance to impress against Scottish Premiership opposition could see him return as a genuine option if he does well.
He might not be able to oust the likes of Connor Goldson, Calvin Bassey or John Soutar but there is no reason why he can’t force his way into Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s long-term plans and, if he does, it could well be our vice-captain that has played a key role as explained by the Scotland Under-21 international to The Daily Record:
“One thing Connor always said to me was that you had to have a robust mentality.
“You have to accept that you will make mistakes.
“If you are a centre-half or a goalkeeper there are consequences when you make mistakes. If you want to succeed then you need to be able to handle it and look past it very quickly.
“It is all about getting experience of playing games and learning from your mistakes.”
Out of the current squad members, Mayo should be ahead of Nikola Katic and Jack Simpson in the pecking order, his home grown status is also a big advantage, the other factor is that Filip Helander is out of contract next summer and if he can’t manage to put together 40-50 games then I simply can’t see it making any sense to offer him a new deal regardless of how good a defender he is on his day.
A good season at Kilmarnock and there is no reason why Mayo, who is equally as comfortable as a defensive midfielder, shouldn’t be given the chance to buck the trend and become a successful loan Ranger.