RANGERS great Bobby Russell has admitted he has been disappointed at the number of Scottish players who have represented the Ibrox side in recent seasons - and would like to see a home-grown spine going forward.
Glasgow-born Russell played with countrymen like Jim Bett, Davie Cooper, Sandy Jardine, Derek Johnstone, Alex MacDonald, Tommy McLean and Derek Parlane during the 10 years that he spent in the first team in Govan and lifted every domestic honour in the game with their help.
But he has been struck by how few footballers from his homeland have donned a light blue jersey in modern times – Connor Barron, Robbie Fraser, John Souttar and Scott Wright are the only ones to do so in the 2024/25 campaign.
The ex-midfielder feels that Philippe Clement could boost his team’s prospects of landing domestic silverware and excelling in Europe if more of his charges hailed from this country.
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“I looked at the Rangers squad last season,” he said. “It was made up of 30 players and 22 of them were non-Scots. And three of the Scots who were there were goalkeepers. That speaks volumes.
“It is not just Rangers and Celtic where that is the case of course, it is the case in England as well. There are precious few English players in the Manchester City side. These teams are all full of foreign players now.
“The problem is that the manager is under so much pressure to win games that he can’t experiment. If a kid has got potential then he could throw him in, but it is all about getting results.
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“The only Scot in the Rangers starting line-up at the weekend was John Souttar. If the team is winning then supporters don’t really care who is playing for them, if they are Scottish, English or whatever.
“But, being an old dinosaur, I like to see Scots in Scottish sides. I look back to the Rangers, Celtic and Aberdeen teams which won European trophies. They were all-Scottish sides. When Dundee United got to a European final, they were an all-Scottish team as well.
“I am not decrying the foreign players, but you need four, five, six Scots in the Rangers team as far as I am concerned.”
