A fair number of Rangers fans are a bit upset at the exit of Findlay Curtis to Kilmarnock. The Auchinhowie graduate started to eke his way into the first team earlier this season and gathered praise for some of his displays. He then faded from the first team under Danny Rohl. The youngster was scoring a few goals in Europe and domestically. However he had not managed to impress enough to become a regular.
Curtis early promise and fading impact
Curtis is a reasonable talent but it was summed up by one or two fans praising his display against Annan. Annan are the fourth worst team in professional Scottish football. It is not exactly an accurate barometer to praise any player against a team that amount to little more than a training ground exercise.
That all said we are sure that Curtis does have some talent and some quality. Rangers fans have been eager to see him play and are disappointed to see him leave on loan to Kilmarnock.
Pressure move to Kilmarnock
He will of course be under two fine bears in Billy Dodds and Neil McCann. They are charged with the task of saving Killie from relegation. It is in fact a rather high pressure gig that Finlay Curtis is going to be under. He has to help keep this team from going down to the Championship.
However it is a decision that Ibrox Noise agrees with. In all honesty Curtis never really stood out for us. He was what we would call a standard youth graduate.
The wider youth system reality
We have had so many that have been at that kind of level. Alex Lowry Kai Kennedy and many many others flattered to deceive a little. They then ended up absolutely nowhere for the rest of their careers. We are pretty sure that Kai Kennedy is at York City of all teams.
The point is that the majority of the youth that graduate through Rangers systems are not great. That is the same for most youth systems. The better youth systems will have a minority who not only break into the first team. They then become major players there.
An example of course of that would be over there with Callum McGregor. At Ibrox naturally there are your Barry Fergusons and Alan McGregors. There are one or two others over the years as well.
Why Curtis and Cameron moved on
Curtis was nowhere near that level. If he was he would not be going to Kilmarnock. He would be shining at Rangers. He has been decent. We cannot say much more than that. Danny Rohl’s judgment is one we would have to agree with on this occasion.
Curtis will have a decent level at Kilmarnock. It probably is around about his level just like his former teammate. By former teammate we of course mean Lyall Cameron. He is the other quote unquote youngster that Rangers were pining for.
The problem here is that Cameron is not a youngster. He is 23. This is in football terms a bit of an older player now. This is not a youth graduate by any manner of means.
While he achieved Man of the Match against Raith Rovers it was Raith Rovers. Raith Rovers are not exactly Real Madrid. It is the same again with Curtis being praised for a performance against a minnow.
Rangers level versus decent players
This is the stuff that you cannot judge Rangers on. You judge Rangers on the results against the big teams. Danny Rohl has been doing quite well there overall. However neither Cameron nor Curtis have had a look in during these matches.
This is why these two have gone. They are not bad players. However they are not Rangers level players. There is a distinct difference between Rangers level and the majority of the youth players who come through.
We wish Curtis the very best as we do Cameron. We do not like criticising our players. At the end of the day some players just are not good enough.
We cannot say that Curtis or Cameron struck us as being good enough for the Rangers that we want to be. These are decisions that we do agree with, despite the disappointment some fans have voiced.