By George Overhill

26th May, 2023 | 9:00pm

Rangers transfer news: Andy Walker accuses fans over Alex Lowry, Leon King and Adam Devine in 'spend, spend, spend' verdict

Rangers fans “don’t want to see the Scottish” players and instead want the club to “spend, spend, spend” according to Andy Walker.

The Gers are at the start of a major rebuild of the side under Michael Beale to close the gap on Celtic, and haven’t had many breakthroughs from the academy of late.

But while Leon King featured during injury crises earlier in the season and Adam Devine got a run when the manager first came in, Walker claims supporters tell him they aren’t interested in the home-grown youngsters, including Alex Lowry.

The Sky Sports pundit said on Go Radio, as per Football Scotland: “I love it when a young player gets an opportunity and you’ve seen that at Rangers recently with Leon King. I thought he played well at the weekend against Hibs, he was good in patches [against Hearts].

“But you speak to Rangers supporters and they don’t want him to start next season. They want an experienced, recognised, maybe even an international centre-back.

“And they all love to see Alex Lowry coming on and Adam Devine on the bench and others. But when you talk to Rangers supporters about next season, they don’t want to see the Scottish players.

“They want Rangers to spend, spend, spend. It’s really tough for Scottish players to get chances they’re getting now at the start of the season when games really matter.”

Balance

Fans ultimately want to win and unless you are sitting on the sort of academy class that Pep Guardiola had at Barcelona you are usually going to struggle to do that without signings on top.

King is the only one who has had any real sustained action in the first team and it came in less than ideal circumstances, during a time when the side was seriously struggling.

If he and others could be brought in gradually to a team that is already functioning well then it would aid their development and lessen the pressure.

And considering the amount of players who are leaving, as well as the gap to Celtic already, it is simply unrealistic to expect to mount a real challenge next year with academy players so quality signings need to be made.

That doesn’t mean fans don’t want to see Scottish players, they just want them brought through in a sustainable manner while the team is competing.

Granted, supporters sometimes have little patience if players don’t adapt immediately which can be all the more of a challenge for a youngster, but academy products and big name signings should both work in tandem at a club like Rangers.

And with the season ending empty-handed it is clear that neither has been managed successfully enough, so there is a big job on now to make up for lost time.

In other Rangers news, a small fee is set to be paid to land another signing with the player’s camp now expecting the deal done soon.