Kris Boyd lets rip at Kevin Thelwell: ‘Rangers academy players paid more than Lawrence Shankland’
Kris Boyd was hugely critical of Kevin Thelwell’s decision not to pursue Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland in the summer transfer window.
Following Kevin Thelwell’s sacking on Monday, all of his mistakes at Rangers are being dissected in depth.
Shankland’s double against Rangers gave Hearts a first win at Ibrox since 2014 on 13 September, and it was a painful reminder that he was available for the Bears to sign.
Shankland was linked with Rangers over a potential summer move, but Thelwell pushed forward with other options on much more expensive deals.
The signings of Bojan Miovski and Youssef Chermiti haven’t gone down well, and Boyd believes Rangers have suffered from not having experienced Scottish players in the spine of their team.
Kris Boyd rues missed opportunity for Rangers to sign Lawrence Shankland
Shankland is flying in the Scottish Premiership this season, and he is spearheading Hearts’ title charge.
Speaking on The Warm-Up podcast on 24 November, Boyd believes that the Rangers board has grossly misunderstood the need for Scottish players in the squad, using Shankland as a perfect example.
He said: “Rangers don’t seem to have Scottish players who know exactly what it means to play for the club. There have been countless Scottish players who have been available and deemed not good enough to play for Rangers.
“There were probably players in the academy who were getting paid more than Shankland. They’ve turned their nose up at him, and it’s massively backfired.”
| Stat | Shankland |
| Appearances | 153 |
| Goals | 78 |
| Assists | 22 |
The 30-year-old scored the second goal in Scotland’s 4-2 win over Denmark on 18 November, and he looks nailed on to make the 2026 World Cup squad.
Rangers do have eight Scottish players in their first team, although none of them have risen to become prominent leaders who can be counted on.
It shows that there is a huge gap in the squad that must be addressed if Danny Rohl wants to take the team one step further.
Why have Rangers’ Scottish players underperformed this season?
Thelwell’s spree of signing unproven talents from abroad could not have gone worse, as Rangers made their worst start to a league season in 57 years under Russell Martin.
John Souttar has been criticised for his poor performances this season, looking particularly out of depth in the defeat to Roma.
Connor Barron is developing into a brilliant midfielder at this level, although at the age of 23, he still has a lot to learn.
Findlay Curtis, Lyall Cameron, and Bailey Rice are all promising talents, but they haven’t been called upon frequently at all.
With Liam Kelly also playing the role of a backup goalkeeper, we haven’t seen a Scottish player leading Rangers by example, and Shankland could have been the perfect remedy for this.
Enjoyed this article? Stay connected with all the latest news, updates, and behind-the-scenes content by following us on our new Instagram account – @ibroxnews247