You're arguing against a point nobody is actually making. I'm not saying we should be matching Rangers or anyone else's offers. I'm saying that if, AT THE START OF THE SEASON,we had offered him wages in line with his status as one of our better prospects, with the promise of first team money once he broke through then I'm pretty confident he'd have signed.
I don't expect us to keep first team players or get into bidding wars with the Old Firm, but I doubt there was much competition for Hastie and Turnbull's signatures when they were unheard of teenagers with no top flight experience.