Murray Park???

[andy steel 0]

Plus, as someone pointed out above, we are having to make do with the players the English clubs - down to div 4 level, probably - don't snap up. Anyone waiting for Messi coming out of Murray Park is liable to be disappointed. Anyone looking for some decent players we can make money on, and hopefully, every five years or so, a special talent, might be happier.

[Tumshie RFC 0]

The difference is the youngsters are getting a chance now. The fact they didn't used to infuriate me e.g playing players out of position when there is a youngster there who would do a better job. I think the crowd at Ibrox now are more willing to give them a chance due to the situation we are in as well. Everyone knows that the kids are the way to go.

 

I'm hoping that this is a watershed moment for the club and even when we are back in the top division we can keep blooding 1 or 2 youngsters a season. It's the only way a club like Rangers will be able to compete at the top level in Europe.

[calscot 0]

The current situation has forced the manager to show faith in the youths....and IMHO, he's been well rewarded!!!

 

I would say that's debatable. Three away draws and a penalty shootout loss have had fans calling for the manager's head! I think it's fair to say that the results would have been better had we signed some of the usual top class, experienced pros. Hardly rewarding.

 

To be honest I think people overplay how good youngsters are for two main reasons - firstly they give them a break for their mistakes and bad games, and secondly they don't talk about how good the player is now, they talk about how good they could, "potentially" be.

 

Funny how that doesn't apply to a youngish, new manager...

[calscot 0]

I'm hoping that this is a watershed moment for the club and even when we are back in the top division we can keep blooding 1 or 2 youngsters a season.

 

I can't remember a season in my lifetime when we haven't done that...

[Darthter 542]

I would say that's debatable. Three away draws and a penalty shootout loss have had fans calling for the manager's head! I think it's fair to say that the results would have been better had we signed some of the usual top class, experienced pros. Hardly rewarding.

 

Those poor performances haven't been the fault solely of the youngsters.....the experienced players in the squad have also failed big time on those occasions. Who's to say that is the squad had been filled with more experienced players, the results would have been any different???

 

IMHO, the manager has had to call on the youth ranks, and in some cases they have come in & performed better than the "old heads". Take Sandaza for instance....he's hardly been banging in the goals, or even lining up multiple chances. Same goes for Kevin Kyle. Dean Shiels performances have also been a bit up & down - all 3 are seasoned SPL players.

[Tumshie RFC 0]

I can't remember a season in my lifetime when we haven't done that...

 

Yeah we see them for a couple of games at the end of the season and they barely get their chance the following season. Happened constantly under Walter. It was his only fault as manager.

 

I don't have a problem with us signing players who will go straight into the team. My pet hate though is seeing average players coming into bolster the squad and depriving a youngster of his chance.

[calscot 0]

I'm not blaming the youngsters but in the games we have not played well, they have also not played that well. Would more experienced players have played as badly? Maybe but I believe many of the teams of the past where we bought players instead of bringing in youth would have done better. Who is to say that the experienced players wouldn't have played better if given service from top class, experienced players - Laudrup, Gazza, McCall, Durrant, De Boer etc and backed up in defence by the likes of Gough, Butcher, Berg, Amoruso, Moore, Numan etc?

 

But you can't talk about the increase of kids in the team, have the manager's head called for, and say it's an unequivocal success.

 

We cannot know how other players would have played but the fact is we have people saying this is the worst Rangers team they have ever seen (and what do they expect when you go bust and start in the lowest division?) and coincidentally or possibly not, we have the most kids playing since I remember.

 

Promising kids are always exciting and I'm enjoying it, but you won't see many top clubs full of them. If it was a model to follow, Man U would be doing it every few seasons, they've done it once and actually only had ONE teenager - who didn't always play.

 

The point is that when we're trying to be champions of Scotland and do well in Europe, just how good are your home grown kids going to be for a long, long season?

 

To be a teenager who gets into say a Hibs team, you have to be say in the top 20% in Scotland, to be good enough for Rangers and be better than Celtic you have to be say top 2.5%. Just what are the chances that some of that 2.5% are already in our ranks out of 42 senior sides? Remember we're talking top 2.5% of ALL players not just the youngsters. You have to already be better than most other players in Scotland outside the Old Firm.

 

So even if you have the talent the pressure on you is enormous with fans baying for your gaffers head after a couple of draws or a single loss.

 

Hibs, who have less pressure and less money, have probably introduced and produced the most consistent crop of top youngsters in the past decade - look at their success. We've mostly brought players in from outside, as have Celtic - look at the success of the OF.

 

While we are in Div three the kids don't have to be of the same standard to be able to go out into Europe and say defend against Messi. We also have less money and a transfer embargo so the kids WILL get a chance. That may be interesting and exciting but it's not going to work when we're back up at the top and in Europe and I really don't think you can implicitly criticise managers of the past for not doing so just because we have had one good win.

 

I'm enjoying the energy and enthusiasm from the kids and freshness they bring, but I'm not going to be myopic about it or ageist or into the mindset that they are the only one's who can bring success - when all the evidence points to the opposite.

Edited September 27, 2012 by calscot

[simplythebest 0]

We have top class very expensive facilities for youth developement, people are going to think 'what's the point' when there seems to be very little coming out.

 

Also in a situation where we've been at rock bottom financially and are still recovering in that sense youth is something we really need to try and use, we cannot just go back to throwing silly money at the playing squad again, including when we're back in the top flight.

[andy steel 0]

Calscot, do you fancy sticking an explanatory paragraph on your post above and sticking it in the writers' forum? Excellent post which deserves a wider audience.

[jaymac 0]

Agree we should not get carried away but all of these young guys, so far, look confident and comfortable on the ball and while form as a team has been a bit patchy, we are still developing as a team. But if these young guys develop over the next 3/4 years we will have an incredibly experienced team of 19/20 year olds. How great would that be, and I was as bad as anyone whinging about Auchenhowie and the lack of product.