ian1964 10,386 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 ...that youth players were better. 07:51, 30 August 2015 By Gordon Waddell THE former Rangers Head of Youth insists he did a good job at Murray Park but says it wasn't his place to tell managers that a kid was better than an experienced player. IN Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned to a life pushing a giant boulder up a steep mountain, only to have it roll back down every time. A lesson in frustration at the futility of endless effort with no reward. Welcome to the one-time world of Jimmy Sinclair. Where failure is measured on a scale you don’t control and success determined by factors you can’t influence. The ex-Rangers Head of Youth spent eight-and-a-half years at the apex of the Murray Park system, serving managers Paul Le Guen, Walter Smith and Ally McCoist before finally falling victim to their post-liquidation financial frailty in December. Now back in the game as the head of Queen’s Park’s vibrant youth set up after a six-month hiatus, the 58-year-old has spoken for the first time about life under the microscope trying to provide for Rangers’ future, and the pressure and judgments which accompanied it. Despite constant criticism from the stands at the lack of top-team talent emerging, Sinclair insists he can still look himself in the mirror every morning over a job he considers done to the best of his abilities. Asked about the theory of a conveyor belt built to provide a constant supply and a first team brimming with home-reared talent, up against the practice of a squad of senior pros like Lee McCulloch, Dean Shiels, Kris Boyd and average foreign talent’ such as Seb Faure and Marius Zaliukas, he shrugged: “You’re talking about Utopia. “All the points made are valid but I was there, I went to some of the games and watched Coisty on the touchline, and the scoreboard is reading 1-0 to Annan or something like that. “And the heaviness of the place, the expectation, the discontent – who could argue, because there it was. “You have a job to do and I remember Martin Bain saying to me, ‘Jimmy, we’ll expect two players a season’, and I had to stop him and say, ‘Those targets won’t be determined by me’. “I’ll work as hard as I can until you tell me it’s not good enough but I won’t have a view – and I still don’t – on any manager, particularly at Rangers , who decides to play a senior player ahead of a young player. “Because unless you’ve stood there, and I haven’t, thank God, then who am I to say, ‘Gaffer, you need to play the weans.’ “Maybe I should have tried to do things differently, cultivate a relationship with the manager where I could say, ‘I think Tom Walsh can do better than David Templeton’ or whatever but I didn’t. “I saw it as my job to set about producing as good a player as I could for Rangers’ first team. And the managers and coaches were at games and training sessions. In my mind it would be insulting for me to say, ‘Do you not think Walshy could do you a turn?’ “The gaffer will decide for himself if Danny Wilson, Jamie Ness, John Fleck, whoever it might be, is ready. “I understand the mechanics of how it should work – to say we need at least a player a year coming through as it’s part of the fundraising ethos of the club. “That’s great in a boardroom but stand out on the touchline and deal with the sh**e raining down on top of you, with the head of youth sitting at your back, shaking his head? “I don’t see that happening.” Sinclair was well acquainted with various online campaigns questioning his strategy for the club – but only because others made him aware. He sighed: “I stay well away from social media but the criticism filters down. “And it’s frustrating. Tam Wilson used to come and say, ‘Sinky, have you seen this website?’ I’d just look at him and say ‘Tam, why would I do that? It won’t make my day any better, will it?’ “I refused. Why use energy worrying about it? I can also say hand on heart that the parents of kids in the system were great. “But bottom line, the circumstances around the Old Firm are unique. It’s difficult, and it’s always going to be difficult, for me and Chris McCart or whoever occupies the seat at either club. “If there’s a big budget, and there generally always will be, it would take a brave manager to give kids consistent opportunities.” 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,386 Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 Other aspects of the job were just as unique, according to Sinclair. A former educator with a degree in sports psychology, his experience stretches well beyond 40 years in the game and medals in every league outside the top division as a player. But despite trying to prepare his players for every eventuality, he insists there are some things attached to the clubs which will be eye-openers for even the hardiest of souls. He said: “It’s a shame not enough get a chance for various reasons but part of it is dealing with a mentality needed to play for Rangers. “The Glasgow Cup Final at Firhill before I left, for example, was a disgrace – helicopters, seats ripped up, it was just mayhem, and you could see a couple of the kids looking wide-eyed up at the stands. What else would prepare them for that? “Vietnam, maybe? “Preparing kids for the first team isn’t easy, it’s compounded by everything else that goes on. Some are built for it and some aren’t.” Sinclair believes the reasons for the latter are more complex than simply a Rangers or Celtic issue. In his previous roles as the SFA’s Technical Director and Head of Youth Development he could see the socio-cultural changes affecting the national game. He said: “There’s a lack of drive. Kids expend a lot of time and energy coming to training, as do their parents, but there’s a lot of sacrifice and discipline as they get older that a lot aren’t prepared to put in. “They train three times a week but is that the only time they have a ball at their feet? “How do you ever make up that time? It’s a well-worn argument and it’s quite boring now as I was having it when I was sitting in the seat at Hampden as well all these years ago. “There have been great efforts made to up the contact hours but no amount of money can recreate the natural environment that existed before. It’s better organised now, there’s better coaches, better facilities and yet the organic way the game used to develop, you can’t replace it. “Football now is at training, they jump in the car, go to Murray Park, Lennoxtown, but it’s completely alien to them to throw the jackets down. I don’t want to despair but how do you get that back? It’s a societal thing. “The best ones will still have the hunger. A lot of youth international players won’t make it because they’re not driven enough but there will always be exceptional examples. “It’s just a shame football now has become so organised and dependent on adult supervision. It has become institutionalised. “The game is determined by someone else, not by you and your mates.” Sinclair’s stint at Ibrox eventually ended that same fateful weekend in December which saw Ally McCoist go following the defeat to Queen of the South at Palmerston. Dealing with Derek Lambias, his contract was squared up and he walked with no regrets. He said: “I was expecting it. I actually thought I might be relieved as the uncertainty at the end made it a bit sh***y but that’s not how I felt. “I can look myself in the mirror as I couldn’t have tried any harder. I did the job as well as I could. If the perception is it wasn’t successful, I can’t help that. I also can’t criticise the club for its support of youth development. In difficult times they kept up a high level of support. “Unlike the websites, I’m comfortable with the job I did. Guys like Danny Wilson, Jamie Ness, Rhys McCabe, John Fleck, Kyle Hutton, Gregg Wylde and a host of others, they played in league winning teams. “Hutton played in the Champions League against Man United. I don’t have any sleepless nights that I short-changed Rangers – I worked as hard as I could and there were enough boys brought through.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/jimmy-sinclair-wasnt-job-tell-6349102 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 9,310 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 He makes a good point actually. The process of promoting a youth player into the first team requires a sympathetic manager. We now know that Walsh, McKay etc were actually good enough to play. However, the manager and the system were not suited to them. MacLeod was a good player, and he actually fit into the McCoist system (if one can call it a system!); McKay was also a good player, but did not fit. There needs to be a holistic approach, where everything is connected, not what we had last year and in previous years. The same formation and style must be played throughout every level, and the players able to play their role. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmu 0 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Interesting article. Was shocked that it did occur to him to cultivate better relationships with the managers whereby his judgement and opinion counted for something. Absolutely NOT shocked that the managers in question appear to have made no effort to ensure that this was a key relationship in the club structure. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublusince1982 243 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 for me this interview epitomises everything that was wrong with our clubs structure football wise for the last ten years or so. Defeatist attitudes expressed by defeated men. Thank god they are finally gone. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenzEK 0 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Even MacLeod was shunted out wide to be accommodated which didn't do him a lot of favours. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,386 Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 The other good thing about Warburton coming in as manager is he,and Weir, will sort out the whole club on the footballing side,when he does leave we will/should be in a far more healthier position than ever before!. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfideldo 406 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Sinky did such a great job at Rangers when he left the only way for him would be up...................so he is now at Queen's Park!!! He signed none of the players he claims credit for in the article. Anyone he has watched the youth teams in recent years can see massive improvements in style, attitude and general feel good factor among players and parents since he left. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyBlue 0 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Sinky did such a great job at Rangers when he left the only way for him would be up...................so he is now at Queen's Park!!! He signed none of the players he claims credit for in the article. Anyone he has watched the youth teams in recent years can see massive improvements in style, attitude and general feel good factor among players and parents since he left. Well elfideldo, if anyone knows the score it's you. I really appreciate your youth updates. Sinclair was a joke. Now he's a bitter joke. Onwards and upwards. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno55 0 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 How many reserve league titles did we win under sinky? Im a regular at mp and he was taking off players who were having a good game were well shot of him how he lasted eight years baffled me 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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