Academy Update

[ian1964 10,409]

CRAIG MULHOLLAND believes the decision to put so many of the club’s Academy players out on loan to various clubs is paying dividends in terms of their development.

 

The club have 10 players out learning their trade elsewhere at present, and Mulholland has been delighted with how they have been performing.

 

The club’s Head of Academy explained: “We made the decision to put the 10 players out on loan, and we are monitoring them on a weekly basis. Recently I saw Ross McCrorie play fro Ayr United against Dunfermline, and there must have been 2 to 3,000 people there, and he was excellent.

 

“For his development and best-preparing him for the first-team, it is unquestionably the right thing to do, but it has been difficult for some of the players left at the 20s level to keep up a quality of performance and result with that number out on loan.

 

“We still think it is the right thing to do for developing players though. If you look at the Premier League under-18 league down south, in the 12 team League, Spurs finished eighth and Southampton 11th.

 

“Those two are widely recognised as having the best Academies but they are doing what we are doing and are loaning out a number of players to other clubs.

 

“There was one night I was driving back from Lennoxtown having seen our under-14s put in a really good performance against Celtic, and within minutes we had heard Andy Murdoch had scored for Queen of the South, that Ross McCrorie had scored for Ayr and Jordan Thompson had scored for Airdrieonians, and then that weekend Ryan Hardie went and scored a hat-trick for Raith Rovers.

 

“Our only objective is to get players through to the first team and it’s absolutely not about results at any level. The support from the manager, David Weir, Frank McParland and Jim Stewart on this has been really important, but they agree fully that result at any age group is not the most important thing.

 

“The Academy exists to prepare players as best we can for the first-team.”

 

Having so many players out on loan has affected results at under-20s level, but Mulholland insists the under-17s players are stepping up to fill the gaps are learning so much by playing against opposition players who are two to three years older than them.

 

He continued: “We are continuing with our strategy, and as part of that it has seen us involve a number of under-17s. Last week at Ross County, Kyle Bradley and Aidan Wilson both played centre-back, and they were excellent.

 

“We also blooded an under-16s goalkeeper – Lewis Muir up there, so they have been real positives.

 

“Yesterday against Aberdeen, we blooded Andy Dallas who is only a part-time under-17, and had Kyle Bradley and Jamie Barjonas playing.”

 

The Rangers bench has been a topic of much discussion of late, with the likes of Liam Burt and Jack Thomson making the substitutes list, while their absence on international duty meant just five replacements were named for last week’s game with Queen of the South.

 

Mulholland added: “That has been a real upside to the strategy. If you look at the bench in the early part of the season, it was really Jordan Thompson and Ryan Hardie who were getting that experience.

 

“The fact they have now gone out on loan has presented opportunities for the likes of Liam Burt and Jack Thomson. When you look at what we are putting in place of the environment to best prepare them – Liam was away captaining Scotland at under-17 level, he is featuring regularly in the under-20s, so he is playing with guys who are two or three years older than him, and the experience he and Jack are getting around the first team will stand them in really good stead.

 

“It is important we challenge them all the time and that we push them in that way.

 

“The manager has shown there is a pathway to the first team, but, as he has said, they have to earn it. They need to demonstrate they want that place on the bench, and hopefully between now and the end of the season these lads will get more opportunities, but they need to make sure they don’t ever take it for granted as a place on the Rangers bench and in the Rangers first-team is a big, big thing.”

 

http://rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/academy-update/

[craig 5,195]

It has been somewhat fortuitous that Craig Mulholland has the same footballing mentality as Mark Warburton.

 

Craig Mulholland and his able coaches are very, very important to the long-term wellbeing of the Club because we need to be looking to Academy players breaking through into the first team. Progress has already been made in terms of the type of players we are bringing in (not so much about physical presence and more about technical, tactical and game awareness ability) but we need to remember that Craig has only had that role for about 14 or 15 months. We wont see the true fruits of his labours for a couple of years when they get to cycle in the younger players.

 

Craig Mulholland, and the Club in general, are making some great strides and some significant forward progress at the Club (including some things we haven't heard of as yet - something I heard when I was over the other week impressed me - and shows that they are looking at the whole player and how best to assist) not just on the field but off it too.

 

As I have said before, Craig is very highly thought of further afield than just Scotland. Holding onto him will, IMHO, give us comfort that we have a successful Academy program.

 

The most significant part about the above interview, for me at least, is four-fold.

 

1. Players such as Hardie & McCrorie are now getting valuable playing time whilst out on loan, rather than just training, sitting on the bench or playing for the U20's (McCrorie came to MP with bumps and bruises all over after an Ayr game and said he had NEVER had such a physical game in his life.... so clearly playing 1st team football down the divisions is better than playing U20's, at least in terms of readying himself for the physicality of 1st team football)

2. The fact that the Academy staff aren't just letting them go away and play, but are also going to watch them and assess their development.

3. The fact that the U20'a have lost 10 players and are "playing up" U17's and even a U16. This is great experience for the youngsters as it pits them against older, bigger, more advanced players and shows them what they need to do.

4. The Club ethos that results is not the most important thing. It is about preparing players for the 1st team. We always want to win, and so too do the Academy staff, however the primary objective should always be to produce the next batch of 1st team players.

 

I think Craig and his staff are doing an admirable job !!

[Tannochsidebear 2,306]

There must be a fine line between shoving a lot of U17's into a U20 league to gain experience and develop them professionally, and ruining them by them not being ready to play at that level, get used to losing to the extent that it doesnt hurt anymore, then they will never be a Ranger. You read often about players that had a great pedigree when young but were pushed on too soon and their careers stalled before they had really begun. I trust our guys there to get a lot more right than wrong, but if the U20's keep getting thumped then it is not really helping anyone at all. I dont care if they dont win every week and win U20 titles and cups, but we must protect our young talent from over-exposure at a level they have not matured to yet. I suppose they will look at it on a player by player basis and judge accordingly.

 

I am certainly far more heartened by anything I hear now than under the previous tenure.

[Mountain Bear 0]

I remember reading about a young Stephen Hendry playing a series of matches against the then no.1 Steve Davis.

 

He lost the lot, but his development benefited massively and he never looked back.

 

I think if you're good enough, have a winner's self belief to start with and know why you're being put in that position, then losing doesn't become a habit, but more of a right of passage.