Under 18 League Table

[craig 5,195]

1 minute ago, Waltersgotstyle said:

Forrest is now 28 (29 this year) and McGregor is now 26 (27 this year). 

 

Not exactly recent breakthroughs.

They can still look at Tierney, Johnston though.  There are more from their Academy that have broken through than ours - and the discussion we were having wasn't about "recent" - it was in general - we were talking over years, back to even Barry Ferguson.

[Waltersgotstyle 297]

3 minutes ago, craig said:

They can still look at Tierney, Johnston though.  There are more from their Academy that have broken through than ours - and the discussion we were having wasn't about "recent" - it was in general - we were talking over years, back to even Barry Ferguson.

I agree, but even then it is not like they have had great success with youth development either. Many promising players have had to leave to get game time elsewhere i.e. Liam Henderson and Dylan McGeouch.

[craig 5,195]

18 minutes ago, Waltersgotstyle said:

I agree, but even then it is not like they have had great success with youth development either. Many promising players have had to leave to get game time elsewhere i.e. Liam Henderson and Dylan McGeouch.

True, but their record is still fairly significantly better than ours.  And lets not forget that McGeouch was also with us and left.

[Gaffer 1,665]

They had a great youth setup under Tommy Burns and their best youths were produced under his watch.  Since he left his role (when he became ill), they've produced no one of any real quality.

 

We have never had a decent youth setup and I don't know if anything has really changed to improve our record.  It's still left to the usual provincial clubs to really help develop the kids.

 

I hope we do turn our setup around, but if we can't achieve better results under this current management there's probably a good argument for just wrapping up our youth academy.

[stewarty 1,876]

42 minutes ago, craig said:

True, but their record is still fairly significantly better than ours.  And lets not forget that McGeouch was also with us and left.

We hadn't forgotten, we were just relieved.  I see he has found his level.

[Bluedell 5,329]

22 minutes ago, Gaffer said:

We have never had a decent youth setup and I don't know if anything has really changed to improve our record.  

I think that there's been great strides made over the past 18 months or so and it's arguably the best it's ever been, and I'd rather have our youth set up and this crop of kids than swap it with any other in Scotland.

[JohnMc 2,463]

Lewis McLeod and Barrie McKay are both established English Championship players, albeit neither looks like making the next step up the leagues now. Both broke into the side when we were in the lower leagues but getting into this current Rangers side will be a lot more difficult for any young player.

 

It's a little concerning how poorly most of our young players have done out on loan, the two at Ayr and Robbie McCrorie at QOTS seem to be doing okay but it's not a great level, you'd really want to see them doing it week in week out at a mid-level SPFL side before you'd even consider them ready for our first team squad. McPake has struggled at Dundee, Middleton couldn't get into a shit Hibs side, Zac Rudden, Jake Hastie and Ross McCrorie haven't set the heather alight in the lower leagues down south either. 

I suppose the club look at it as a calculated gamble. If they can produce one player that can be sold for a few million it pays for itself, likewise producing a few squad players allows transfer budgets to be spent on better players, no need to sign the Andy Kings and the Sheyi Ojos in the future. 

 

We'll see, much as I like to see us bring through our own I increasingly think professional football clubs shouldn't be allowed anywhere near youth development. 

[Gonzo79 13,580]

John Fleck is doing quite well with Sheffield United. 

[JohnMc 2,463]

3 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

John Fleck is doing quite well with Sheffield United. 

I forgot about Fleck. He's a perfect example of a kid tipped for big, big things, one with obvious talent when he was young, but who simply didn't develop it with us. He couldn't get into Ally's first side and was out on loan at Blackpool and struggling to get a game for them. It was Coventry who figured out his best position and gave him regular game time. He doesn't look out of place in the English top flight now, good on him. 

[craig 5,195]

2 hours ago, JohnMc said:

Lewis McLeod and Barrie McKay are both established English Championship players, albeit neither looks like making the next step up the leagues now. Both broke into the side when we were in the lower leagues but getting into this current Rangers side will be a lot more difficult for any young player.

 

It's a little concerning how poorly most of our young players have done out on loan, the two at Ayr and Robbie McCrorie at QOTS seem to be doing okay but it's not a great level, you'd really want to see them doing it week in week out at a mid-level SPFL side before you'd even consider them ready for our first team squad. McPake has struggled at Dundee, Middleton couldn't get into a shit Hibs side, Zac Rudden, Jake Hastie and Ross McCrorie haven't set the heather alight in the lower leagues down south either. 

I suppose the club look at it as a calculated gamble. If they can produce one player that can be sold for a few million it pays for itself, likewise producing a few squad players allows transfer budgets to be spent on better players, no need to sign the Andy Kings and the Sheyi Ojos in the future. 

 

We'll see, much as I like to see us bring through our own I increasingly think professional football clubs shouldn't be allowed anywhere near youth development. 

Barrie McKay can't really be considered a Rangers youth product though as he came to us from Killie at 17