der Berliner 3,834 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Care to take a few more games and average ages as examples? Had any of said teams or opponents the experience of a Alexander or Kyle or Cribari at their disposal, would you expect them to keep it on the bench and still field the youngsters and fellow semi-pros they are left with instead? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waltersgotstyle 307 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Our youth system as well as our scouting system needs a good clear out. I would love to bring in someone like Laudrup or Wilkins to coach our youngsters. We also need to assess Neil Murray's role in some of the howlers we have made in the transfer market. I still think we should make John Park an offer he can't refuse. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waltersgotstyle 307 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Strange I mentioned Laudrup today... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedan 93 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Just listening to the world football phone in bbc podcast. Pretty good,listen to it every week. They were raving about Dean Furman's performances in the African cup of nations. Still playing for Oldham but by all accounts impressing scouts at the tournament. We papped him out on loan then sold him. Waltersgotstyle stole my thunder a bit. I'd LOVE to see Lauders coaching our youngters. A mix up of the scouting network would be nice too. Just what are Neil Murray's qualifications and connections for him to be our chief scout? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfideldo 411 Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 It seems some are misunderstanding the point I am trying to make, I am not saying we should have more young players in the team. What I am saying is that it shouldn't be used as an excuse. We may have a young team in term of Rangers, but not compared to quite a few other clubs all playing in a higher division. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF2008 0 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 It seems some are misunderstanding the point I am trying to make, I am not saying we should have more young players in the team. What I am saying is that it shouldn't be used as an excuse. We may have a young team in term of Rangers, but not compared to quite a few other clubs all playing in a higher division. I agree and don't think it should be used as an excuse although I can't think of any examples where it has been ...yet. I think if anything we've seen enough from the youngsters so far this season, that many supporters want to see them given more of a chance. I think we are probably a little too over protective of our youths. Or at least that's the excuse for them not being given as much game time as we'd like in a lot of cases. On the same token though the pressures and level of responsibility which come with playing for the Rangers first team are generally much higher than other Scottish clubs. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,834 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 It seems some are misunderstanding the point I am trying to make, I am not saying we should have more young players in the team. What I am saying is that it shouldn't be used as an excuse. We may have a young team in term of Rangers, but not compared to quite a few other clubs all playing in a higher division. ... not least out of necessity. Again, do you expect that these clubs - had they the money and opportunity - would not play more experienced players ahead of their youngsters? Generally ... I doubt people use our youngsters as an "excuse" for bad results or performances, rather on the contrary. Most of them are actually rated higher than other first teamers and - IMHO - play better or more attractive football too. What irks most people is McCoist's apparent preference to the old hands (not least when they "under-perfrom") or, as we have seen these last few weeks, too many defensive minded people. Which in turn denies "better" youngsters a chance to shine or develop. A few weeks back we started a game with probably the youngest line-up ever. We currently have - much like other teams out of necessity - more young players in the first team squad than ever before in our history. After years of neglect ... and IMHO "inability" to mentally switch to a more open use of the youngsters, I cannot see us using more youngsters than we do right now for the forseeable future. These things do not change quickly and beating the bush time and again won't speed the process up either. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amms 0 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 First of all let me say that having watched the youth teams on a regular basis nobody enjoys seeing a youngster progress to the first team more than me. A couple have done really well this season and the others have let nobody down and done okay. The facts are we are in 3rd division and if we couldn't promote a few youngsters then we really would be in a bad way. There seems to be a perception that we have a very young team playing against lower league journeymen, if you actually look at the facts you will find this isn't the case. Our starting lineup on Saturday had an average age of 24.9 with one teenager in Lewis McLeod, our opponents Montrose average was 23.2 and they included three 19 years olds, Ricky McIntosh (on loan from St.Johnstone), Leighton McIntosh and Martin Boyle (both on loan from Dundee). With most teams in this division having loan players teenagers in the opposition is not unusual, even Queen's Park started with a 17 and 18 year old in our recent meeting. On Saturday Hearts reached the League Cup final with four 19 year olds in their starting line up, Fraser Mullen, Jamie Walker, Callum Tapping and Jason Holt, another 19 year old Kevin McHattie has been playing for their first team on a regular basis. An indication of where our young players are with Hearts can be seen in the last four youth league results. 5th Nov 2011 Hearts 4 Rangers 3 27th Aug 2011 Rangers 0 Hearts 2 22nd April 2011 Hearts 1 Rangers 0 1st April 2011 Rangers 1 Hearts 4 You have to go back to 14th February 2010 when goals from Kane Hemmings and Kmail Wiktorski gave Rangers a 2-0 in a youth cup tie. There can be three reasons for this, Hearts had/have a better group of players, they were coached better or a combination of the two. Its probably a combination of the two with a bit of emphasis on the middle one. Interesting analysis, thanks. I see from your later post that this one is actually trying to demonstrate that our team on Saturday wasn't a young one and that youth shouldn't be an excuse for poor performances. I wouldn't blame youth so much as inexperience, the two aren't always analogous although often they are. In Hegarty, Perry, MacLoed and Hutton we had 4 inexperienced starters, we brought on another two in Faure and McKay. Even Andy Little has made less than 50 league appearances despite being an international. It's not an excuse though, simply an observation. Comparing us to Hearts is also interesting. Hearts are currently sitting 9th in the SPL, a position that would get any Rangers manager the sack. They are also basically insolvent which brings its own challenges. That they've made the League Cup Final probably says as much about Scottish football as anything else, I'd point out they only played 3 ties to get to the final and two of them they won on penalties. Being managed my McGlynn is probably a shrewd move by Hearts, his experience with and, I assume, faith in their younger players will be vital for them. However they are only one point off second bottom and but for the gerrymandering of Dundee FC into the SPL would be facing a relegation fight this season. I feel the purpose of our youth team is to provide players for our first team. I actually think it has done okay on that score recently. McKay, MacLoed, Hegarty, Perry, Crawford, Hutton, Little, Cole and Aird have all made appearances this season. I accept circumstances have brought this opportunity rather than it being strategic. Had things worked out differently in the summer we could add McGregor, Ness, Fleck, Wylde and McCabe to that first team roster. That doesn't feel like a bad return to me. On Saturday Hearts had Danny Wilson in their starting line up too. I accept your point your point that on Saturday our team wasn't as youthful as some might have thought, however it did contain a number of inexperienced professionals. Hopefully they'll gain experience in the coming months and seasons. Lastly, I really enjoy your blogs on our youth teams. You see far, far more youth football than me. I'm not qualified to argue with you on that subject (not that'll stop you understand!). 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfideldo 411 Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 (edited) I accept your point your point that on Saturday our team wasn't as youthful as some might have thought, however it did contain a number of inexperienced professionals. Hopefully they'll gain experience in the coming months and seasons Just taking the four players Montrose have on loan John Gibson, Ricky McIntosh, Leighton McIntosh and Martin Boyle all have less experience than any of the Rangers lineup. None of then have played in a youth International never mind an U21 International, unlike most of the Rangers team. I'm well aware we have a few successes in the past which are now irrelevant, its what happens now and in the future that matters. Rangers beat Hearts 3-2 in a friendly at Murray Park today with goals from Charlie Telfer (Pen), Travis Gregory and Tom Walsh. I don't know the lineups it was listed as U18, Travis Gregory is either a 1993 or 1994 which makes him a year or two older. Edited January 29, 2013 by elfideldo 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovanAllan 0 Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Love how its gone from young to inexperienced, all of a sudden. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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