chilledbear 16 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-boss-mark-warburton-development-7419877#2rJo4yr5HtAzGrlZ.99 MARK WARBURTON last night insisted Scotland’s Development League does not prepare players for first team football - and has all but pulled the plug on Rangers’ involvement. The Ibrox boss has admitted he couldn’t care less if Gers struggle to win matches below first team level - and is adamant that the only result that matters for his Academy is producing players he can use. The Ibrox boss has revealed that his club will flood the Under 20s league with players from his Under 17 squad and loan out all his best kids to give them a better chance of coming back ready for the Rangers first team. Seven youngsters have been loaned out already and Record Sport can reveal that another two - highly rated Northern Ireland Under 21 midfielder Jordan Thompson and Ross McCrorie will join the exodus in the next week or so. Warburton believes that their development is being stunted by playing in an Under 20’s league that doesn’t matter and although he will use it to give his very young players to the chance to perform against boys who are three years older, the Englishman is in no doubt that those pushing for a first team squad place will benefit from being farmed out. He told Record Sport; “They are not going to make that transition by playing Under 20s games that don’t really mean anything. “I watch the boys walk off and sometimes if they’ve won 2-0 or lost 2-0, you can’t tell the difference. “But if the best young players go out on loan, and it is an appropriate loan in the same way as Arsenal have sent Gedion Zelalem and Spurs have loaned Dom Ball to us, they get to play games that really matter. Rangers boss Mark Warburton: I want my youngsters to be playing against Europe's best like the Celtic kids “They are going up against guys who are fighting for their mortgages and supporting their families. They need to go an experience that, go out on these loans and further their development, as opposed to worrying about winning Under 20 games or Under 17 games. “The last thing we should look at as supporters of Rangers Football Club are results of any game outside of the first team. “As a consequence, we’ll end up playing really, really young players in the Under 20s league and Rangers might not be sitting in the top two of that league. That requires a change in the mindset of everyone at the club - this is a club that has regarded winning as all important at every level in the past. “Supporters will look at that and think this is different, but it is important to realise why we doing that. “We believe it is the right thing to do to challenge these players and kick them on towards the first team. That is the only objective of the Academy - to produce players capable of playing in our first team.” Rangers Academy chief Craig Mulholland added: “We are going to end up with nine players out on loan. They could all be playing in the 20s. We want them playing throughout the leagues in Scotland, where they are playing for points and in front of crowds. “We have seven out at the moment and have plans to send out another two. That’s a big change because previously they’d have been kept at Rangers and used to do well in the Under 20s. “But you look at Barrie McKay, who played in the first team at 17, so he missed that Under 20s stage. Danny Wilson also broke through at that age, so it’s no coincidence that the two who are in the first team at the moment, actually missed the Under 20 development stage. They were challenged daily rather than playing in that league.” 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rousseau 10,819 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 I completely agree with this. It's quite staggering that the two players who have made a real impact at first-team level never player at the U-20 level (namely, Wilson and McKay), so it can only be good to get the others out and playing at a 'decent' level -- at least playing professionally against hardened men. It can only be good that our U-17's will be playing against youngsters 3 years older also. It's about time someone made a change at youth level, because we've not really produced much for far too long. It really is so important to have a continuous stream of young players coming through. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,652 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Makes sense to me but makes the RFFF plans for a new Auchenhowie stand pointless. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEARGER 1,830 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Makes sense to me but makes the RFFF plans for a new Auchenhowie stand pointless. It was pointless in the first place imho. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTP 0 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Is it not the case that McKay and Wilson skipped the U20's because they were good enough to go straight into the first team squad whereas none of the current crop are. Therefore what happens at U20's is irrelevant as they were good enough to make the grade. I'm not saying the U20's is productive I'm just arguing as to how the article is angled. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Makes sense to me but makes the RFFF plans for a new Auchenhowie stand pointless. It always was. Will never be used in any meaningful sense 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,803 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Do it like that or check out whether any soon-to-come league reconstruction might see the introduction of e.g. the Rangers Swifts into the lower leagues, along with some other development sides from the bigger teams. Matter of fact, you'd think that a decent league structure and putting the development teams out even against junior sides will enhance their development too. But to think this through, the SFA et al need another 25 years ... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhunter 0 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Sounds like he could run the whole of Scottish football if someone asked him I'd actually ask MW where he'd see best use of the RFFF money. I don't reckon there is a single supporter who wouldn't trust and value his opinion. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 A lot of people were unhappy at McKay's development and so can't be happy with this. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
calscot 0 Posted February 23, 2016 Share Posted February 23, 2016 Sounds like he could run the whole of Scottish football if someone asked him Actually some of his ideas don't logically work when you apply it to the whole of Scotland. For example, how can everyone play 17 year olds against 20 year olds? All you get is a de facto under 18 league. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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