The Tin Man 80 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 Following on from something Der Berliner said in the transfers thread, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s any point in having an academy. We keep hearing about the exciting youngsters we have coming through such as Atakyi,Patterson, Mebude etc but none of them ever seem to bridge that final gap. Off the top of my head Barry Ferguson is the last one to properly make the transition, McCrorie still might but in all honesty I doubt he’ll play for the 1st team again and with the pressure of trying to stop 10 (9/34) I don’t see many opportunities for any of them this season either. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,330 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Plenty of players have made bridged the gap. Allan McGregor Alan Hutton Chris Burke Gregg Wylde Steven Smith Barrie McKay Danny Wilson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangers_F.C._Under-20s_and_Academy#List_of_Academy_graduates You might be advised to stop looking for the next Barry Ferguson. I'm pretty sure that European football has some rules that make it desirable to fill the squad with academy graduates. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMAA 3,658 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 2 hours ago, ranger_syntax said: You might be advised to stop looking for the next Barry Ferguson. I'm pretty sure that European football has some rules that make it desirable to fill the squad with academy graduates. Sadly true. Barry Ferguson was a once in a generation player in my opinion, and if he was coming through just now he probably wouldn't play a senior game at Rangers. I do think the OP raises a good point though, we are struggling to get a player all the way to the first team. I still have high hopes for some of the players though. This will be a big season for Patterson. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,747 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 2 hours ago, ranger_syntax said: Plenty of players have made bridged the gap. Allan McGregor Alan Hutton Chris Burke Gregg Wylde Steven Smith Barrie McKay Danny Wilson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangers_F.C._Under-20s_and_Academy#List_of_Academy_graduates You might be advised to stop looking for the next Barry Ferguson. I'm pretty sure that European football has some rules that make it desirable to fill the squad with academy graduates. .. which are probably well below 10 % of those we had at their respective times at the club. It is the obvious devil's circle at clubs like ours, since we demand success and try to rear the biggest talents too, yet when someone of greater talent & experience is available, we get/buy him instead. IMHO, the Developement Team challenge season was sure a greater experience for our palyers than anything we had before, not only learning to play international teams of their age, but also learn how to represent Rangers on an international scene and getting to know, albeit at a lower level, what it means to be ambassadors of our club. We might do well to form a partnership with e.g. a Bundesliga team to exchange these u21/u23 players and have them play football at a competitive level disimilar to our/their own, so the respective players develop a better understanding of different game styles and tactics. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briton 314 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 8 hours ago, ranger_syntax said: Plenty of players have made bridged the gap. Allan McGregor Alan Hutton Chris Burke Gregg Wylde Steven Smith Barrie McKay Danny Wilson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangers_F.C._Under-20s_and_Academy#List_of_Academy_graduates You might be advised to stop looking for the next Barry Ferguson. I'm pretty sure that European football has some rules that make it desirable to fill the squad with academy graduates. It's likely Gilmour would also have made the grade had he stayed. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tin Man 80 Posted June 8, 2020 Author Share Posted June 8, 2020 2 hours ago, Briton said: It's likely Gilmour would also have made the grade had he stayed. He’d probably just be coming back from a 6 month loan spell at Dens ? 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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