Youth policy

[alexscottislegend 2,320]

Sorry to raise an old chestnut, but I watched Liverpool last night play 3 teenagers from their academy in a high-pressure cup match. We had Cole McKinnon on the bench; otherwise no sign of our youngsters. Why? If they not deemed 'ready' (as Clement recently claimed of Bailey Rice) then why not? Please don't tell me that there is too much 'must win' pressure at RFC; there cannot be any less pressure at L'pool and ManCity who can afford to spend at will. In fact Scottish clubs in general are too unwilling to play youth. McInnes didn't start with the outstanding David Watson v us, yet we have seen the impact Lennon Miller has had at Motherwell. Even those blighters from the East gave a debut to an 18 year old last night.

 

If our youths are really not good enough, then scrap the academy. I yearn for a Rangers team where at least half are home-grown and have been brought up with the club. The pride that young lad at Anfield felt, moving from Kop to pitch puts our 'policy' to shame.

[Rousseau 10,603]

Liverpool were forced to play youngsters in this instance, but I do agree with your point. 

[Scott7 6,002]

Perhaps the core structures of the Liverpool and City teams are stronger platforms for youthful talent to prosper in them when introduced. 

Liverpool’s kids looked about primary school age.

[Frankie 8,562]

I'd like to see more youngsters given more of an opportunity but the demands of Rangers really are unlike most other clubs where anything other than a win (either in one-off games or actual trophies) is seen as failure.

 

With that in mind often the mental capability of a young player is as important as the physical talent so I understand why so few make it here.

 

Does that mean we should forego a youth academy per se? Not in my opinion so perhaps we just need to accept we'll do well to see one or two come through in any 3-5 year period.

[Sutton_blows_goats 5,329]

Liverpools youth academy has churned out world class players for years. 

[alexscottislegend 2,320]

4 minutes ago, Frankie said:

I'd like to see more youngsters given more of an opportunity but the demands of Rangers really are unlike most other clubs where anything other than a win (either in one-off games or actual trophies) is seen as failure.

 

With that in mind often the mental capability of a young player is as important as the physical talent so I understand why so few make it here.

 

Does that mean we should forego a youth academy per se? Not in my opinion so perhaps we just need to accept we'll do well to see one or two come through in any 3-5 year period.

C'mon Frankie - Manure fans go into meltdown when they drop a point (so do the media). So let's not use exceptionalism as an excuse.

[alexscottislegend 2,320]

1 minute ago, Sutton_blows_goats said:

Liverpools youth academy has churned out world class players for years. 

So why cannot WE do the same? I accept we cannot compete in the transfer market but surely our academy should be doing much much better.

[Sutton_blows_goats 5,329]

1 minute ago, alexscottislegend said:

So why cannot WE do the same? I accept we cannot compete in the transfer market but surely our academy should be doing much much better.

I suppose its better to look at it from an England v Scotland thing. 

 

Youth academies in England are churning out top class players year on year. There are little to none in Scotland as a whole.

[Frankie 8,562]

1 minute ago, alexscottislegend said:

C'mon Frankie - Manure fans go into meltdown when they drop a point (so do the media). So let's not use exceptionalism as an excuse.

Not an excuse - it's a fact. English teams can afford to drop points - even the best ones - we cannot. The pressure at Rangers is very real and unusual.

 

I'm not saying we ignore it, rather we account for it in the way we train them. 

[Devil's advocaat 1,541]

EPL teams youth academies are bound to churn out players, the sheer size of them is incredible, they hoover up everything that is around. IIRC it was Palace that chucked theirs, as Chelsea and Arsenal were taking everything locally.

 

We shouldn't compare ourselves to the EPL, aspire by all means, but don't compare.