Any justification in scrapping youth system for scouting?

Earl of Leven

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Just reading about Brentford. They got rid of youth set due to poaching by bigger clubs. They felt it "made no stars or money".

Since switching to scouting they've made profit of £63m and reckon Said Benrahma will make them £10m profit alone.

I am also thinking about Billy Gilmour....if we produce a genuine star talent will we ever see them?

What is the general thinking about how best to invest in younger talent?
 
We need a certain amount of homegrown players in our squad for European competition. We would have to enter a smaller squad if we don't meet the quota. From FM saves I think its maybe 4 homegrown at Rangers and 8 overall from Scotland.

Easy enough for Brentford to do with no prospect of European football.
 
Considering the investment at youth level and the programme we are currently running, with the youth team being able to complete with teams across the world and match them, it's a ludicrous suggestion that we scrap it.

It takes time to build. You'll get people agreeing with you as long as we're spending more money than Celtic but a firm no from me.

The club are looking to get self sufficient at youth level to save money. Surprised how fickle you're being here as you've always been in favour of it as far as I remember?
 
Considering the investment at youth level and the programme we are currently running, with the youth team being able to complete with teams across the world and match them, it's a ludicrous suggestion that we scrap it.

It takes time to build. You'll get people agreeing with you as long as we're spending more money than Celtic but a firm no from me.

The club are looking to get self sufficient at youth level to save money. Surprised how fickle you're being here as you've always been in favour of it as far as I remember?
I made no comment about my views. I support youth football but it's had no impact yet.

At the moment our brightest talent made us no money and didn't play for us.

We also pay too much for standard players. Could we be wiser. Benrahma cost Brentford £1.5m....
 
Unless rules are brought in to stop the likes of Chelsea stockpiling players then it won’t change
 
I would say the likes of Billy Gilmour are once in a generation for Rangers as he is going to be top drawer.
However I still think we can pick up lads at 10-14 age group and if we get them to a decent level they are worth the investment..The reality is if they are that good they will have their heads turned by English teams, even if they are bluenoses.

If we can get 1 or 2 players in the first team training every year then I would say its doing ok.

On a side point the one thing I don't like about being a big team is we do not have the time or opportunity for a young player to bed in and become used to the first team, he might get a few games here and there but in reality the gaffer knows his head is on the line if the team lose.

If we were a team like Motherwell where you are not expected to win everyweek then for sure the youth set up is self sustanable and will make them money ..However if we look at the likes of Ryan Hardie , i think he is a cracking wee player but sadly just couldn't expect a game while Defoe Morelos are at the club. We will still produce players at the club and I hope they get their chance, but we will need to be more generous in their game time, i.e Paterson over Polster when the fixture allows.
 
Unless rules are brought in to stop the likes of Chelsea stockpiling players then it won’t change
Pretty sure the rules are changing, iirc it was around loaning players out which is something teams like Chelsea etc rely on with all the players they hoover up.
 
It’s fundamental to the Rangers’ business model that we both develop and sign top class youth players. One without the other is only half a strategy. Gets a great big no from me. I do not aspire to be a “Brentford”.
 
We really need a few from this batch to become 1st team regulars imo.
Had this chat in bus WhatsApp before and if none of this group of kids that are being praised as best batch of youths in years makes it you do need to start asking what's the point?
The little bits I've watched of them and the various things you hear from the club and others that watch them regularly I'm confident that some of them will make it.
 
We really need to be running both well, get the pick of Scottish youngsters then pick up quality players who have been over looked by other teams.
 
Don't Brentford spent a chunk of change on their "B" team ?

They're buying 17 and 18 year olds for hundreds of thousands of pounds in fees each season.

What I will say is that their transfer policy in their first team is absolutely brilliant. They don't half know how to buy low and sell high.
 
I can understand the frustration with people like Gilmour. What can the club do though only sign average youth players? Then go a step further and only sign 25-29 players for first team? Only hire managers 65-69?

Of course Rangers could do that. Will that happen though? No. Some clubs don't mind being stepping stones. Rangers certainly mind but obviously aren't going to take extreme lengths to avoid it. The only way to do that would be if UEFA's rules are scrapped and with a mega rich owner. Or joining the English leagues. Even then even the peak European clubs sell their best players now and then. To other countries sometimes which softens the blow.
 
I have thought about this. Any time we get a genuine talent they will move to an EPL team. It is an unfortunate truth. We just need to find a way of getting top money for them.
 
Matthew Benham, Brentford's owner owns two profitable multi-million pound specialist betting companies who allow the two teams he's involved with Brentford and FC Midytlland full access to their data and analysts' work.

It would cost clubs serious cash to create the infrastructure they have freely at their fingertips. They're well ahead of the curve in that compared to even some much bigger clubs than Brentford. We're probably quite a bit off what they have in terms of this based on us not even having a scouting department within living memory and looking at the continually flawed transfer dealings we've been involved in.

I also don't think we're quite in the same circumstances as them for youth players. We along with the orcs, basically have first dibs on the best young talent in the country. Brentford are historically a tiny club in London, let alone England. They've seen it to make sense to pick up players who fall out of the larger teams academies utilising the data they have to recruit the best ones available to them.
 
When guys like Polster and Flanagan are above Patterson, I can definitely see the logic in this argument.

Once we actually start giving youth a chance, we will see the benefit of all of the hard work we've been doing in our academy. The beginning of Gerrard's reign filled me with optimism on this front, he gave Glenn Middleton a lot of football and he produced in some pretty big games for us, the way he spoke about Ross McCrorie was inspiring too.

Then this season happened and nobody has got a look in, I understand sending players out on loan for their development but had we stuck with those two rather than bringing Jones, Barker and Andy King into the club, they'd both have made 20+ appearances by now. This is without even mentioning arguably even more promising young players.

For the most part our recruitment matches the model that the club are aspiring to follow but our treatment of youth couldn't be further from it
 
When will any of our youth players get a chance if ever . Especially when you have a group of senior fringe players who rarely get a sniff of playing time . Is it not better to fill that group with youth players who will be on lower wages than guys getting a hell of a lot more dosh for doing bugger all most of the time . To me the youth system is pointless if you ain't gonna use them . Surely some of these lads are better than some of the fringe players ?
 
When guys like Polster and Flanagan are above Patterson, I can definitely see the logic in this argument.

Once we actually start giving youth a chance, we will see the benefit of all of the hard work we've been doing in our academy. The beginning of Gerrard's reign filled me with optimism on this front, he gave Glenn Middleton a lot of football and he produced in some pretty big games for us, the way he spoke about Ross McCrorie was inspiring too.

Then this season happened and nobody has got a look in, I understand sending players out on loan for their development but had we stuck with those two rather than bringing Jones, Barker and Andy King into the club, they'd both have made 20+ appearances by now. This is without even mentioning arguably even more promising young players.

For the most part our recruitment matches the model that the club are aspiring to follow but our treatment of youth couldn't be further from it

Ross McCrorie being touted yesterday as a returning right back
 
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