Rio Loyal
Well-Known Member
Doubt they will play 20 games between them.
competitive games that is.
I totally agree that’s the issue for me .
Doubt they will play 20 games between them.
competitive games that is.
ExactlyI totally agree that’s the issue for me .
If they're good enough for Bayern City etc then why the hell can't we play them that's ridiculous.
Foden naw?Because there not good enough. Gilmour aside, although the same arguement could be made for him, if he bombed in the cup game he played instead of looking like a worldbeater he would still be training/playing with under 17's
Scattergun approach by clubs with too much money, If you snap up youths at 50-100k a pop you need 1 in ~200 to be half decent to make an overall profit. Man Utd aside pretty much every good 'graduate' was bought from another team for buttons. Diaz e.g. cost city 200k at 16, played ~15 times in 6 years then went to Real Madrid for £15m+
Last City players to come through their academy (Ignoring Foden) were Brandon Barker, Ben Mee & Shay Logan, the rest were scouted and bought cheap at 16, which we realistically should be doing as well, If this guy from Leicester e.g. is free(or cross-border super cheap) & better than what we have we should sign him regardless of whether theres 20 others boys who've been here for 10years & might be good 'one day'
As others have said though we need a route into the 1st team(currently it seems to be loaned out for 2-3 years), right now theres too much pressure on us to win so apart from if you draw a 3rd division team or have a huge amount of injurys I doubt anyone from the academy will make 5 appearances next season nevermind 10-20
So not good enough or the manager not giving youth a chance?I totally agree that’s the issue for me .
I also heard, but on here (!) that Kai Kennedy can't see a route to first team and is seeking 'options'
So not good enough or the manager not giving youth a chance?
I don't see the point in having one until they're 16 if they can leave on a relative 'free'. Also our players tend to be competitive until they hit the 18-20 age group when you need to kick on from being a promising youth player and a full professional. I'm sure there's 100 reasons why you should have a youth system but we've only really had Ferguson, McGregor and Hutton in my lifetime that have truly made a massive impact at the club and that doesn't seem to represent value for money when Kilmarnock have given us two in Naismith and Boyd alone. I think we're better off buying the best players from other youth systems. You need to be exceptional to break through and establish yourself while playing enough football to continue developing. See Fleck who never made it here and is currently a mainstay of a Premier League side in England.
It’s a difficult one all round , like you not seen the players other than Stranraer.I honestly couldn’t say as none have had much of a chance, McCrorie looked good to me but the manager doesn’t seem to rate him and may be vindicated as he’s struggled for Portsmouth but he had several really good games for us .
Patterson, Mayo or Kennedy haven’t had much more than 3 games between them.
Do people genuinely think the Academy is full of players ready to play first team football and we decide just to block the 'pathway' and not give them a game?
McCrorie and Kelly are the furthest forward in their development at the moment, and they will both be playing top division football in the coming season. That's progress.
It’s a difficult one all round , like you not seen the players other than Stranraer.
IMO there Patterson had a good first half but was rash and carded in a game where he was under no pressure.
Kennedy looked too small and physically not ready but seems rated by some on here.
You've obviously decided the youth academy in a waste of time, the club think otherwise.Not for the amount of cash we have spent on training and coaching.
You've obviously decided the youth academy in a waste of time, the club think otherwise.
You'll need to get used to that.
Didn’t see the game tbf.Kennedy looked good in the cup against Inverness.
Didn’t see the game tbf.
So was hickey more ready than Kelly..4 year age difference?Do people genuinely think the Academy is full of players ready to play first team football and we decide just to block the 'pathway' and not give them a game?
McCrorie and Kelly are the furthest forward in their development at the moment, and they will both be playing top division football in the coming season. That's progress.
I think they will be first team players next seasonDo people genuinely think the Academy is full of players ready to play first team football and we decide just to block the 'pathway' and not give them a game?
McCrorie and Kelly are the furthest forward in their development at the moment, and they will both be playing top division football in the coming season. That's progress.
Best on pitch .we all rave about Gilmour on here no mention of lightweight but because we won't take chances on Kennedy he's regarded lightweight.excuse after excuse for me.Didn’t see the game tbf.
1000% nailed it pal.All we have to offer these kids ahead of EPL clubs is a chance of 1st team football . We currently don't even do that there is literally no evidence to show a kid he's got a better chance of making it with us. He's as well getting thousands a week with no chance of 1st team football than the hundreds we'd be paying him.
55... ffs stop going on about 55 its like a lead filled tyre round our necksI'm all for giving youth a chance, but we're one of the most unforgiving set of supporters on the planet and this season ahead is the last one to be taking any chances with.
Let's get 55 out of the way, breathe slowly, relax a bit and then start really putting young players forward. That's the point at which the conveyor belt can really start to turn. But not now.
We made 500k hees worth atleast 8m now..Made money on Lewis Macleod and bill Gilmour.
if we can bring though some more players like Hutton, Adam, Mcgregor then it’s well worth it.
Shite .Hickey has been ruined by too many games at such a young age. He'll take time to recover his potential, if at all.
Apparently he has already got 7 EPL teams looking for his signature and 2German teams ,if we can't find place then the kid has to go and see what's out there .I also heard, but on here (!) that Kai Kennedy can't see a route to first team and is seeking 'options'
Not sure I understand you well mate. This season is going to be a season unlike any other for pressure and expectation.55... ffs stop going on about 55 its like a lead filled tyre round our necks
And so he should. Not a bluenose, could treble his wages, and might get closer to first team elsewhere. He can't not have noticed Gilmour at Chelsea.A
Apparently he has already got 7 EPL teams looking for his signature and 2German teams ,if we can't find place then the kid has to go and see what's out there .
So as not to derail the transfer rumours thread anymore I’ve started a separate thread .
The last player we brought through and sold for any decent cash was Hutton 12 years ago.
We haven’t brought even many squad fillers through in years .
Apparently Patterson is one of our best prospects but if rumours are true we are looking at a player exactly the same age and position from Leicester,
Opinions on value for money and players seeing a path to the first team as for me we are falling down in both these areas !
Part of Rangers issue is we live in a world where there is a very unforgiving fan base because even the smallest slip up can change where a title heads. Leagues have been decided by goals. So players need to prove they can be of use to the team from the second they cross the line to make their debut. Most of our youth aren’t good enough or will have things that hamper them before they become a pro. From a decent sized group say a squad of 32, I think a decent number getting a first team game for us would be 5 and from that 5, maybe one or two becoming first team players another could be a squad player and the other 2 will go elsewhere.
The next issue flies in the face of the instant star idea. Youth projects are a long term 5 years down the line project. So yes we may get an exciting prospect at 14 but even 5 years later he is still viewed as a young player and got about another 8 years before he hits his peak. So 13 years after you bring this kid in he will have hopefully entered the peak phase of his career.
I’ve no idea what the setup is like at the moment but another poster mentioned that it’s been improved and worked upon since 2015. In other words we should start to see 1 or 2. We have the young guy Patterson who seems like a decent prospect and has already played first team football. I’m sure we will see a few more this season.
Players that have come through in my lifetime:
Miller, Ferguson, Bob Malcolm, Scott Wilson, Steven Hughes, Stevie Smith, Ross McCormack, Alan Hutton, Chris Burke, McGregor, Charlie Adam, John Fleck, Danny Wilson. Since 2012 there has been a parade of guys who aren’t good enough: McKay, Beerman, Bates, Little, McLeod, Aird. The two who have shown promise are Patterson and Gilmore - who left.
Sadly Rossiter from Liverpool never worked out but he came in as a genuinely exciting prospect, about 19 IIRC.
Fleck? Gilmour?
Bar a few of the last 10 years, we've been in a pretty abnormal situation in terms of players resource.
After this season or possibly after we win a title, I can see 'overspending' rationalizing & certainly internal pressure on the coaching staff to use youth players.
I'd like to think if the stakes of these titles weren't what they were, they would at least be getting the odd chance.
Our youth system was decimated during the period from 2011-2015. It needed an entire rebuild and the fruits of the rebuilding weren't going to be seen in the last couple of years.
The lack of perspective on this thread in regards to that is frankly astounding.
We can write off 6 years, so that leaves at least 12 years which is a very poor return.I think we need to be able to define what people are expecting here.
For those who think "scrap it" or that it's not value for money, what are you expecting to see from it?
It's always worth remembering that the challenges Rangers have had to overcome in roughly the last decade are unique. No club has been through what we have.