17 Jan 2017 18:44:55
in my opinion its not the quality of the youngsters that's the problem, its the quality of the coaching. Top teams in England and Europe seem to be able to bring on their kids so the coaching methods AND the coaches themselves must be a big factor.

If we want to produce talent we have to get TOP QUALITY coaches in. has anyone actually gone on our website and had a look at the QUANTITY of backroom staff? practically full of unknown people no doubt picking up good money but for what exactly? no end product means failure so maybe that's where we should be looking.


1.) 17 Jan 2017
17 Jan 2017 19:18:39
Time will tell when the current crop of 15/ 16 year olds should be breaking through, until then it's hard to be too critical of the current coaches given the mess they inherited


2.) 17 Jan 2017
17 Jan 2017 21:22:06
I don't agree wee Bill, a youth coach doesn't have to be a famous ex player to be a decent coach, in fact a lot of ex pros make very average coaches and I think we have made that mistake way too often with the jobs for the boys mentality.
Our youth coaches have been in place for less than 18 months, a total new philosophy is in place, the older youths have been released so that the really young guys with potential are being pushed into games with older, physically bigger opponents with the aim they will develop quicker.
Time will tell if it produces but I don't c how we can be negative about a youth set up that's been in place for just over a year


3.) 17 Jan 2017
17 Jan 2017 23:17:00
I was involved in youth coaching at a very high level. Coaches who came from the professional playing ranks found it difficult to relate to the kids and to teach them anything much at all. The boys related far better to other coaches who had good communication skills and the ability to pass on knowledge. Most of these coaches were 'unknown people'. Even the Liverpool set-up under Steve Heighway was peppered with 'unknown people'. All the best set-ups had a mixture of both, and indeed I worked for some time in a partnership with someone you would all consider to be a Rangers hero. It's not names we need, it's knowledge and understanding combined with patience.


4.) 19 Jan 2017
18 Jan 2017 20:56:19
Our academy under warburton has been totally revamped, our coaches are first class, and btw our academy will produce real quality in the next 5 years