STAND FIRM
There’s life after Celtic and Rangers .. Aaron and Lewis being on POTY shortlist is all the proof you need
Lewis and Aaron have shown Old Firm aren’t the be-all and end-all
CRAIG HALKETT ON THE RISE AND RISE OF DUO
THE Old Firm scrapyard of trashed teenage dreams was in danger of counting Lewis Ferguson and Aaron Hickey among the wreckage. But Hearts defender Craig Halkett insists the pair are proof there is life after Celtic and Rangers for academy kids. Both are up for the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year award after coming of age at Tynecastle and Aberdeen. And both of their paths have weaved their way through an Old Firm exit door. In the case of Ferguson, 20, he found his way to Hamilton then Pittodrie after being rejected by Rangers at 14. As for Hickey, he spent four years at Celtic only to return to Hearts – where he’d been – as he felt he’d get more opportunities. Two careers that have climbed instead of crashed – and Halkett knows that feeling well having been released by Rangers before relaunching himself at Livingston. He said: “Being told you don’t have a future at either of the Old Firm is a sink or swim situation. I discovered that and you need to remind yourself there is life after being at one of these two massive clubs. You are in an environment where you have the best of treatment and facilities then all of sudden it’s gone. You are out and need to fend for yourself. “But Lewis and Aaron are good examples that it shouldn’t be the end of your world. Andy Robertson and Stephen O’Donnell are another two who were let go at Celtic and there are many more examples. “At Rangers I felt as though I had the best coaches and every
thing at my disposal that would help me. You sign a contract and believe it’s the start of making it to the top but reality soon brings you back to earth.
“The downside to being at one of these big clubs is that very, very few players make it as a kid in the academy all the way through to the first team.
“There are huge odds stacked against you and it’s the sheer number of players for a start at Rangers. We had a massive playing staff – there were dozens of boys all trying to make a breakthrough.
“But at smaller clubs you have squads that will carry between 18 to 24 for the first team.
“When I was with Rangers the onus was on size and strength – you had to be tall to fit into the way the first team played.
“You get boys who develop at different ages and some don’t sprout until they are well into their late teens. It can then come down to bad timing for the late developers who are allowed to leave at 13, 14 or 15 years old.”
Halkett had the comfort blanket ripped from him at 20, dropping into the second tier to prove himself at first-team level.
And he reckons Hickey and Ferguson “continued to follow their dreams” rather than let setbacks stall their ambitions. He said: “They would have felt as I did, going from being attached to one of the biggest clubs in Britain to not knowing what their futures held for them.
“They’ve managed to get their heads down, worked hard and climbed back to where they are now as two of the best young players in Scotland.”
Halkett has seen enough of Hickey to believe he’s a superstar in the making, while he’s tipped Ferguson to become one of football’s hottest properties.
He said: “For a 17-year-old to play like a 27-year-old is quite something. That’s why the likes of Manchester City and AC Milan have been linked with Aaron.
“He reads the game so well. There are other parts he needs to work on but he’s willing to learn and do that.
“Lewis is similar. I played against him when he was coming through at Hamilton and he earned his move to Aberdeen.
“He’s kicked on again and is one of the first names on their teamsheet. Both boys are destined for big-money moves.
“Both boys look as though they just love playing football. They have both had the lure of signing for one of the Old Firm and who would turn that down?
“But more importantly they have shown Celtic and Rangers aren’t the be-all and end-all.”