Dempster can’t be accused of lack of ambition.. if secret weapon at AZ can copy youth success Queen’s will be laughing
CHANCES are few folk in Scottish football had heard of Marijn Beuker at the start of the week.
But they know all about him in Holland and the reaction in his homeland to the news the 37-year-old has left his sporting development director role at AZ Alkmaar for League One in Scotland has raised eyebrows.
It’s also an indication Leeann Dempster at Queen’s Park might have pulled off one of the coups of this or any other season.
While all the focus has been on the arrival of the Dutch contingent led by Gio van Bronckhorst and including Ajax development guru Dave Vos at Ibrox, the landing of Beuker by Queen’s is no less intriguing.
In fact it’s a lot more, given he has left a club that was part of his life for 15 years, having developed it into one of the most progressive in Europe in terms of graduating youngsters from its academy into the first team.
Over the past six years, almost 50 per cent of game time in the first team has been played by boys who have come through AZ’s academy system.
Beuker has been the brains behind that operation. In the past two seasons, young players who have brought through the
Alkmaar system have not only been playing for a club that’s become a Europa League regular, although they were knocked out by Celtic in the play-offs this season, but have been sold for eye-watering amounts of cash.
Striker Myron Boadu, only 20 and already a full Dutch international, was sold to Monaco for £14.5million in the summer.
Another attacker, 22-year-old Calvin Stengs joined him in the French top flight, heading to Nice in a £12.7m deal. Midfielder Teun Koopmeiners went to Atalanta in Italy for £10.3m.
That’s nearly £40m raked in this summer alone. Two years ago Guus Til, another midfielder developed under Beuker, was sold to Spartak Moscow for £15.3m. The guy’s track record for identifying and moulding talent is right up there but it’s the structures that Beuker has put in place at Alkmaar that has seen them punch above their weight.
He said in a podcast recently: “If we tried to compete based on budget it wouldn’t work because we have the sixth or seventh biggest budget in Holland. So we have to think differently.
“As we always say, you can always get better, whether you’re an ambitious starter or looking to gain an edge. We focus on people driving together to produce something that they’re proud of. Because we believe in growth and development, regardless of age.”
How differently he thinks, we are about to find out in Scotland.
He doesn’t appear to lack confidence in his own ability. Then again, show me a Dutchman who does? His comment in the media release
announcing his impending arrival spoke volumes about that aspect of his personality, saying: “I am very grateful I can be a part of this new era for us all. I will respect the legacy of the club but I am also ready to put a new dent in the universe.”
Queen’s Park are aiming for the stars all right and at the very core of their ambition is a determination to produce their own talent, fill their first team with kids who have come through their system, and sell them on for big money.
Sound familiar? I’ll bet it does to Beuker.
They are moving at breakneck speed, having only gone professional two years ago, and even Ray McKinnon winning League Two at a canter last season wasn’t enough for him to keep his job.
They’ve hit a dip in form after a bright start to life in League One but are looking to get out of that division and having invested in
Championship-quality players, added to a couple who could perform in the Premiership, it’s reasonable to assume that a failure to go up will not be met with a shrug of the shoulders.
That’s the immediate future. Longer term the appointment of Beuker will be designed to completely overhaul the club’s youth structure – and as a parent of a boy currently within it, the development will be fascinating to watch.
An Alkmaar fan, reacting to the news of Beuker’s departure, tweeted: “AZ’s secret weapon is gone. Hopefully the structure he put in place carries us long term without him there.”
Queen’s Park will be hoping AZ’s loss is their gain and Dempster cannot be accused of a lack of ambition. It’s doubtful that the Dutchman has come cheap – Lord Willie Haughey’s financial support has almost certainly made the move happen – but if
Beuker can replicate the success he had in Holland he will be worth every penny of the outlay it has taken to bring him to Mount
Florida.