No harm in trying with Old Firm youths in League 2 B-teams in SPFLhardly a Colt from the blue...
AS always, the devil will be in the detail. But it is the big picture that Scottish football must look at and address.
The prospect of “Colt” teams playing in the professional leagues is nothing new but the arguments for and against have changed little since the idea was first floated several years ago.
Now, the dream for some is closer to becoming a reality. For others, it is the nightmare scenario, however.
In an interview with SportTimes last May, Craig Mulholland, the Head of Academy at Rangers, revealed B teams could be in place for the start of the 2018/19 campaign.
Now he and his Celtic counterpart, Chris McCart, have been making the case for the Glasgow giants to field second string teams in League Two as part of a pilot scheme.
There is still some way to go – not least a vote of all 42 member clubs – before a ball is kicked by an Old Firm kid in the lower leagues.
Issues ranging from stadia and squad size to prize money and the number of fixtures have still to be ironed out and the clubs in the fourth tier have the power in their hands at present.
Much of the debate around Colt outfits in the past has centred on Rangers and Celtic having a presence in Scottish football after they had managed to engineer a route out of our game, either to England or into a new league setup. But that isn’t the case this time around. On this occasion, it is all about the next generation at both clubs and giving their young players the best chance possible of making the grade.
Rangers are already trying something different at Under-20 level this term after withdrawing from the Development League and opting to arrange matches with their counterparts from across the country and the continent.
It is a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained for the Light Blues. If the scheme proves successful and their players improve physically, tactically and mentally then it will have been worth it.
And it is the same with the Colt teams. If we don’t try it, we don’t know if it will work or not and there is surely no harm in exploring all options.
THE rolling out of Performance Schools by the Scottish FA was a step in a new direction and the implementation of Project Brave, under the guidance of Performance Director Malky Mackay, is the next phase of the Hampden blueprint.
Colt teams are unlikely to be the final piece of the jigsaw and there are doubts over whether the benefits will be substantial enough to make it worthwhile. But until it is tried and tested we won’t know.
It is important that the B sides don’t ride roughshod over the clubs outside the Premiership, however, and it is understandable that some supporters might feel their leagues are being devalued by the presence of what are, in effect, two youth squads.
The Championship, League One and League Two may not be as prized to the SPFL in a commercial sense as the Premiership but the integrity of those divisions must remain intact. The proposal is unlikely to earn universal support from fans outside the top flight and only time will tell how punters at Ibrox and Parkhead react. The matches involving their sides in the Challenge Cup haven’t exactly captured the imagination. It is hard to see significant crowds following Rangers and Celtic in the fourth tier and the novelty value could quickly wear off.
If the likes of Aberdeen, Hearts or Hibernian ever firm up their interest in a Colt team, the same doubts will remain across the board, but that is why a two-year test period is the way forward. It is better to take a step than to stand still.
There are fears to be allayed and questions to be answered but the conversation is worth having. Only then will we know if there is a Plan B or not.