Lots of young players these days look good, smell nice... but they don’t put the work in
ON aNy given night, the corridors of training complexes the length and breadth of the country echo to the noise of their studs scraping against concrete.
They are a sporting battalion whose appearance remains remarkably predictable wherever they go: the Cristiano haircut. The luminous boots. The designer wash bag. Parents following in their wake, pandering to their every wish.
Welcome to Club academy Scotland, ladies and gentlemen. Pro-youth to give it its moniker — a contradiction in terms if ever there was one.
Well-meaning at its inception two decades ago, without question. But now widely perceived to be bloated, ruinous and badly in need of the makeover Project Brave is expected to administer.
On the face of it, the idea of hot-housing the best emerging talents in the finest environments under the guidance of the most astute coaches was compelling. In practice, it has left much to be desired.
Throw a Celtic, Rangers or a Hearts strip on a talented 14-year-old and strange things can happen. In the minds of many, it’s a source of inspiration to one day pull it on for real.
For others, it’s a signal that they have already made it. If the job description says ‘pro’, who are they to rock the boat?
On this delicate issue, Brendan Rodgers is keen not to hurl the baby out with the bathwater.
In conjunction with their tie-in with St Ninian’s High, Celtic’s youth development has recently borne fruit with the emergence of anthony Ralston, Calvin Miller and, most notably, Kieran Tierney.
For the former youth team coach, though, there exists a worrying culture throughout the game that fosters the notion that crossing the threshold of a training complex is akin to arriving in the first team.
‘you have to be careful with young players,’ said Rodgers. ‘I say to the young players here, it’s very easy to walk around with the Louis Vuitton soap bag.
‘When you walk out of here, don’t tell people you play for Celtic. No, you are training with Celtic.
‘you are playing for Celtic when you are in the first team.
‘Lots of young players these days look good, they smell nice, but they don’t put the work in. They don’t play.
‘It’s about working to play for the first team.’
Keen to encourage a different ethic, some clubs have taken cosmetic steps such as banning the wearing of anything other than black and white boots. Tierney, notably, took that decision for himself.
There comes a point, though, when all the habit-forming rules and words of wisdom are in danger of being washed away. It tends to happen when enormous sums of money are thrust into the pockets of young men who have scrimped and saved for everything they have. ‘There is one common denominator when it comes to young players falling by the wayside: money,’ warned Rodgers.
‘It distorts reality. It changes people.
‘I’m always cautious of that. I had Raheem Sterling playing for England and a regular in the Liverpool first team on £2,000 per week.
‘I couldn’t do it any longer than about the November time because he was absolutely brilliant, so we had to get him on a different contract. But I stretched it out as long as I could.
‘With young players, one, they have to earn it and, two, you don’t go overboard with them because they have played a couple of good games.
‘Stay calm. See how consistent and professional they are and, if they are doing well, they will always get rewarded.
‘Let them get some games in their legs and let them go from there.’
There is absolutely nothing in Ralston’s make-up to suggest the signing of a hugely improved contract at some point in the future would in any way take his eye off the ball.
Smart, grounded and mannerly, as well as his obvious attributes as a right-back, the similarities with Tierney are plentiful.
But he is still only 18. Despite the enormous amount of positive publicity surrounding him this season, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that he has started just five games.
as highly promising as that future looks, his manager prefers to remain in the moment. There is no desperate need to roll out a contract punctuated with figures resembling telephone numbers.
‘Let’s let him be and not get carried away just yet,’ said Rodgers. ‘He’s only just started playing games.
‘Tony has done very well. He still has some improvements to make but there’s a really good base for him to be a part of the team.’
Few would doubt that such tweaks will be made in due course. Give Ralston a year or two and there is every chance he will succeed Tierney as the poster boy for Celtic’s development.
With the right mentality and work ethic, Rodgers believes he will not be alone.
‘They need to behave themselves and stay professional,’ he said of those aspiring first-team players. ‘I like young players but I don’t like them to act young.
‘you need to have a maturity, especially at a big club like this one, with the focus on you.
‘The young players I’ve brought in have all been great. I don’t have any qualms about how they live their life.
‘They all know the demands to be here. you stay humble when you win and look to improve every day.
‘With that, your life will get better and better.
‘But never go away from what it’s all about — hard work and doing your very best.’
It’s likely that a number of the next generation will be part of the squad which travels to Dens Park for tonight’s Betfred Cup quarter-final with Dundee but that is not to say Celtic’s desire to hang on to the trophy they won last November is up for question.
Undefeated in 55 domestic matches, any pretentions Rodgers’ side have of being the first in the club’s history to win back-to-back Trebles will evaporate unless they give a Dundee outfit coming off the back of their first league win of the season their full attention.
‘That’s a long way away,’ stressed goalkeeper Craig Gordon. ‘We
When you leave here, don’t tell people you play for Celtic. No, you are training with Celtic
just have to keep winning games. We are still in September. We have a quarter-final to try to win against Dundee.
‘We need to keep winning, we want to win.
‘We want to get into the next round and, if we do, then we are a step closer to the first trophy of the season. We still have three games to win, so (the Treble) is still a long way away.’
Sunday is a year to the day since Gordon climbed off the bench against Kilmarnock to reclaim his place from the man who had briefly displaced him — Dorus de Vries. And the Scot hasn’t missed a minute since.
That taste of being an outsider looking in was far from pleasant, though. Bitter enough for him to dismiss any notion that he might welcome a rest any time soon.
‘I don’t know if I’d take a break — I might not start again,’ he added. ‘I don’t mind keeping on playing. There were plenty of times when I wasn’t playing. I’m not going to start complaining about not getting a rest.’