St Mary’s academy shows how it should be done, says Murty

GRAEME Murty believes his former side Southampton should be held up as the blueprint for how to get the most out of a youth academy.

Rangers’ interim manager had a season as a player at the St Mary’s side, and then worked in their academy as a youth development coach. Southampton have subsequently risen from the depths of League One to reach this afternoon’s League Cup final and Murty can’t help but be impressed.

“I didn’t realise the scale of Southampton as a club until I got there,” he said. “Playing at Reading, I thought they were always fairly large. But when I got there to see the fanbase and the infrastructure behind the football pitch – I realised it had been built knowingly, and professionally, to go only one way.

“And you’re seeing a manifestation of that now. Because all of the things you see now were put in place when Southampton dropped down to League One, many years ago. The people who started that deserve massive credit. They’ve got solid people, good investment and despite a massive turnover in playing staff – they never dilute the quality. So fair play to them.

“When I went there in 2009, the club were very clear in their mission statement in terms of where they wanted to be, particularly in their use of the academy. In that statement, they were clear that 50 per cent of their first team would eventually come from their academy. And within five years they’d be challenging in the Premier League as well as playing European football. They’ve nailed it. When you get on board with something like that – and you have the energy and investment ready to go – it’s very hard not to be excited about it. “To then see them actually go and execute it, you have to take your hat off to them. Lots of clubs can learn from Southampton, not just Rangers. Because they have a depth chart of players, managers, staff who all buy into the philosophy and want to be involved with how Southampton do it. “They call it the Southampton way. That’s not a trite title. It’s something they live by every day. If clubs are looking to build and invest, I’d look at how they’ve done it and how they’ve managed to add quality every year. “They’re very exacting in the way they select those players. Their recruitment doesn’t get as much credit as it should do. More than anything, their academy is clear that they must be good people. If they’re the wrong type of person, they won’t survive in the Southampton environment. If you look at the age group that’s most closely linked to it, which includes James Ward-Prowse, Luke Shaw, Callum Chambers, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – they’re all rounded individuals. That’s all down to a fantastic education programme. The football is just one element to it.”