Celts taking out loans and kids are paying for it
A stroll down the corridor leading to the St Ninian’s High School gym is to take a glimpse into the array of graduates who have made a name for themselves at Celtic.
Framed shirts adorn the walls from the Bhoys made good, some more recognisable than others. Charlie Mulgrew, Kieran Tierney, Anthony Ralston, Jamie McCart, Jack Aitchison and Michael Johnson to name but a few in a sliding scale.
A partnership between the Hoops and the Kirkintilloch house of education appears in to be delivering it’s fair share of glittering alumni.
Home-grown, nurtured and developed with a balance of both football and studies, it should be an arrangement which falls into the no-brainer department.
But sadly, it’s not quite as it seems.
Celtic’s success is a distance from the current batch of St Ninian’s pupils working their way through a dream factory which they hope will take them from first year to first team.
But here’s the issue. With the most extreme of exceptions, the majority will suffer from a shortsightedness which remains the one downside of Brendan Rodgers’ time at Celtic.
It was a concern voiced by Craig ‘Pitbull’ Levein during last week when he dared uttered a truth about the transfer policy exercised by the champions.
He said: “They go and get loan players, who are the same age, and don’t play their own kids – that hampers Scotland’s development.”
The Hearts boss is correct, there’s an element of fact in the claim Rodgers is as much borrowing a team as he likes to believe he’s building one.
Patrick Roberts, Odsonne Edouard and Charly Musonda aren’t marquee signings, they’re just a few examples of players being placed at Celtic by big clubs who use the Parkhead outfit as an exclusive finishing school.
Celtic are as fertile a development grounding as you get, clubs can place their assets and discover whether they sink or swim at Champions League level without any risk to their own ambitions.
It’s a win-win policy which is a loser for Celtic’s teenage wannabes and does nothing to ease the bottleneck at the business end of the club’s development programme.
The problem is laid bare with Belgium Under-21 kid Musonda with Chelsea apparently unhappy one of the 33 rookies they’ve loaned hasn’t been playing enough. Noses are out of joint because their asset isn’t getting utilised and it says everything about how clubs view the likes of Celtic and their place in the football chain as a feeder club.
Rodgers is askew in his belief Scottish football should be thrilled by the arrival of a surplus to requirement from Stamford Bridge.
At the time he said: “I think there was something up to 24 clubs interested in taking Charly so for him to want to come here is a great coup.”
His sentiments won’t be shared by the likes of Lewis Morgan or Ryan Christie.
Look at Roberts. At last he has seen the light and is about to shed the ‘comfort blanket’ of a somewhat career-stagnating two and half seasons here.
There has been nothing long-term about his impact as he’s heading back to try his luck at Manchester City.
No matter how you frame it, Celtic’s loan deal policy is full of flaws. It stifles academy kids to have stop-gap names on the back of their jerseys.