Ex-scotland boss can help where the SFA failed
Gordon Strachan has always been his own man.
That’s why Dundee reckon he’s perfect to head up their youth strategy after they rejected the SFA’S Project Brave academy rankings.
Since the end of his tenure as Scotland manager, Strachan – who was unveiled as Dundee’s new technical director on Friday –has travelled the world, researching different youth development approaches.
His resultant theory caught the interest of clubs with financial means way beyond Dundee’s.
But after successful talks with Dark Blues chief, John Nelms, former SFA man Strachan’s personal blueprint will now be employed at Dens Park, where the governing body’s assessment of their youth academy has been firmly rejected.
“I spent time with Gordon at his house and it became a five-hour conversation. I ended up stuck in traffic,” Nelms revealed.
“The programme he’s got in place is spot- on. Every organisation has issues, and at Dundee we have our own issues.
“We don’t pay attention to Club Academy Scotland’s tier system.
“We will spend money, and do things the way we feel is appropriate to produce the best players we possibly can.
“Gordon’s programme and, by the way, he’s still developing that programme, will help us identify the problems we have, and think about how we can settle those.
“We have a goal to produce players who then move on and get better.
“We think adding Gordon gives the club more prominence, and if we can embed his ideas, we can reach our ambitions.
“Gordon wants to come in, and the fact he has that fire and passion to take it on is really exciting.”
Dundee were given Performance Level status – effectively the lowest ranking within the Club Academy Scotland system – after being audited as part of Project Brave in 2017.
The club responded by accusing the SFA of encouraging clubs to be financially irresponsible in pursuit of higher rankings.
But they hope Gordon Strachan’s arrival will give them an edge no other clubs – including a pair of foreign sides who were keen to bring the 62-year-old in – can claim.
“The two clubs I’ve shown it to are on different sides of the world,” explained Strachan. “And they both thought: ‘ Yep, we could do that’.
“It just shows there’s a theme running through it that can work.
“The other club I showed my work to are on a different financial level to Dundee.
“But it wouldn’t have been conducive for me to work there. Lesley ( Strachan’s wife) and myself would have been isolated over there. Here we’re not isolated.
“She will enjoy the experience as much as I will. I couldn’t be selfish and say: ‘Could you just tag along and hang about in the house’.
“I’m at the age I can pick and choose where I want to work, and it’s the best for the family as well.”
Keeping families involved will be one theme, beyond the obvious footballrelated work, of Strachan’s strategy at Dens.
“We have to look at the family as well as the player, to make sure football doesn’t stress them out,” he said.
“For families, it can be stressful for a lot of reasons. It can be detrimental to the siblings. If everyone concentrates on one kid, the others in the family get dragged along.
“They miss out on a sporting life or just more leisure time. So that concerns us.
“It’s not just getting the player, it’s making sure the player enjoys it here and the family enjoys it here.
“Hopefully they can have a stress- free journey through our academy.”
Stress- free does not mean “easy”, however.
The ultimate goal, Strachan says, is to help Dundee create rounded, talented footballers with strong characters.
After 45 years in the game, he knows getting the job done will require hard work on everybody’s part. But he believes there are already young Scottish players setting the example for the stars of tomorrow.
“There has to be an agreement between the families and kids that we’ve got to push your kids,” he said.
“When they come home, sometimes they won’t like us.
“There are top clubs where money is no expense. But they can’t create mentallystrong characters.
“Look at Andy Robertson. He didn’t go down the original pathway. He got knocked back at Celtic, and was selling programmes at Queen’s Park.
“John Mcginn is the same. About four years ago he was going to head off to America. But John made his own pathway.
“When I saw him helping people and the coaching staff one day, I thought: ‘He’s a good lad’.
“He was helping carry kit while the rest of the guys were away down the road with headphones on, or talking.
“So that says to me, there’s a good man, who thinks about somebody else in this world we live in where it’s all: ‘Me, me, me’.
“Andy is the same. If you’re talking about the two most-successful players outwith the Celtic lads, and maybe Ryan Fraser, the trait I saw in them was that they’re good lads.”