Scottish system prepares our star kids to fail
SAYS MARK WARBURTON
SCOTTISH football unwrapped a couple of late Christmas presents for television viewers across the UK in successive days over the festive period.
Celtic’s visit to Tynecastle and Rangers’ Championship joust with Hibs provided a genuine spectacle to excite those still glued to their sofas. These were intense, meaningful encounters with plentiful attacking skill played in front of full houses. If every game this side of the border was of a similar ilk, broadcasters and sponsors would be queuing up to hand over their cash.
But they aren’t. And the question of how we improve the product, as the marketing folk would have it, is one which continues to vex as we enter 2016.
Working from the perspective of the national team, Gordon Strachan and SFA performance director Brian McClair are expected to unveil their blueprint early this year. Their desire is to formulate an overhaul that will lead to this country producing a better standard of player.
Mark Warburton will await that bulletin with interest. Certainly, the Rangers manager can be considered a kindred spirit when it comes to a wish for change. After six months in his post, he is convinced the current youth system in Scotland is stifling native talent and failing youngsters in their preparation for top-level football.
The 53-year-old’s personal experience lends weight to his opinion. A former academy manager at Watford, director of football at Brentford and co-originator of the NextGen Series — a forerunner of the UEFA Youth League — Warburton is well versed in what it takes to turn a talented teenager into a capable professional.
‘The modern game is changing,’ he said. ‘You are now demanding a more technical athlete, who is more tactically astute in terms of formations and finding solutions in games. That is what the game at the highest level demands. The higher you go up the pyramid, the more you need players armed with all the attributes.
‘The responsibility lies with the academies and the youth teams to produce players and challenge them. I have referred to the NextGen tournament in the past because it put the best against the best. We must make sure our players play against the best around the world. I want them to play Barca, Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, PSG, Lyon. I want them to play in competitive games that mean something.
‘Investment could come in the form of an Under-19s cup involving four Scottish teams. There is no box we need to think outside. Just think differently and give the players something to challenge them.
‘How can you go from an Under-20s game with 150 people to playing in front of 50,000 against Hibs on Monday? There has to be something that prepares them to make that transition, to prepare them to succeed.
‘At the moment, we prepare them to fail. The players that have come through now have come through despite the system, rather than because of it.’
Asked whether McClair had spoken to him about the topic, Warburton added: ‘Brian’s background is way above mine. I just have my own views, but I know I have done a lot of work with youth players and youth tournaments. I had the privilege of working with some of the world’s biggest clubs and you can learn so much. Barcelona, Ajax, Valencia, Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Aston Villa. There was magnificent work being done in those academies and we have to make sure Scottish players are given the best chance.
‘There is not a dearth of good footballers suddenly. When I grew up, there were so many good Scottish players around such as Gordon McQueen, Joe Jordan and Gordon Strachan. All these players were magnificent and, now, apparently, there are no players.
‘Look at Barrie McKay and Jason Holt. There are players in the system. Just give them the chance to be the best they can be.’
Change cannot simply be for the sake of it, of course. And Warburton has already expressed scepticism about the alterations to next season’s domestic calendar, which include a summer start for the League Cup and a winter break in the region of 20 days.
‘I just think you have to get it right,’ he said. ‘If there is a problem with the game, a problem with the product, then you have to get the timing right, and looking at the alternatives regarding preparation.
‘We have to get more investment in the Scottish game. There has to be a better quality of product. If that has to be summer football, the whole structure must be amended to make sure the players are fresh, rested and you have time as a coach and a manager to work with your players.’
It would be wrong, though, to suggest Warburton is negative about Scottish football as a whole. Far from it. The response from English friends to the postChristmas double-header proved there can be a way to sell the best of our game.
‘I had more texts about both matches from people down south,’ said Warburton, whose side face Dumbarton tomorrow, having restored a three-point lead over Hibs.
‘They enjoyed watching the Hearts and Celtic game. Loved it. Loved the atmosphere and said what a great place it was for football. After our game with Hibs, I had 45 texts from people who enjoyed it. The quality of those two games in terms of the visual spectacle was first class. The more we can do that, the more investment we can get into the Scottish game to improve things.’