Bright blue future
Interest in classy kids shows we’re on the right track, insists Regan
STEWART REGAN has seen the scouts keenly taking notes. He has heard the chatter about Europe’s biggest clubs focusing in on young Scottish talent. And the SFA chief executive firmly believes the flurry of interest shows the country is doing something right.
Regan, speaking at the official opening of the new Oriam national performance centre, said he’d seen a number of major teams represented at this week’s Victory Shield tournament being played in the new venue’s hugely impressive indoor arena.
In a week that has seen 13-year-old Celtic wonder-kid Karamoko Dembele make his debut for the Scotland Under-16s and Rangers prospect Billy Gilmour linked with an array of huge clubs, Regan sees the fruit of an SFA youth revolution bearing fruit.
‘I’ve seen some of the Victory Shield performances and it’s really encouraging,’ he said. ‘There are some very talented kids and a lot of scouts watching Scottish players.
‘And, for me, that’s a signal that we’re starting to do something right — and people are starting to sit up and take note. It’s very encouraging for the future.
‘When you get Scottish boys linked with some of the biggest names across European football, then it is heartening.
‘We shouldn’t be surprised about that because what we said several years ago is that giving kids more contact time with the ball, putting them into environments where they can get greater exposure to improve coaching, performance analysis, better diets — it’s all going to make a difference.’
Still without a performance director to replace Brian McClair, however, the SFA are currently reviewing the entire area of youth development — again — partly at the behest of national team manager Gordon Strachan.
Asked if he felt the 2020 strategy laid out under previous performance director Mark Wotte was bearing fruit, Regan insisted: ‘We’re part way through. I don’t think you can say it’s a vision that has come to reality yet.
‘For me, the real test and the real success will be in 2020 when Scotland play at Hampden Park, hopefully having qualified for the European Championship. Then you can look back and say we achieved something. That’s what we’re all aiming for.’
Addressing the continued problems in parlaying the success of our age-grade international teams into any kind of senior respectability on the world stage, the SFA chief executive explained: ‘That’s part of the review we’re looking at, at the moment. The concept you’re talking about is called bridging the gap.
‘The 17-to-21 age group is the area we really need to start getting players into first teams, getting game time. There are a whole raft of initiatives that are being considered — how to make greater use of the loan system for players to get the opportunity to go out on loan to play football at firstteam level.
‘We’re still a work in progress. Today is about Oriam, the opening of a fantastic facility that has been delivered on time and on budget, £33million, a tenth of the budget of St George’s Park.’
The fact that Scotland have been without a performance director since McClair left in the summer has undoubtedly caused a delay in freshening up a youth system described as in desperate need of an overhaul by Strachan.
Yet Regan made it clear that the new man’s job won’t involve reinventing the wheel, saying: ‘The performance director will implement the strategy under review at the moment.
‘That strategy is currently being developed by a team that includes representatives from Scotland’s biggest performance clubs, and representatives from the smaller clubs as well.
‘We are listening to all aspects of what the clubs think. And then, when we’re ready, the performance director will implement that strategy — and the home of that will be Oriam.
‘We’re looking for the best person for the job. There is nothing that hasn’t been considered. We’re considering the best person to lead Scottish football’s performance strategy. So there is nothing that is off the table at the moment.
‘The performance director will be based here. This will be the performance director’s home, with his team — and he will be looking to use this facility to get better quality players for the future.
‘Back in 2011, we said we need to have world-class facilities in Scotland to complement our performance strategy that is going to allow us to develop elite players to pull on the dark blue jersey and play for Scotland. It’s great seeing it coming to reality with the official opening.’