WARBURTON IS BLINDED BY YOUTH PLAYERS

MARK WARBURTON keeps signing boys to play in a league where men are men and the tackling is tough. However stymied he might be by financial restraints, is the Rangers manager really sure that continually gambling on not just youth, but young players who have rarely proven themselves beyond their age grade, represents the best strategy? Some have suggested that, as the whole Joey Barton saga proved, Warburton isn’t all that comfortable working with senior players who might have a few ideas of their own. Warburton’s harshest critics portray him as a man who only enjoys working with impressionable footballers fresh out of youth teams. Maybe it’s simpler than that. Perhaps, given the injury suffered by Niko Kranjcar and the lack of impact made by Philippe Senderos, the former Brentford boss merely sees limited merit in trying to bring old players up to speed. His latest arrivals, USA Under-20s captain Emerson Hyndman (left) and Arsenal kid Jon Toral, do rather play into the pattern. Neither arrives with any guarantees they’ll be ready for the pressure of playing at Ibrox, still one of the biggest stages in British football. Like many, Warburton has been repeatedly blinded by the English academy system. Duped into thinking that a kid who looks great in the development league is ready for the step up. Except that, in Under-20s football, to quote from one young footballer in conversation recently, ‘nobody tackles you’. Celtic have also gone for youth in this transfer window so far, although 19-year-old Kouassi Eboue has played in the Russian top flight and Europa League. That’s why they’ve laid down the best part of £3million to get him. The contrast with Hyndman and Toral, on paper at least, looks pretty stark. Of course, football isn’t played on paper. It’s played on rutted, muddy grass pitches and a couple of variable plastic surfaces. At least, that’s how it works round these parts. Call it all a valuable learning experience, but is it capable of turning boys into men? WELL, you didn’t think Novak Djokovic would just roll over, did you? Andy Murray remains world No 1, but losing the first final of 2017 to his great rival has planted a few doubts ahead of the Australian Open. Still, the newly knighted Sir Andy heads to Melbourne next week as joint favourite to win a title that has proven painfully elusive. Five times a finalist, including the past two years running, yet never a winner Down Under. Something’s got to give. Let’s hope it’s Novak.