You’ll be in poll position if kids get a chance
The Scottish elections are looming and it turns out it’s not just the usual suspects begging for your votes with promises of free fish suppers on a Friday and guarantees of a sunny summer.
Apparently there are at least 24 political parties trying to sneak a seat on the gravy train.
There’s certainly a lot of choice – but the same can’t be said about some of the options when it comes to going to the polls in Scottish football.
The main player and manager of the year awards are pretty straight forward – just lob the gongs in to the Rangers dressing room and whoever catches them will be worthy winners.
But the young player of the year award is an annual struggle.
We hear a lot about our talented youngsters but dig a little deeper and there’s few Scots kids playing every weekend.
David Turnbull will be in with a shout as he has been about the only Celtic player to get pass marks this term. Teammate Steven Welsh looks a player too
Josh Doig at Hibs has been brilliant while Ryan Porteous alongside him should be in the frame.
Lewis Ferguson at Aberdeen is top notch but it hasn’t been the best of seasons for him.
Nathan Patterson looks the first real prospect at Rangers for a generation. Ali McCann at St Johnstone would be in there if the SFA hadn’t allowed him to nip off to Northern Ireland.
But now we start to struggle. It’s great to see young Scots Billy Gilmour and Aaron Hickey make their way at clubs in England or abroad but the Scottish Premiership needs to be more of a breeding ground. Young players still don’t get enough opportunities.
Clubs harp on about their commitment to youth but it’s smoke and mirrors. They might chuck in a couple of kids in a crisis but no one’s fooled. Our academies der
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little elsew wonder kids decide to take their chances elsewhere as there’s no room to breathe let alone give a promising talent a run of games to establish themselves.
It’s fine going on loan down the leagues but these kids need to be up against the best if they are to be the best.
There’s a decent wee crop right now but there are problems coming down the line. A lot of age-group players have lost a year of their careers and it’s going to take a while before we can see the damage.
Any clubs who want to step up and do something about it would have my vote.