What got me thinking about it was last Saturday's 3-3 goalfest between Dumbarton and Clyde. Neither club have lived up to their former highs in recent years (a glorious giant-killing act aside) and as 975 brave souls watched the game at Strathclyde Homes Stadium, I noticed that three former Ibrox kids were on show. Callum Reidford was in goals for Clyde. He joined up with former Gers reserve gaffer John Brown following an unsuccessful loan spell with Dundee and a less than stellar stint with Dunfermline. Whilst he was never going to dislodge Stefan Klos as the Gers number 1, he would reasonably have been expected to have learned from the German. A first-half red card for needlessly getting involved with a Dumbarton forward, including the obligatory aggressive “head butt” gesture, summed up everything that was wrong with him as a boy at our club. Tales of his inconsistency and attitude are many and all generally agree that he lacks the discipline, as well as the ability, to make it to the big time.
Dumbarton, however, had promising young striker Derek Carcary in their squad. Carcary fired 4 goals at home to Elgin City at the last home game of the 08/09 season – a first for almost 40 years for the Sons of the Rock – and although he found himself starting the game on the subs bench, he was thrown on at half-time with the aim of changing the game. He still has explosive pace and although he has a reasonably slight frame he is able to stand up to some robust tackles. A naturally gifted left-footed player, he seemed to have everything that the modern game cries out for and yet he too failed to make the grade at Ibrox. He was signed from Queens Park amid much hope and yet he failed to deliver on the potential that the Rangers scouts must surely have seen in him. In defence ex-Ger Chris Smith patrolled the left flank with some authority. A casualty from the Gers youth ranks, he found first team football with Morton before moving on to Dumbarton in the summer. Neither player looked capable of making his mark in the top flight of the game yet both look like they could have very good careers in the lesser ranks of Scottish football. Young Chris Craig (he of the Gers caravan-owning father) has also signed for The Sons but was missing from Saturday's squad.
So what happened to the Blue Heaven generation? Charlie Adam was an undoubted positive having both contributed to the Rangers first team over the course of several seasons and earned himself a move to a decent standard of football that will offer him the chance to continue his career. Chris Burke, shown in 2003 to be making the leap from reserve to first team player, has also found his way to the English Championship and Peter Leven, so plagued by injury in his relatively short career, is making a go of things with MK Dons.
Of course there were those who didn't make the grade and are plying their trade in less impressive surroundings. Reidford, as mentioned, eventually joined ex-gaffer Brown at crisis club Clyde. Steven Campbell is making a living in the West-State League down under with Perth SC and Scott Agnew is on loan at Alloa having wound up with The Honest Men of Ayr United. Others such as Jordan McMillan and Alan Lowing have struggled with injury problems and unimpressive loan spells and whilst they remain at Ibrox, hopes of wearing the proud blue shirt must surely have all but gone.
What happens when a youngster leaves Rangers? As a fan I'd naturally say that the only way is down but the truth is that promising youngsters who wont make the grade at Ibrox can still have a decent career in football. The problem is that for every Stephen Hughes or Bob Malcolm who continue to earn a decent living from the game, there's a Billy Gibson doomed to wander the lower reaches of the first and second division. Guys like Tom Brighton, Darryl Duffy and Steven MacLean may earn healthy wages from English clubs but others are forced to find whatever football they can. Brian Gilmour has found his way to FC Haka in Finland – a similar journey to that of Paul McShane, a year my senior in school, who eventually forged a meaningful career in Iceland.
Our youngsters have featured sparingly during pre-season. Less than impressive run-outs against older players with more physical conditioning (if less footballing ability) have only highlighted that we still have a long way to go before we have a really successful youth system. Its been six years since we were given a glimpse of Blue Heaven and yet we're no closer to the promised conveyor belt of home-grown talent, statements that “the current bunch of youngsters at Ibrox are the best I've ever seen” from our coaches sounding increasingly hollow with each passing season.
Scottish football needs youth development: there's no other way of putting it.
Dwindling income from television and sponsors coupled with modest attendances throughout the league (our own club aside) and teams like Falkirk, Hamilton and Hibs have had no option but to put their faith in a core of talented prospects. For Rangers the stakes are so much higher and the weight of expectation on kids like John Fleck and Danny Wilson can often be overwhelming. I wonder what a new series of Blue Heaven would show? Would we be any closer to the dream of producing players capable of greatness? Would we see solid professionals making their way in the game with clubs of prestige either side of the border? Or would it be the same sorry tale of the few who can go all the way and the many who unfortunately cant?
Blue Heaven should have been a taster for what was to come from Auchenhowie. It's important that all these years later the Rangers youth system is not just another stale repeat of a show that promised so much but had so little longevity.