Now, I’d like to say right from the off that in absolutely no way, shape or form am I attempting to compare our young players to the golden era that Alex Ferguson oversaw in the early to mid 1990s. I realise that this was the supposed second era of fledglings behind the 1986 Youth Cup team featuring Tony Gill, Lee Sharpe, Russell Beardsmore, however, I feel the 1990s batch had more impact and so will focus on them. In saying that, though, the similarities in the amount of players coming through and being talked about are there for all to see.
I am fully aware that there is reason to believe that we are adopting this approach out of financial necessity rather than confidence in our young players but that’s irrelevant to me, frankly. I don’t care about the reasons for blooding youth players (apart from them being good enough obviously) as long as it is happening.
In the early 1990s there were whispers down south about this golden era of talent that Sir Alex Ferguson was breeding down Old Trafford way. This much heralded youth team had successfully captured the FA Youth Cup in 1992 & again in 1993. Sound familiar?
These teams included future cornerstones of success for Man United, most notably Gary Neville, Phillip Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs.
This team also included players who went on to have varying degrees of success at clubs of less stature than Manchester United: such as Keith Gillespie, Terry Cooke, Robbie Savage, Ben Thornley, Chris Casper and Kevin Pilkington.
This brings me on nicely to Laudrup1’s excellent information regarding our youth players over the last couple of seasons. I have extracted the following from this information:
I think the pick of the players, in no real order are Andy Little, John Fleck, Andrew Shinnie, Jordan McMillan, Jamie Ness, Stephen Stirling, Gregg Wylde, Archie Campbell, Gordon Dick and Darren Cole. The last four are still at 19s level this season (and a few of them can play next season too) so have a bit to go yet but look like real stars.
Jamie Ness
If you’re looking for comparisons, Jamie Ness is the easiest one to put up against a current first team player. I see him like Kevin Thomson. He’s a defensive centre mid and left footed. Confident on the ball and a tough tackler. He’s possibly taller than Thomson too. He’s got an athleticism that’s required in the modern game. I think he’s guaranteed to make it with us. He’s a real favourite of mine.
Andy Little
Andy Little you’ll likely have seen either for Nothern Ireland or in the reserves. He almost came from nowhere over the last couple of years and I know I mentioned him as a part of the first double winning team but it was Loy and Lennon that were the first choice strikers back then with Little being a regular sub. I guess it’s just how players develop over their youth career that does this sort of thing. I though Loy was the best of the bunch back then but it’s clear that Little has become the best at the moment. He’s got lots of pace and has become very clinical in front of goal. He played in defence a few times in the 19s, again, as he was a good player but the front two were nailed on starters at that point.
John Fleck
John Fleck we obviously all know about. I was hesitant to big him up in the way that a lot had been. I’d seen flashes of brilliance (like his goals in the 07/08 cup final against Celtic - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGxSH...eature=related – the last minute equaliser, the first in that clip was sublime) but never him tearing a full back apart if he was player left midfield or the dancing by players you see from someone like Gascoigne in the middle of a pitch. The comparisons with Rooney are worthwhile. He’s another player who’s not a real striker, doesn’t have the pace to be a winger and is too forward thinking to be a central midfielder. Support striker or the left sided attacker in a front 3 seems to be the best option for him. He is a great talent though and it’s worth having 10 players working in a system to accommodate someone who can play that ball inside a defence or come up with something like that goal in the cup final. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’ll feature a lot in the first team this season. Whether he turns out like the player he possibly could be remains to be seen. There’s more pressure on him than any of the others given his hype from a young age and the exposure he’s already had.
Andrew Shinnie & Steph Stirling
Andrew Shinnie (and I’ll include Steph Stirling since they’re very similar) is a class player. He is the sort of man to carry a ball in midfield and drive at opponents. Without suggesting they’ll only make it at Motherwell or the likes, they’re similar in a sense to Stephen Hughes. Both are fairly light in the frame (though not as much as our ex youth player) in comparison to a lot of players but have an ability to shift the ball to create space for themselves. I’ve seen less of Shinnie recently with his loan spell but he always looked to ooze class where others would use their bluster to look good. Sort of like Ness being like Thomson, then these are the Mendes or Davis.
Stirling’s the younger of the two but I love how he carries the ball past players. He does remind me of Gazza doing that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see either of them come in at right midfield in the way that Davis was playing there last season as they get their chances in the team. This season, it’ll be Shinnie that gets the nod first. He could go on to be a player as good or if not better than Charlie Adam was (if we can ignore all the comments that saying something like that would draw – I’ve been very critical of Adam and he did have his faults but if we can produce a few players of that quality, we’ll save on having to spend the likes of £1m on a player like Beasley who’s been no better, really).
Jordan McMillan
Jordan McMillan’s a funny one. Remember The Wink loved him. He’s a John Brown type in terms of mental-ness (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) Just a solid player who’s willing to fight for every last ball. A great tough attitude and he can play a bit too. Possibly a better right back than centre half due to his height but that’s debatable. He has, however, not come along as much in the last two years since his 19s performances. I don't know if his attitude at that age group was more mature and he stood out for that and as everyone else catches up in that sense, he’s not the standout he had been. Could be like Rory Loy, he’s been great at a certain age and is struggling to make the next stage whereas Little, as I mentioned, didn’t feature so heavily but looks the part now. What is certain is that Jordan will have a career in football. Whether it’s with us, or at the top end of the SPL or the Championship or even above that, remains to be seen.
Danny Wilson
Danny Wilson is the real star pick of the bunch for me, even more so than Fleck. I’ve seen him play in the 19s since he was 15, like Fleck. His passing is sensational. 60 yards cross field balls get launched onto the wide players toes almost as the norm. He reads a game brilliantly too. Got the stature the modern day player needs too like Ness. I can’t praise him highly enough. Defenders get less of the headlines I suppose but he’ll be a real star for us. Of that I have no doubt. Could well see him being bled into the team at left back similar in a sense to how Gough began his professional career at Dundee Utd before moving into the middle. If Danny doesn’t make it with us, something’s gone sadly wrong.
The other four I mentioned, Gregg Wylde, Archie Campbell, Gordon Dick and Darren Cole are all still in the 19s for at least one more year and all worth keeping an eye on.
Firstly, Campbell scores a barrow load of goals. He’s been doing it since he was 17 in this team and has pace to burn. I still think he’s too wee to make it though. To do so at this level and at his height, you need to be exceptional and I don’t think that’s quite the case. I’d love him to prove me wrong though. Chris Craig was a player with all the talent in the world and if he’d been like that and six foot instead of five five, he may well have played at a higher level than he seems to have achieved.
Gregg Wylde is another with blistering pace. Not totally sure if he’s a full back, wing back or left mid yet but he’s a prospect for sure. Has improved his crossing a lot in recent months and could be a good option as back up to Papac if Stevie Smith goes sooner rather than later. Possibly too young to be thought of as a first team player for a year or so yet though.
Gordon Dick is another tough tackling midfielder. Got a great engine on him and likes to drive forward, too. Much more of an attacking player than just a destroyer in the middle of the park. Needs to calm the mental streak in him a bit but that can be worked on.
Darren Cole is a classy player. His form seems to vary a lot though. Goes through great spells and then seems to struggle for periods. I think he’s looked better at centre half than full back. He tackles like Whittaker at times so while he’s a good attacking threat at full back, he seems less nervous when defending in the middle. Can read a game well too but he needs to cut out a few silly mistakes.
Those four are all part of the Scotland international set up for their age group and it looks like a decent one too.
Laudrup1's tips for the players who we’ll see this season are Fleck obviously, Shinnie, Ness, Wilson, Little and possibly Jordan McMillan.
To go back to the start of the article, the comparison with Man United is purely based on the amount of players we have coming through at the same time. Only positives can be taken from this. These players will undoubtedly be a very close-knit bunch, especially trying to make the breakthrough at Ibrox which is never easy. They will all know each others game, strengths & weaknesses inside out and that in itself will benefit them greatly. If these players enjoy even a quarter of the success that their Manchester United counterparts did then this will have been a worthwhile course of action.
I am tremendously excited about the coming season and this is one of the main aspects. Regardless of how we got into the situation of requiring to supplement our squad with young players, this situation is upon us. Even those most critical of our Club cannot deny that some of these players appear to have the necessary tools to make it to the very top of their profession.
From what Laudrup1 has mentioned regarding the players still a year or so away, it certainly has the makings of a conveyor belt, and with Archie Campbell, Gregg Wylde, Gordon Dick and Darren Cole looking to be the next players to make the step, time will show whether we have good reason to expect this chain of talent.
Thanks again to Laudrup1 for providing me with such a detailed run down of the main talent we have coming through.