Iain McMenemy: Rangers offer some good ideas but their plan needs more work

They still have to convince clubs and fans that B teams is the way forward

Jim Leighton and Colin Hendry are unable to prevent Morocco’s second goal in a 3-0 defeat at the 1998 World Cup, the last time Scotland qualified for a major finals. Picture: AFP/Getty.

Reconstruction talks took a new twist this week when Rangers unveiled a new discussion paper on the subject. The wide-ranging document contains suggestions that would deal with the issues caused by COVID-19, namely the relegation of Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer, as well as the cancellation of play-offs that have potentially affected Kelty and Brora from the Lowland and Highland leagues respectively.

The paper also dealt with other issues. It proposed the introduction into the SPFL of B teams for Rangers and Celtic. This is something that has been proposed before and there was little support for it on each of those occasions.

However, this time around, they have produced a wider-ranging paper that contains other ideas and suggestions, including a couple of proposals that I have been advocating for the past few years. Namely, the concept of strategic partnerships between Premiership and lower-league clubs, and increasing the number of loans in any one season from four to six, with all six loans coming from one club.

But let me state my position up front. I’ve been against the introduction of B teams in the past. On each occasion I’ve kept an open mind when it was proposed, but I’ve challenged those putting the suggestion forward to answer some fundamental issues and to prove their case. On each of the previous occasions I have ultimately gone against the proposals as I believe the case hadn’t been made.

On this occasion, I will once again go into it with an open mind. I had a video call with Rangers on Saturday morning and I listened to their proposals. There are some good ideas, and their paper is most definitely more robust and detailed than it has been in the past.

However, they still have a job to do to convince people that B Teams is the way forward. They need to convince football clubs to support them, and this includes club officials and supporters. I laid that challenge down to them.

I would ask all clubs to approach the issue with an open mind and to engage with them. This should be a journey.

They still have a job to do to convince me or the supporters at Stenhousemuir to support the proposals. However, I welcome the debate.

Many of the proposals within their documents are issues that football needs to address. We have failed as a nation to qualify for a major tournament for more than 20 years. An entire generation has never watched Scotland in the later stages of a major tournament.

We have been way behind the curve in building a strong Scottish football brand that is able to command the sort of finance that many leagues can achieve from broadcasters across Europe.

Our talent development is woefully inadequate. I don’t accept, at all, that we no longer have world-class talent in Scotland. We either haven’t found them, or we have wasted their talent, or failed to bring them through.

I can be critical of the Old Firm but, on this occasion, at least they are pushing the debate. A debate that, arguably, should be led by the Scottish FA with the SPFL playing its part.

Within the document is the strategic partnerships ideas that I’ve been trying to put forward for many years. The concept is built around talent, recruitment and development of players.

I would see the partnership being a long-term relationship between clubs, where young Scottish talent is identified and nurtured within the Premiership club. Key players would be flagged up and a plan put in place for them to eventually be loaned to their lower-league club partners. This would be at an agreed time and as part of a player’s long-term development plan. The lower-league club would know a season or two in advance who they were getting, and a plan put in place to ensure there was suitable game time and opportunity for the youngster to feature. Up to six players could be in place at a club at any one time.

This allows lower-league clubs to plan ahead and introduce the best emerging talent into their squads in a strategic way. As well as the players, the respective club coaches would work together. Ideas could be shared, to include the style of play and the development of coaching potential.

If talent emerges, and goes on to bigger and better opportunities, then both clubs could be rewarded financially, with the proceeds going towards building the game at all levels. We no longer have academies that cover all geographical parts of Scotland. We will be missing out on talent. But we do have clubs in so many communities, that the two-way identification of talent, and the upwards flow of skilled youngsters could be coordinated through these partnerships.

One thing is for sure, we need to explore fresh thinking and embrace new ideas. Scottish football must improve, grow and develop.

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