Steven Gerrard: Rangers kids are young, gifted and held back

Trophies have hardly been in plentiful supply at Ibrox in recent years, with it fast approaching eight years since a major senior honour came Rangers’ way.
Winning goalscorer Nathan Young-Coombes with the Scottish Youth Cup at Hampden. Picture: Bruce White/SNSWinning goalscorer Nathan Young-Coombes with the Scottish Youth Cup at Hampden. Picture: Bruce White/SNS
Winning goalscorer Nathan Young-Coombes with the Scottish Youth Cup at Hampden. Picture: Bruce White/SNS

Yet, much as Steven Gerrard believes any achievement deserves to be celebrated
and “loved” the Youth Cup final win over Celtic on Thursday evening, he refuses to let the glint of silver blind him to what is important about these baby steps.

Rangers have a strong possibility of adding the Reserve League title to the Youth Cup but Gerrard sees developing a winning mentality in that arena as of secondary importance to developing attributes that allow teenage prospects to bridge the gap to senior 
football.

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The 39-year-old former Liverpool midfielder believes that the current system offers no real pathway to making that leap with so many Scottish-based talents appearing to lose their way between the ages of 17 and 22.

Gerrard backs his director of football Mark Allen’s calls this week for colt teams to be entered at the lower leagues in Scotland.

“[Winning competitions at these age groups is] all fantastic and they deserve a lot of praise for that but that’s not my interest, with all due respect,” said Gerrard. “I wasn’t looking to see them lift a trophy. I’m looking for that one person who can add to my 18, make it stronger, come and contribute and maybe save me money in the coming transfer window.

“I’m obviously delighted for the kids, the experience of winning and playing at Hampden, it’s all great for them but I’m looking for that one or two.

“I’m saying ‘where are they going to be in six months?’ ‘Can they potentially stop me going into the transfer market during the next window or the window after?’

“There is also a group within the reserve squad who potentially have got the talent but there is a lot else that needs to be there.”

With that in mind, it seems unlikely any of Thursday’s young Hampden heroes will be rewarded with a place on the bench for tomorrow’s Premiership clash with Aberdeen at Ibrox. But Gerrard certainly has his eye on them.

He added: “I’m always saying to Graeme Murty and the academy staff that talent will only get you so far. I need them to have the body. I need them to live right, on and off the pitch, and I need them to be mentally strong to cope with the demands of playing at first-team level. They have to be good enough to move someone out the way. There are a lot of factors that go with the young players. It’s not just talent. It’s not just ‘oh, he scored a good goal’ or ‘he scored 16 goals at youth level’.

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“Is he capable and mentally strong enough to come and move a Scott Arfield or a Connor Goldson? Have they got that in their locker? That’s what I’m looking for.

“The young players are certainly giving me something to think of it [but] what I do know for sure is that reserve-team football for these kids is not good enough in Scotland.

“We need to find a way of giving them bigger and better tests and experiences.

“We try to do that as a club. We don’t just want to test these kids domestically. We arrange games in England and in Europe. We give them different tests. But I do think we can do something in Scotland to change the structure.

“I don’t think 23s football is good enough in England and I don’t think the reserves is good enough up here. In a lot of the games, we win 5-1 and 6-1. I don’t feel the kids are getting a test or challenge.

“It doesn’t look real compared to Premiership level. We need to find a way to give these kids something that is closer to first-team level and we need to get them playing in front of crowds against men earlier.

“I watched the Scotland-England 21s game at Tynecastle not so long ago and it was a major mismatch. But I watched the youth cup finals in Scotland and England on Thursday night, and I didn’t see much difference. Up to a certain age, I think we are in good shape in Scotland in terms of creating talents. But then there is an area, from 19 to first-team level, where there is a drop-off.”

For the teenage Gerrard, reserve football was a proper proving ground, but the late 1990s were a different time for this level.

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“When I came through, the reserves was made up of 30 to 40 per cent of young talent who had a chance. The second part was made up of older pros who needed game-time after injuries, or who weren’t in the manager’s thinking.

“I played with guys like Jamie Carragher, David Thompson, Neil Ruddock, Phil Babb… players who were men. You would then play against teams with 60 to 70 per cent men and that helped my development.”