Rangers boss Mark Warburton will be hoping for plenty of youngsters coming through at Ibrox.
Rangers’ new approach to football both on and off the pitch is going to hinge on the development of young players to eventually become first-team regulars.
Toward that end they appointed Graeme Murty as the head of the Development Squad at Rangers this summer, coming from Norwich City.
Graeme Murty
However, the youth team at the Ibrox is not performing well in their domestic league.
But Murty says that results are not everything at this age group, insisting that development is the key.
He told the official Rangers site this week:
“We are in the bottom half [of the table], but I don’t want to be in the bottom half. All my friends down south are giving me lots of grief – but that’s fine. I am certain in the long-run we are doing the right thing for the boys’ development.
Rangers manager Mark Warburton (L) and assistant manager David Weir pose after the press conference
“If we are doing it in the right way and we support it in the right way, then definitely it is beneficial. Yes, they are going to feel down and when they are at that age it feels like the end of the world if they make a mistake, but we have to make sure we give them the coping strategies and mechanisms to actually deal with it, and I’m not sure winning all the time gives you that.”
Mark Warburton is looking to improve the Rangers first-team but the Glasgow club remain keen on keeping costs down at Ibrox after their recent troubles.
Rangers’ Ryan Hardie in action with Celtic’s Eoghan O’Connell
The development of top young talent will undoubtedly be paramount to that success and in recent times the likes of Barrie McKay, Ryan Hardie and Jordan Thompson have featured in the Rangers first-team and the club will hope to bring through more talent in the years to come.
For now the first-team must focus on taking all three points off of Dundee in the Scottish Premiership this weekend.
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