The conveyor belt

  In early January, Troon youngster Jamie Ness (b.1991) became the fifth Rangers youngster this season to start for the first team who had been born in the 1990s.  It was no ordinary game either; Ness would be playing in the Old Firm derby at Ibrox Stadium.  Although the match was lost, the fans could take a little consolation in seeing that Murray Park had churned out yet another product fit for first team football- indeed, many had him as Rangers' best player that day.

  After following that up with several more impressive displays in the heart of the Rangers midfield, Ness agreed to extend his stay in Glasgow until the end of the 2014/15 season.  He was recently voted Rangers' young player of the year.

  That being said, Jamie Ness is not the only shining light from Murray Park to have emerged in recent years.  Between them, Kyle Hutton, Darren Cole, Gregg Wylde, John Fleck and Ness himself have started a combined 23 times for the senior side.  If you add Danny Wilson, sold to Liverpool for a fee rising to £5m in the summer, then that's quite a decent endorsement of the first batch of Rangers youngsters to be schooled all the way through Murray Park.  That being said, there are a few questions worth answering.

  As has been mentioned, this season, 22 first team starts have been made by teenagers.  Last year, the figure stood at 39, with the majority (24) coming from Danny Wilson at centre back.  However, in the three previous seasons altogether, just 14 starts were made by teenagers.  Why was this the case?

  The obvious answer would be that the club has undergone severe financial hardship in recent times.  In the summer of 2008, Walter Smith signed 9 players on permanent deals.  In the next thirty three months, Rangers would only sign five players permanently, as the club had to face up to some difficult downsizing.  Though, as the proverb goes, every cloud has a silver lining.  If Ness, Hutton, Cole and Wylde keep progressing, they can become mainstays of the Rangers first team for years to come- the foundations of stability have been laid.

  Obviously, these players didn't develop into decent footballers by accident; their journey to the top had been meticulously planned by scouts, coaches, dieticians, and a plethora of other Rangers employees.  The official website claims to have just under 40 employees involved with youth football at Murray Park.  However, the key men involved with this particular batch's rise to the top were George Adams, head of youth development at Rangers until 2006, and Jim Sinclair, his successor.

   George Adams arrived at Murray Park in early 2003 with an impressive CV.  Credited with developing many of Sir Alex Ferguson's favourites at Aberdeen in the 80s and bringing through the likes of James McFadden at Motherwell, it was expected that Adams would continue his fine work in Glasgow.  Frictions with chief executive Martin Bain led to his departure in 2006, and he now holds the same position at Ross County.  During his time at the helm, Adams signed players such as Charlie Adam, John Fleck, and Danny Wilson.  He also helped players like Alan Hutton and Hamed Namouchi establish themselves in the first team.  However, Adams will also be remembered as the guy who let the likes of Graham Dorrans and Grant Hanley slip through the net, both of whom are now full Scotland internationalists.

  Jim Sinclair arrived in 2006, coming straight from his position as SFA director of football development.  Sinclair is responsible for signing, scouting and coaching at every level below the first team- quite a substantial responsibility.  It is said that Sinclar is much more hands-on in his role with the youths, as opposed to the much more reticent Adams.  With Wilson, Ness, Hutton, Wylde and Cole all establishing themselves in the first team to various degrees within the past 12 months, it looks like some of his hard work is finally starting to pay off.

  An accusation levelled at Sinclair has been that he prefers to develop players physically, rather than technically.  Jamie Ness and Gregg Wylde may both be great footballers, but Ness is well over 6ft, while one of Wylde's greatest assets is his pace.  However, this seems to be a bit of a lazy fallacy.  The current under 19 side revolves around Dylan McGeouch, Rhys McCabe, and Robbie Crawford, none of whom are giants.  It is also worth pointing out that the two centre backs are the smallest in the league.

  That being said, one of the Academy's greatest prospects at the moment does not have any physical shortcomings whatsoever.  After being touted by his agent, Kamil Wiktorski (b.1993) signed for Rangers in the summer of 2010.  Comfortable on the ball, and built like a brick wall, Wiktorski has represented Poland at every youth level, despite only turning 18 last month.  The Pole can play in the heart of defence, or in the midfield engine room, and is already turning out for the under 19s.  Keep an eye out.

  From the age of 15, these future professionals are in three times a week, one of these being a full day, the rest being just the nights.  They also have a match at the weekend.  Compare this to Barcelona, where the youths receive only 6 hours of training a week, and it's broadly similar.  Indeed, if the stats regarding the increasing presence of youth academy graduates in the first team mentioned earlier are anything to go by, there is a case to be made that Rangers are moving towards the Barcelona model more and more.  However, that's not to say that there's not room for improvement.

  Reserve team football is played at Murray Park, surrounded by rolling hills, with barely any spectators to watch your efforts.  Hence, the leap that the likes of Hutton, Cole and Ness had to make was massive. Going from these surroundings to playing in front of 50,000 spectators at one of the world's greatest footballing cathedrals is always going to require a lot of composure, especially given the demanding, some may say fickle, nature of the Rangers support.

  Some may then argue that these youngsters should be loaned out to other teams, as a stepping stone between reserve team football and Ibrox Stadium.  However, there are advantages in keeping them 'in-house'.  First of all, the facilities at Rangers are far superior to any other training complex in Scotland, thereby allowing the youngsters use of facilities that the likes of Cowdenbeath could only dream of.  Another benefit is that they can train with the first team, if good enough.  This not only lets them learn from seasoned pros, but it also helps them integrate much quicker to the first team squad, should they be selected.  A final benefit is that, theoretically, since much less pressure is placed on the players in reserve games, youngsters will be able to develop as footballers, rather than being overworked and overplayed in the lower leagues.

  That being said, despite all the millions invested, Murray Park cannot and will not be able to provide a viable substitute for first team football.  Therefore, the best option would still seem to be sending promising players out on loan.

  Although in theory this seems like the best idea, there are significant doubts over whether or not this is the best thing to do.  First of all, in the Scottish lower leagues, there is a premium on the physical side of the game.  Speed and strength are valued higher than the ability to pick out a perfect pass.  Upon watching a game in these divisions, rarely can you say that a team 'outplayed' the other- often they just beat them up.  Is this really the best environment to put someone you're hoping will be the next Xavi?   The final issue with sending out young players on loan concerns their integration into the squad.  Will the 30 somethings at these clubs, who have never made it to the SPL, always do their best to integrate the upstart from one of Europe's biggest clubs?  It doesn't take a genius to suspect that there will always be some professional envy directed at the player.

  The ideal solution would be to take a look over at Spain.  Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia all have a second team playing in the lower Spanish leagues.  The football is competitive, the players can still train with the first team, and, as there is less pressure, they can focus on developing as footballers, rather than just winning.  With the SPL considering restructuring, they would do well to introduce a similar scheme in Scotland.

Barcelona's 'Mini Estadi'

  However, on the whole, the future at Murray Park looks bright.  The talent line doesn't look like stopping any time soon.  Every week, Rangers are breeding a new generation of Scottish footballer, a footballer that is trying to break away from the stereotypical rough and tumble past and into a 'pass and move' future.  This season, it has been refreshing to see so many youngsters getting their chance in the first team.  It points to a sustainable future, one not completely dependent on spending large sums of money on players from other clubs.  Of course there is room for improvement, but as sports science evolves, and the reputation of Rangers as a good footballing school improves, you cannot help but be optimistic for the future of Murray Park.

P.S. A big thank you to PJ from http://rfcyouths.wordpress.com/.  He runs an excellent blog about the youth set up at Murray Park, and was good enough to answer a few of my questions.  Check his website out for more information.