Totally hypothetical

[LeftBack]

I know there will be those who think this is a nonsense question...but....

 

Just imagine for whatever reason Celtic (and possibly the other team from Glasgow) were not allowed to sign players for say the next five years.

 

What would that mean for Scottish football - would it mean they would have to develop their own youngsters and that might actually mean with their infrastructure and the necessity  they would produce young players who would develop through game time - something lacking now.

 

And if the other clubs were developing youngsters and sourcing some good transfers that would give them an advantage which would make the league more competitive.

 

I know that there is no way this could ever happen but watching Celtic tonight provoked the question.

 

At the moment Celtic signing players is hampering Scottish football so - what if?

[WSTR]

Other clubs will be able to develop their own players without the fear of Celtic coming for them. Dundee UTD still would be a force and Celtic would be brought onto a level playing field, kind of.

[WSTR]

Other clubs will be able to develop their own players without the fear of Celtic coming for them. Dundee UTD still would be a force and Celtic would be brought onto a level playing field, kind of.

[LeftBack]

Other clubs will be able to develop their own players without the fear of Celtic coming for them. Dundee UTD still would be a force and Celtic would be brought onto a level playing field, kind of.

Exactly. What Im saying is - forget talk of league reconstruction etc if we really want Scottish football to develop the ugly sisters should stop hoovering up other club players - buying Armstong, Ciftci et al doesnt strengthen them it simply weakens others.

I know its a basic point but a fundamental one - unfortunately its one that cant be enforced.

[number-16]

Or they would try to indiscriminately sign every youngster with promise under 18, likely for lower fees plus a few longer term loan deals from bigger clubs abroad. They'd also spend a fortune to hold on to their existing senior players.

The promising Scottish talent that thought they might have a good chance of getting a game would probably find themselves with less game time than expected and some players never getting the breakthrough they might have at other clubs.

 

You'd be at year 3 or 4 before there might be a significant drop in results. I'm sure Rangers barely made a signing for two years in their last few seasons of existence and went fairly strong.

 

Celtic have had the stronger youth teams of late so I suspect would cope the better of the two. And, if one of them coped well they'd probably benefit in the long term.

 

For a few years around the end of the ban though other teams would have a real chance to challenge and establish a sustainable set-up that could challenge for seasons to come if they got it right.

[Bauld]

Celtic would be in major trouble but what you would see is Celtic putting a scout out to every pro youth ground in the country and they would cherry pick every player that showed the slightest sign of making it to the top level. They would have no problem doing this either unfortunately.

 

Being a coach I hear plenty stories and some will be true some false but on the subject of youth most say that every pro youth player in Scotland near enough jumps at the chance to join Rangers or Celtic if given the opportunity. What I also here is 9 times out of 10 it turns out to be a mistake and staying at a club like Falkirk, Queens Park, Hamilton or Dundee Utd to name a few is a far better option as a young teen to develop as a player. Doesn't matter to the kids though they just hear the name and unless given proper guidance from parents etc doing the research they dive in without second thought.

[Thomaso]

Celtic would be in major trouble but what you would see is Celtic putting a scout out to every pro youth ground in the country and they would cherry pick every player that showed the slightest sign of making it to the top level. They would have no problem doing this either unfortunately.

 

Being a coach I hear plenty stories and some will be true some false but on the subject of youth most say that every pro youth player in Scotland near enough jumps at the chance to join Rangers or Celtic if given the opportunity. What I also here is 9 times out of 10 it turns out to be a mistake and staying at a club like Falkirk, Queens Park, Hamilton or Dundee Utd to name a few is a far better option as a young teen to develop as a player. Doesn't matter to the kids though they just hear the name and unless given proper guidance from parents etc doing the research they dive in without second thought.

 

One of our relative's son has been with Hearts youth set up for 4 years now.  I go along to watch a few games and there is definitely a realisation from parents (and the boys) that signing for the OF drastically reduces their chances of breaking through.

 

With regards to Celtic cherry picking young players - without being bigoted in any way - they do seem to have a strong attraction to boys who attend Catholic schools throughout Scotland.