It's Round and It's White
“We have a vision for Rangers…We’re going to be investing more in Murray Park and making sure we get more players like Ness, Perry and so on through”.
Amidst all the headlines and dramatisation about the impending tax case, and the case of Martin Bain taking Rangers to court, I’ve decided to dissect a quote from one of the interviews Craig Whyte has done in the past few days.
Now, RE the tax case, I’m no financial expert, so I’ll leave that to others.
I will concentrate on the football aspect.
The quote in the opening of this post, I feel, has been overlooked by journalists.
Perhaps it is too positive for them to turn it into a negative and they would rather focus on the doom and gloom that is surrounding Rangers at this moment.
Make no mistake about it, Mr. Whyte’s statement about investing more in the youth system is a good thing.
And what’s more, it could set an example for all of Scottish football, and the SFA, to follow.
More young Scottish players coming through the ranks at Scotlands top club, is not only good in terms of the obvious fact that younger players are getting the chance to shine and express themselves, but it can also be a means of income.
Rear young, and sell.
This won’t please some, but we have to be realistic here.
We play in Scotland, and with the Champions League becoming harder to reach with every passing season, and with no pot of gold in terms of TV revenue, money coming into Scottish clubs and into the SPL isn’t great.
Let us look at Ajax for an example. Their youth development model is the best. And when the Man City’s and Chelsea’s of this generation are spending millions on players, Ajax make their own.
Make, not buy.
Christian Eriksen is the prime example.
Signed when he was 16 for a reported €1 million, he has since became one of Europe’s hottest talents.
He will sell for £15 million plus. Not a bad profit.
IF, and it is a big if, Rangers can implement a similar type of model to that of Ajax, then playing in the Champions League could once again become a competition where the money generated from it, is not the main purpose for playing in it.
Rangers have an opportunity to really change things up in Scotland, and going by the quote in opening, it seems as if we are going to.
In doing so, we will lead the way in Scottish football, not only on the trophy front, but financially too.
It may be ‘short term pain for long term gain’, but how refreshing would it be to say that Rangers are not only the best on a domestic front, but on a financial front too?
