I’ve found myself in a curious position the last couple of days, one I didn’t really expect to find myself in either. As initially reported by the Sun it looks like Scott Wright may be on the move with a fee rumoured to be around £500k.
Scott Wright in action for Rangers
Let me start by saying I don’t really rate Wright as a player. He certainly doesn’t have what it takes to be a first pick in his position and that was before Beale started bringing in new attacking signings. The fact he was very clearly behind our erratic Zambian front-man, Fashion Sakala, proves Wright was never going to grab the shirt and keep it. He was however useful as a late game sub and could add something with his direct runs at tired opposition defences.
The one thing Wright did hold over his fellow attackers at Rangers was the fact he was classed as a home-grown player. Interestingly this isn’t really a consideration domestically as the SPFL rules state:
C43 The Company shall not directly or indirectly operate any Homegrown Players Rule, Salary Cap, Squad Cap or Under 21 Rule or any like or similar concept or criteria.
The reverse of this is true for UEFA competitions. Not only do they require you to have home-grown players but they also determine your squad size for the respective competitions, depending on the number of home-grown players.
So first up what, exactly, is a home-grown player. The UEFA rules define home-grown as:
‘Home-grown players’ are defined by UEFA as players who, regardless of their nationality or age, have been trained by their club or by another club in the national association for at least three years between the age of 15 and 21. The UEFA rule does not contain any nationality conditions. It also applies in the same way to all players and all clubs participating in competitions organised by UEFA.
Obviously Scott Wright meets the criteria by having been with Aberdeen in the years between him being 15 and 21, as does Ryan Jack. Previously we had Allan McGregor, King and Arfield filling these slots also. This time out McGregor and Arfield are gone, King is out, probably for a lengthy period and McCrorie wants away. All of this leaves the squad a bit empty and although we could fill it with youth players it doesn’t provide the same benefit as genuine first team players.
It should be noted we do still have some options with Alex Lowry in the first team squad, Devine joining him and Lewis Mayo pushing for a berth. We’ve also got John Souttar in the ranks as long as he can stay fit.
The actual UEFA requirement is 8 home-grown players, four of which come through our own youth system. This means Lowry, Devine, Mayo and Wright (goalkeeper not winger!) cover the 4 required from our own youth setup. Assuming McCrorie does move on this window, we’ve got Jack and Souttar left for the other four if Scott Wright does complete his move. This leaves us with the option of chucking a couple of youth players in to make up the four or looking to recruit players that fills the other two slots.
We are only two down and have a talented academy to call on so this isn’t a crisis just yet. Even if we didn’t fill them we go to a squad of 23, rather than 25. It is perhaps somewhat damming though when you consider of the six home-grown players only Souttar could be argued as challenging for a starting spot. It also provides an area of concern looking forward as from the 5 youth products only Lowry looks like he could push through to the first team and even then he has a lot of work to do.
Youth product Lowry has failed to push on since he initially broke into the first team
This season we will get by, however it’s hard to ignore that of the 8 required, home-grown, players the majority are there to make up the numbers. It should really lead the club to consider it’s recruitment strategy going forward as I don’t want people there because they fill a quota, I want a team of players who can contribute and right now we are sorely lacking that. Perhaps it’s time to stop turning our nose up at Scottish talent, especially with the likes of Ferguson and Doig going on to do well overseas.
Ferguson made the move to Italy
I hope going forward we look to return to old habits and start raiding the best of the rest for players who are capable of making the step up. They are out there, we just need to start signing them and then trusting them.
If we can’t do that then we need to start making our Academy work for us, producing top talent which can play a role in the team. Perhaps the real embodiment of this is young Alex Lowry, who appears to have all the necessary talent but isn’t yet making that leap. Rumours abound there are attitude problems with him but the manager has spoken well of his attitude recently. We’ve also seen other youth players unable to make the final step to first team regular. The road is littered with players who fit this category from McPake, Sherridan, Ure, Weston and many more. All were good players, just not good enough for that final step and that’s something Zeb Jacobs must have on his to-do list, otherwise we will continue to field players to fill a quota, rather than playing a major part.
Either way I can safely say I never thought I would be bothered loosing Scott Wright, however now the time may be here I’m pretty sure he is worth more to us as a bench player than the reported £500k fee he may move for.
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