Ben Doak’s involvement with the first team squad, first against St Johnstone on Boxing Day, before seeing action against both Dundee United and theRangers is a sign Celtic are ‘rethinking’ their approach to pathway plans for young promising players, that’s according to The Athletics’ Celtic correspondent Kieran Devlin.
‘Multiple sources have said Celtic are “rethinking” how they better organise the academy and B team so there are clearer futures for their young players. Effectively, it is about determining each player’s pathway towards first-team contention, and then communicating it with the player so they feel involved in their future careers, and rated and respected by the club.
Most importantly, the club have to follow through with the plan. Actions speak louder than words. Doak’s situation, whether or not he stays with Celtic, might be the first major test of the strategy.’
Celtic of course have lost the cream of their Academy crops in recent years to both the Bundesliga and the EPL, as the likes of Liam Morrison, Barry Hepburn and Josh Adam were enticed away. And not by money but by an organised structure and pathway to their own development, and an agreement between club and player that’s should targets be achieved then both parties had an obligation to honour their side of the bargain, an approach that Celtic seemed somewhat behind the curve with.
With young Ben Doak seen as the best of the 2005 group to emerge, and interest in the player coming from the likes of Liverpool and more, Celtic are keen to show Doak there is a way to the Celtic first team, something Liam Morrison indicated when he left Celtic, he felt was lacking.
Now Kieran Devlin has indicated there is a change in culture emanating from Celtic as to how the club manage a defined pathway for players and it appears Ange Postecoglou was involved in the strategical rethink.
‘Previously, the B team — and its predecessor, the development squad — was generally separate from the first-team equation. Youth team players were not necessarily factored into long-term, first-team squad management. The strategy was ostensibly developing players in the youth team environments, and then first-team opportunities would arise at the manager’s discretion. There were not really concrete plans to map out each young player’s pathway, it was more a case of “if and when they are good enough, they will make the step up”.
‘What has been happening in recent months is an attempt to provide a defined plan for each B team player — and, as Doak’s case illustrates, those even younger. It is understood this applies to the pathways for academy players and for prospective signings to the B team. It is believed Postecoglou was involved in the origin of this revised strategy, as was the B team coaching set-up of Tommy McIntyre, Stephen McManus and Darren O’Dea, and the club’s head of scouting Jay Lefevre.’
This development is long overdue but entirely welcome. Celtic may still be the victim of EPL poachers when it comes to promising young talent but at least if these changes are implemented, improved and sustained, there can be no excuses on the club’s side for not investing sufficiently in young talent and that’s all you can really ask.
Ben Doak can now be used as an example to others breaking through, that if you reach the standards and manage the demands as you come through the Academy system then there is a route to the first team for you and from there it is up to the individual to grasp the opportunity.
Ange Postecoglou has modernised the first team squad in a short space of time, it now appears he’s willing to listen to the coaches below him and allow them to implement their ideas, and when they say a player is ready, he’s also willing to throw them in and see if they sink or swim. For players who had previously been unable to see that route, such an opportunity may well make them think again when offers come from the big-league vultures.
Niall J
