Edmond Dantes
Well-Known Member
Always thought Barry Nicholson would turn out better than he did.
Jamie Barjonas
Jamie Barjonas
Academy players who never quite made it
- Thread starter CambridgeRanger
- Start date
Disco Down
Well-Known Member
Ryan Hardie and Kal Naismith have made a decent career for themselves in England.
Often thought of you were good enough for Hibs or Motherwell say why you wouldn’t try for a move to the English lower leagues.
Often thought of you were good enough for Hibs or Motherwell say why you wouldn’t try for a move to the English lower leagues.
Hammerhitstheslammer
Well-Known Member
Yeah mate that does ring a bell. I didn’t know he was Thomsons cousin tho. Nice wee link there
Polar bear
Well-Known Member
I’m still waiting for the talented Alex Lowry.
RedWhiteBlueLux
Well-Known Member
Steven MacLean scored 20 one season for Sheffield Wednesday and he got a few goals for Cardiff as well I think. Both MacLean and Thomson went to school in Peebles (like me) but don’t remember them being related. Both were good guys and deserved the careers they got. Another wee Rangers link, our now Director of Football Operations Creag Robertson was in the same school football team as them.
GForce
Well-Known Member
Maybe not but 4 league titles would say he did alright and got in a team with Laudrup gazza albertz etc. Would be our best player now
GovanFront4
Well-Known Member
He looked excellent when he came through.
Unsure of the timing but think Ryan Hardie would have been excellent coming through.
Crouchy
Well-Known Member
Hardie would have been good for us through the league returns, definitely.
McPake looked excellent - sounds like he’s got a bad attitude.
WarnbroTavernier
Active Member
His injury killed his career. When he came back he was absolutely dire
Skoosh1872
Well-Known Member
Forever immortalised for the cross/assist that clinched 9 in a row.
He under achieved for the talent he had but he’s hardly on the same level as most of the names listed.
Blueandwhitedynamite
Well-Known Member
Remember about 20 odd years ago there was a guy called Paul McShane who was scoring loads of goals in the reserves / youth team but never trained on . Might have played 1 game , ended up in Iceland for a spell I think before drifting out the game .
From the days before Academies were invented, there were a few "brilliant youngsters in the reserves" who we expected great things but it didn't happen.
Derek Strickland, Steve Richardson, Scott Fraser, Robert Clark, Dougie Robertson, Kenny Lyall and John Morrow are names from the late 70s through to the early 90s that spring to mind.
Derek Strickland, Steve Richardson, Scott Fraser, Robert Clark, Dougie Robertson, Kenny Lyall and John Morrow are names from the late 70s through to the early 90s that spring to mind.
yosser hughes
Well-Known Member
going back earlier again to the start of the 70s, Iain Mcdonald was someone we thought could have been special, but a cruel injury curtailed his Rangers career and we never got to see what he could have become
I think it was a Hibs player called Shevlane who wrecked McDonald's knee with a shocker of a tackle?
HandsomeHead
Well-Known Member
When you think back to the likes of Durrant and both Ferguson brothers coming through, Robert Fleck too to some extent, it was pretty much expected back then that we would have homegrown players in our team.
The last time this happened to any notable degree was about twenty years ago when the likes of Hutton, Adam and McGregor came through.
Our inability to produce players of that kind of level since is a bigger concern than it ever really seems to get spoken about.
There’s been a lot of initial hubbub surrounding guys like Ross McCrorie, Alex Lowry and Bailey Rice, but it never seems to be sustained.
Faure there’s not a team
Well-Known Member
Kane Hemmings is a decent shout too. Always scored goals in lower leagues (when on loan at other clubs) but struggled with us.
Blu_ultra
Well-Known Member
Stephen Dobbie. 2 promotions to the premiership and scored a lot of senior goals. Similar to Hardy, in that you wonder if we had a wee bit more patience and we had time (we don’t) how would these guys have developed. I’d love us to produce a home grown centre forward.
Jim Prideaux
Well-Known Member
Did he have a brother called Graeme, may have been in the reserves under Souness? John Morrow was incredibly promising, but a challenge by Souness in training injured him (broken leg?) and he never came back the same.
Think Nicholson was very unfortunate with the calibre of midfielder ahead of him at that time.
Signori
Well-Known Member
gersintaethum
Well-Known Member
Did look out of place in Champions League games, didn’t look out of place in the 3rd Division.
blue genes
Well-Known Member
Hardie was a cool finisher when in the youths (he still shows that now) but looked lost when given his debut v Dumbarton (I think).
He’s doing well at Plymouth without being undroppable - they have a good front line & rotate quite a lot.
Am not sure he can go any higher than the Championship but would imagine he’s pretty happy with his career so far.
blue genes
Well-Known Member
Lowry is a gifted player mate, no doubt about it. I guess am one of a diminishing band that thinks he could still make it with us.I’m still waiting for the talented Alex Lowry.
We’ve all heard the tales about his approach & I have no clue whether any of it is true.
I maintain that Beale’s ridiculous comment about “would your team mates pick you” did Lowry no good whatsoever - no way would he have said that about any of the senior players, despite their many individual faults.
I would like to think a new season gives him an opportunity to impress Clement, but I accept he’s running out of time.
Skoosh1872
Well-Known Member
Not an option.
An academy is required for a European licence unless you also want to ditch European football and with it the prospect of attracting anyone vaguely decent.
Polar bear
Well-Known Member
I’m in the same boat as you BG.
Shengus Malengus
Well-Known Member
Dean Furman at least made a living out of the game if not spectacular.
On the other hand, I confidently predicted Ross Perry was going to be a star after watching the young bears maul the beast juniors in a youth cup final.
I know a player when I see one.
Robert Prytz
Well-Known Member
John Morrow, seen his debut at Mcdairmid park and he was fantastic, thought we had real player on our hands but sadly never done much after that.
bluewonder
Well-Known Member
Sandy Robertson looked the real deal in 90/91 when he rounded Bonner to set up Hateley to score against the filth and he scored that crucial goal at Love street in the title run in.
I think he enjoyed the Glasgow nightlife a bit too much and got involved in a couple of scrapes. I think he was let go and never heard off again.
John Spencer and Gary McSwegan were both decent prospects but were never going to get into the 1st team ahead of McCoist and Hateley although Spencer did have a decent career at Chelsea and McSwegan as well with Hearts.
I think he enjoyed the Glasgow nightlife a bit too much and got involved in a couple of scrapes. I think he was let go and never heard off again.
John Spencer and Gary McSwegan were both decent prospects but were never going to get into the 1st team ahead of McCoist and Hateley although Spencer did have a decent career at Chelsea and McSwegan as well with Hearts.
Aird and McKay technically never came through our Academy.
We made a complete mess of coming back up through the divisions in all honesty. We should’ve been concentrating on buying and playing youth instead of journeyman from all corners of the world.
Andy Robertson had been released by celtic for not being big/good enough. I appreciate he is bitter now but he’ll not be the first to grow up supporting one but played for the other. A disillusioned teenager with dreams of only being a professional footballer. A question should have been asked.
Stef Hughes was labouring on a building site I worked on a few years ago.
Scored v Dumbarton.
FedericoNieto
Well-Known Member
Billy King ? The player who was on loan for 6 months from Hearts ?
FedericoNieto
Well-Known Member
Jamie Barjonas was a very strange one, maybe just wasn’t good enough for us but his move to Kielty was bizarre at the time and now at Hamilton, just seems a total waste of talent.
Darren Cole was another who just totally wasted himself.
Darren Cole was another who just totally wasted himself.
EverGer
Well-Known Member
If 12 goals is scoring for fun then yes your right.
ForzaLaudrup
Well-Known Member
Anyone is anyone or going to be anyone now goes down south much earlier on.
See Rory Wilson for example. He’s just signed a long term deal at Villa and is impressing.
The days of us producing and keeping a top youth prospect is gone unfortunately
ForzaLaudrup
Well-Known Member
Someone who our team should have been built around coming back up through the leagues. A very talented boy who injuries absolutely ruined.
Good to see him back at club now coaching.
Unicorn
Well-Known Member
According to Hemmings himself he let himself down at Rangers due to nerves. The manager believed in him but he was a bag of nerves every time he got a chance.
DerHammer88
Well-Known Member
Capped 50 odd times isn't bad.
AndySG
Well-Known Member
One of the few bright spots in the Ally era in my opinion
Kinning Park Doonhamer
Active Member
Never knew he was a loanee. To be fair, I don’t think I ever went to Ibrox sober back then, so I probably have misremembered.
Derek Strickland is a family friend. Jock Wallace took him to Leicester from Ibrox.
Darren Cole was (is) an absolute throbber.
Dundee_Ger
Member
Gary Mcswegan. His champions league goal but never seemed to kick on from there.
Semper_Paratus
Well-Known Member
I have seen Josh Mcpake quite a bit recently for Stirling Albion and he is head and shoulders above league 1/2. Murray Miller also played for the Albion for around 6 months before leaving for Stranraer, another who looked good on the ball but it just didn't work out for him unfortunately.
