McIntyre's plans coming to fruition

Tommy McIntyre is delighted with the progress being made by Celtic's u-17 and u-19 side's this season.

The former Aberdeen and Hibs defender is in his first season at Celtic and has the job of co-ordinating the professional end of the clubs Academy, overseeing the work being carried out by Miodrag Krivokapic at u-17 and Stevie Frail with the u-19 side.

Winning isn't the purpose of youth development but at those levels players are at that stage where the demands of winning in a Celtic jersey begin to count.

On Saturday Celtic face Rangers at u-19 level for the first time this season with the youth of both clubs bound to be judged on the events at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium.

The Celtic side will be made up of players of various ages who have come through the ranks in Scotland and Ireland as well as more exotic destinations such as the Czech Republic, Sweden and Italy.

Amongst the substitutes for the u-19's against Kilmarnock last Saturday there was a Czech raised in Germany, Patrik Twardzik; Bahrudin Atajic,a Bosnian from Sweden and the rising star of underage football Islam Feruz who arrived in this country from Somali but who is now a Scotland schoolboy internationalist. All three players qualify for Celtic's u-17 side and were in the team that played Hamilton the following day

The term 'conveyor belt' has become cliched in football development circles presenting the idea that there is an endless supply of young talent available for the first team.

McIntyre rejects the idea of a conveyor belt and is happy to see young players bubbling up to the surface to take their chance to progress to the next level.

He said: "The term conveyor belt is used loosely, it suggests that there are players coming in all the time but it's a far too early for us to be saying that.

"Clubs maybe like the phrase but there will be peaks and troughs of talent coming in and out.

"There will be times when things get fallow and times when it's fruitful. We're not in the job very long, to talk about a conveyor belt you'd need to be talking about four or five years down the line.

"All that we can do is give the young players opportunity, there's a lot that they have to learn, a lot of pitfalls that await them but you hope that you can give them the correct environment to develop and hone their skills".

Anyone who has watched this season u-19 side will have been impressed by the ability of the players and the depth to the squad.

A group of 20 players have been involved in the season to date with the emphasis on moving forward, passing the ball on the ground and being creative.

Frail has generally gone with a 4-3-3 formation where the two wingers can switch flanks with half a dozen players capable of operating purposefully from midfield.

Developing the players ability is mixed with the need to win matches with last month's 5-4 win over Dundee United in the SFA Youth Cup illustrating the winning mentality perfectly.
James Forrest has virtually graduated through to Neil Lennon's development squad and has been an unused substitute on a number of occasions for the first team.

As Forrest and others such as Richie Towell, James Keatings and Declan Gallagher move towards the development squad it opens the doors for younger players to be promoted into the u-19 side.

McIntyre added: "We have a lot of our u-17's involved in the u-19 side and that's exciting, against Kilmarnock there were only three u-19 players, the rest are all available at that level again next season.

"All of the substitutes at Kilmarnock played for the u-17's against Hamilton. It's good for them to be involved and to be part of a winning team.

"We tell all the players that if they are good enough they will be given opportunities. 

"A lot of the u-19 squad are now involved with Lenny in the development squad, a few of them played against Shamrock Rovers and did well.

"That was a great experience for them, they were up against men in front of a good crowd will that will benefit them in the long run.

"Whatever age the players are if they are good enough they will be given opportunities.

"Richie Towell is a great example of that, he's impressing with the development squad but gives his all when he's with the 19's.

"Naturally he's wanting to progress, we support him and that's what the development of youth football is all about.

"When players get promoted it gives others an opportunity, when players move up a level and do well it gives us selection problems, that's a healthy state to be in.

"The younger players are putting pressure on the older one's- if you're good enough you are old enough as far as we're concerned."