Ex-Rangers youth coach voices support for £1.5m Colts bid
Ex-Rangers youth coach Ricky Waddell has voiced his support for the Rangers Colts team bid but thinks it could have devastating effects below.
It has been an idea mooted for some time but Sun Sport recently reported that the Light Blues, alongside their Old Firm rivals Celtic, had made a £1.5million offer to League One and Two clubs in a bid to get their Colt teams into the SPFL pyramid.
As a former coach at the Rangers academy Waddell knows better than most the benefit it would have on young players at the club, but he is currently manager of Lowland League outfit Caledonian Braves and is worried about how a shake-up would impact on his side and others below the SPFL level.
As reported by Lanarkshire Live Sport, via Daily Record, Waddell said: “The whole setup would need to be looked at and the clubs at our level would be able to get promoted easier.
“That would be to the extent where it goes into a play-off situation in the Lowland League between the top few teams instead of what it is at the moment – which is heavily, heavily against the Lowland League and the Highland League.
“I wouldn’t be against the Colts if the system in the SPFL was going to have more ventilation up the way, so ambitious Lowland League clubs can get up into the setup.”
Lowland League relegation would be a disaster
It is an interesting viewpoint and one that will likely be shared throughout the Lowland League.
From our point of view, putting our Colt team into the SPFL exposes them to the harsh realities of senior football and lets them learn on the job, rather than playing youth football for years or having to be farmed out on loan to clubs that might not place their development at the top of their priorities.
However if there is relegation involved and the worst happens…
It would be a tough introduction to life in the senior game against sides in League One and Two, but can you imagine if the Colt team is relegated and thrown into the Lowland League?
They would be lambs to the slaughter so quite how this idea would work in actuality remains to be seen.
Perhaps relegation would have to remain as it is but Rangers and Celtic Colts cannot be relegated?
Whether that would float with other clubs remains to be seen.
In other Rangers news, Barry Ferguson goes big on Scott Wright praise.