Why Rangers chiefs will be left baffled after Craig Mulholland's call to action in Scottish football

Rangers are now watching Craig Mulholland tell the rest of Scottish football where they have been going wrong.

The Scottish FA's chief football officer was once head of academy at Ibrox.

During the 56-year-old's time at the Light Blues, there were hardly any standout academy graduates at Auchehowie.

Mulholland is now trying to help young Scottish players develop after his own stint at Ibrox.

The SFA are proposing financial incentives and possible penalties to get more homegrown talents playing for their clubs.

Specific quotas could be implemented to get more Under-21 talents to feature in domestic competitions, but those currently in Govan will wonder whether Mulholland is the best person for the job.

Craig Mulholland's Rangers legacy assessed

Mulholland spent around 20 years at Rangers in various positions and headed the academy for eight of them before leaving in 2023.

While the Gers did produce talents like Nathan Patterson and Billy Gilmour during that time, the latter didn't feature for the first team and both were sold off to teams down south.

Rory Wilson is another such talent who ended up joining Aston Villa in 2022.

Ross McCrorie is arguably the only player who managed to break into the first team and get regular minutes, but that's the extent of Mulholland's legacy at Ibrox.

Writing in the Daily Record on 7 September, Keith Jackson said, "And now Mulholland has arrived on the scene telling the rest of the game where they have been going wrong and what they need to do in order to rectify it.

"It's hard to know where to start with this anomaly, but suffice to say there are senior, highly experienced, dyed-in-the-wool football men around Rangers who can't quite believe what they are seeing and hearing and asking how it has possibly come to this."

How Craig Mulholland's recommendations could have an effect at Ibrox

Findlay Curtis has a big Rangers future ahead of him after breaking into the first team last season.

The 20-year-old is already a Scotland international and has the potential to become one of the best academy graduates at the Gers in recent years.

Speaking recently, Mulholland said, "We would always love to do more, but we believe that introducing requirements for Under-21 players in the Scottish Cup and League Cup and targets for minutes in the Premiership would represent a significant step."

Among the recommendations is having two under-21 Scotland-eligible players start in all Scottish Cup and Premier Sports Cup matches.

Derek McInnes hasn't necessarily been open about giving the youth players opportunities during his time at the Glaswegian outfit so far.

While Curtis has played a major role so far, there don't seem to be any other academy graduates close to breaking into the team anytime soon.