[SirRogerCasement]

Was listening to Gus on the radio last night and I was very impressed with his forthright views on the game. It was interesting to hear him say how important it was to him when St Mirren boss to get quality young players from Celtic & Rangers on loan as St Mirren possessed no young players capable of competing in the SPL.

This of course is entirely at odds with some of the bores on here going on and on about how great the youth
system is at St Mirren.

Who do you believe?

[Colin M]

I haven't heard anyone say the youth system at St Mirren is good.

[Lex]

St Mirren has a terrible youth system.

Not one player since Simon Lappin has came through the ranks and established himself as a regular, Chris Smith did come through for a bit but he was quickly made third choice and sold. David Barron and Stephen McGinn were both signed late on in their development.

Much of the blame must lie with the Pro Youth coaches at St Mirren, how teams like Killie, Accies, Motherwell and Falkirk are consistently producing young talent and we are not is beyond me.

[Drooper]

Perhaps if Wee Angry had taken a bit more interest in our youth set up, and tried to nurture the kids as opposed to treating them like shit, we might have brought a few more players through.

[Colin M]

Lex, on 01 September 2010 - 11:32, said:

David Barron and Stephen McGinn were both signed late on in their development.

Eh? McGinn came through the ranks with us did he not?

[SirRogerCasement]

Colin M, on 01 September 2010 - 11:36, said:

Eh? McGinn came through the ranks with us did he not?

CareerMcGinn can play as either midfielder or striker. He started his football career with Glen Lusset Boys Club at the age of 7. He then moved to St. Mirren's FCBC at the age of 13 and later signed as a professional with the senior St. Mirren side in 2006. He made his debut on 1 January 2007 against Inverness CT, he then made his first start for St. Mirren in 5-1 loss to Celtic on 20 January 2007, also scoring his first goal.

[Lex]

Colin M, on 01 September 2010 - 11:36, said:

Eh? McGinn came through the ranks with us did he not?

He played for St Mirren FCBC, not officialy part of St Mirren. We signed him when he was 18 i believe.

[Colin M]

Lex, on 01 September 2010 - 11:46, said:

He played for St Mirren FCBC, not officialy part of St Mirren. We signed him when he was 18 i believe.

Fair do's.

Our youth system does seem to be a bit shit.

[Grant228]

Lex, on 01 September 2010 - 11:32, said:

St Mirren has a terrible youth system.

Not one player since Simon Lappin has came through the ranks and established himself as a regular, Chris Smith did come through for a bit but he was quickly made third choice and sold. David Barron and Stephen McGinn were both signed late on in their development.

Much of the blame must lie with the Pro Youth coaches at St Mirren, how teams like Killie, Accies, Motherwell and Falkirk are consistently producing young talent and we are not is beyond me.

Smith has proven to be a very good Keeper.

What about your centre midfielder thats been at St Mirren for an eternity it feels?

[Div]

SirRogerCasement, on 01 September 2010 - 11:23, said:

This of course is entirely at odds with some of the bores on here going on and on about how great the youth
system is at St Mirren.

Care to quote some of these "bores" as I can't ever recall a St.Mirren fan boasting about our great youth system ?

[Ric]

SirRogerCasement, on 01 September 2010 - 11:23, said:

This of course is entirely at odds with some of the bores on here going on and on about how great the youth
system is at St Mirren.

It seems in an effort to w**k out as many St Mirren fishing trips as possible, SRC has ended up jizzing himself in the eye on this one.

Nobody thought the youth system was working at Love Street, and there are significant reasons why and not all of them connected with MacPherson.


Perhaps you should know the subject you are fishing about, just in case you make a rip roaring arse of yourself (again).

[RiG]

SirRogerCasement, on 01 September 2010 - 11:23, said:

Was listening to Gus on the radio last night and I was very impressed with his forthright views on the game. It was interesting to hear him say how important it was to him when St Mirren boss to get quality young players from Celtic & Rangers on loan as St Mirren possessed no young players capable of competing in the SPL.

This of course is entirely at odds with some of the bores on here going on and on about how great the youth
system is at St Mirren.

Who do you believe?

What a sad act you are.

[Lex]

Grant228, on 01 September 2010 - 12:18, said:

Smith has proven to be a very good Keeper.

What about your centre midfielder thats been at St Mirren for an eternity it feels?

Hugh Murray has been with us 1997, long before Lappin came through. Since Simo did we have not produced one youngster purely within the club who is good eenough for the first team. Smith is a decent keeper, but he's not SPL standard.

Back when Shuggy came through our first team was consistently made up of youth academy products: Shuggy, McGarry, Gilles, Lavety, McLaughlin, Kerr, McNamee, O'Brien etc etc all graduated from from the youth set up to first team regulars.

The ironic thing is we are actually investing alot more in our youth teams now than we were then, only for consistently lower returns.

Something must have went wrong somewhere.

[Ric]

Lex, on 01 September 2010 - 12:36, said:

Something must have went wrong somewhere.

Yes, it was effectively mothballed when we were in the financial shithouse.

[MarreZ]

Lex, on 01 September 2010 - 12:36, said:

Hugh Murray has been with us 1997, long before Lappin came through. Since Simo did we have not produced one youngster purely within the club who is good eenough for the first team. Smith is a decent keeper, but he's not SPL standard.

Back when Shuggy came through our first team was consistently made up of youth academy products: Shuggy, McGarry, Gilles, Lavety, McLaughlin, Kerr, McNamee, O'Brien etc etc all graduated from from the youth set up to first team regulars.

The ironic thing is we are actually investing alot more in our youth teams now than we were then, only for consistently lower returns.

Something must have went wrong somewhere.

We are investing now, we didnt until recently though.

[Reynard]

SirRogerCasement, on 01 September 2010 - 11:23, said:

Was listening to Gus on the radio last night and I was very impressed with his forthright views on the game. It was interesting to hear him say how important it was to him when St Mirren boss to get quality young players from Celtic & Rangers on loan as St Mirren possessed no young players capable of competing in the SPL.

This of course is entirely at odds with some of the bores on here going on and on about how great the youth
system is at St Mirren.

Who do you believe?

McPherson is right.During his time we had very few young players coming through that were good enough. But the club has changed the youth system over the past number of years and put money into it. McPherson was in charge during a time when we had not been able to pile money into the youth set up and as a result he had very few young guys coming through. There is a time lag with these sort of things anyway so regardless of what we do it takes five or six years before you see young kids coming through and even then some of them won't be any good regardless. If we stopped putting money in just now we would probably still have kids coming through in a few years time from the current set up, which is as good as anything around now. So although he was dead right in what he said I have no idea whether he mentioned about the entire rejigging of the whole set up which did happen while he was manager. Unfortunately for him he wasn't around long enough to see the younger guys in the system and make his mind up about them.

Is that the answer you wanted or did you want me to be wound up and more defensive?

[Reynard]

Ric, on 01 September 2010 - 12:42, said:

Yes, it was effectively mothballed when we were in the financial shithouse.

correct

[Law Stud]

The solution to the problem is obvious. In Fitzpatricks day St Mirren had Joe Hughes doing a power of work scouting players from all over central Scotland. Since he left to go to Leeds St Mirren haven't had anyone of any competence doing the role. In saying that though McPherson is just as culpable as the likes of Gilmour, McAusland, Longwell and Robertson.

[Reynard]

Law Stud, on 01 September 2010 - 13:11, said:

The solution to the problem is obvious. In Fitzpatricks day St Mirren had Joe Hughes doing a power of work scouting players from all over central Scotland. Since he left to go to Leeds St Mirren haven't had anyone of any competence doing the role. In saying that though McPherson is just as culpable as the likes of Gilmour, McAusland, Longwell and Robertson.

Joe Hughes wasnt replaced for a long time as has been mentioned before. The club could barely afford to stay full time and compete in the first division and had pretty much stopped bothering its arse with youth development.

This has now all changed as has been mentioned. If you actually knew what had happened regarding the youth set up you wouldn't be coming out with that kind of chat. The club is highly active in areas where we hadn't been for years and sometimes decades. Only time will tell whether it's successful or not but what isn't in doubt is that the hiatus around the turn of the century up until a couple of years ago is the reason why virtually no decent young players broke through. This SHOULD change in a few years. But there is a chance it might not. It's not an exact science.

[Drooper]

Law Stud, on 01 September 2010 - 13:11, said:

The solution to the problem is obvious. In Fitzpatricks day St Mirren had Joe Hughes doing a power of work scouting players from all over central Scotland. Since he left to go to Leeds St Mirren haven't had anyone of any competence doing the role. In saying that though McPherson is just as culpable as the likes of Gilmour, McAusland, Longwell and Robertson.

So well informed for a neutral customer....

[Ric]

Reynard, on 01 September 2010 - 13:20, said:

If you actually knew what had happened regarding the youth set up you wouldn't be coming out with that kind of chat.

Careful now, remember to whom you are addressing.

[Reynard]

Ric, on 01 September 2010 - 13:42, said:

Careful now, remember to whom you are addressing.

Oh he knows exactly what's been going on, as you well know.

[stevenston saint]

Ric, on 01 September 2010 - 12:23, said:

SRC has ended up jizzing himself in the eye on this one.

Now that bit is funny.

[Law Stud]

Reynard, on 01 September 2010 - 13:20, said:

Joe Hughes wasnt replaced for a long time as has been mentioned before. The club could barely afford to stay full time and compete in the first division and had pretty much stopped bothering its arse with youth development.

This has now all changed as has been mentioned. If you actually knew what had happened regarding the youth set up you wouldn't be coming out with that kind of chat. The club is highly active in areas where we hadn't been for years and sometimes decades. Only time will tell whether it's successful or not but what isn't in doubt is that the hiatus around the turn of the century up until a couple of years ago is the reason why virtually no decent young players broke through. This SHOULD change in a few years. But there is a chance it might not. It's not an exact science.

Can I make a bold prediction?

It won't be successful. St Mirren are not active enough.....

[Buddie Holly]

Law Stud, on 01 September 2010 - 22:34, said:

Can I make a bold prediction?
It won't be successful. St Mirren are not active enough....

unlike your right hand gripped round yer tadger.