Behind the appointment of Harry Kewell there appears to be a major overhaul going on behind the scenes at Celtic.
The arrival of the former Australian internationalist will bring a new emphasis to first team training, one level below it means greater change with Stephen McManus taking a sideways steps to head up the B team which will again be playing in the Lowland League next season.
After bringing through James Forrest, Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney over a five year period the supply of players from Academy to first team has stalled.
Rather than promote their own prospects Celtic have turned to Dundee United, Motherwell and Kilmarnock to acquire Stuart Armstrong, David Turnbull and Greg Taylor who have all made significant contributions to recent successes.
Restarting that process is a task that Ange Postecoglou has identified with The Athletic reporting:
Postecoglou believes that mirroring the first team’s sessions and standards in training with the Bs should, in theory, make academy/first-team integration more cohesive. The knock-on effect is that B-teamers not only improve but are more prepared to handle the rigour of first-team training if called upon, and are therefore more likely to earn competitive minutes because Postecoglou trusts them.
Senior figures at the club are also aware they are not producing enough first-team-ready players from their academy, and agree with Postecoglou that this is a potential solution.
The club were reasonably pleased with their inaugural season in the Lowland League in which they finished third, behind Rangers B in second only on goal difference, but believe their ceiling to progress further is much higher than what they achieved last year. Emulating the first team is viewed as a positive step toward building upon those foundations.
It is a big ask to switch from playing clubs like Edinburgh University, Caledonian Braves and Cumbernauld Colts to turning out for the Celtic first team on a regular basis.
Postecoglou refreshed every area of Celtic last season with his ideas, if he can find a pathway from B team prospects to top team regulars he’ll have saved the club a small fortune- a new McGregor, Tierney or Forrest would be priceless.
Keep for getting we have lost bhoys to bayern Munich Leeds that’s four who would be close to first team a couple out on loan
I was initially critical of McManus being as I saw it “demoted” but now I see the logic in the move.
I hope this helps to stem the flow of talented young players leaving the club.