Youth/Development Team Thread

Think we'll have to see how the club approach next season, think with the adding of the Challenge Cup to our youths already heavy schedule we may see less youngsters go out on loan.

 

Got a game against Clyde on the 9th of July at Broadwood.

 

Celtic youngsters get Annan Athletic in the new Challenge Cup first round

 

CELTIC’s Under-20s will head into the Irn Bru Cup looking to seize the chance to develop, but Tommy McIntyre said his team are not there to simply make up the numbers.
The SPFL Development League winners have been drawn against League Two side Annan Athletic in the first round of the competition as they and the other Premiership U20s teams join the tournament for the first time alongside clubs from the Welsh Premier League, Northern Ireland Football League and Scottish and Highland Lowland League.
The revamped format could see the young Hoops take on teams from the Championship as clubs further up the Scottish league pyramid enter at a later stage, and McIntyre said his side will go into the competition looking to strike a balance between developing and winning.
“It’s a mixture of both,” he told the official Celtic website. “On one hand it’s about development. Our young players want to get to the first-team and there have been one or two training with them under the new manager. He has been really impressed by the young players that have come up, so that’s good.
“But obviously we want to progress as far as we can because we feel we need these types of games. We get it in the Premier League International Cup and we get it in the UEFA Youth League so it’s one of many opportunities we have to develop our young players.”
After winning the SPFL Development League without losing a game last season, McIntyre’s side have reported back to Lennoxtown this week as they prepare to embark on a new campaign.
A batch of new faces from Michael O’Halloran’s Glasgow Cup and league-winning Under-17s side have been drafted in to the Development Squad for the coming season, and some of the stars from last year’s group have also graduated to first-team training as work under Brendan Rodgers gets under way for the five-in-a-row Scottish champions.
With a background in youth football before his successful first-team management roles at Swansea and Liverpool, the new manager’s appointment has injected a further shot of optimism into the Academy players after they watched fellow prospects Jack Aitchison, Aidan Nesbitt, Anthony Ralston and Joe Thomson all make their top-team debuts last season.
The new campaign presents a fresh opportunity for even more talented youngsters to impress the new Celtic boss and McIntyre said he is looking forward to the year ahead.
“We’ll have a bit more time than the first-team as they’re right into the Champions League qualifiers so their programme is a lot more intense,” he said. “We’ve had our first day back, settling in, two days of testing and then we had the ball out on Thursday.
“They are young and some are in pre-season for the first time so we need to be careful about that but the most important thing is they get a full pre-season under their belt. That starts now so we’re ready to go.
“They have to see a progressive pathway from the youths all the way through. They see it in young players like Jack Aitchison, Aidan Nesbitt, Joe Thomson and Anthony Ralston who made their debuts last year.
“That’s exciting for them and this is the start of another career for them, coming out of the Under-17s and into our squad. We wish them all the best and the first couple of days have been really positive and they look really excited about starting back.
“The manager has been great. He’s all about togetherness and everybody acting as one. That just epitomises what the club’s about so it’s exciting times ahead.”





http://www.celticfc.tv/freeview

A TESTING first round tie against League Two side Annan Athletic awaits Tommy McIntyre’s Celtic Under-20s squad in the Irn Bru Cup, but the coach is excited about the challenge ahead.
The Young Celts were paired with Annan today (Thursday) at Hampden in the opening round of the newly-formatted Challenge Cup competition, which will see the rest of the SPFL U20 sides, plus teams from the Welsh Premier League, Northern Ireland Football League and Scottish Highland and Lowland Leagues also take part for the first time.
McIntyre’s side captured the SPFL Development League title last season without losing a single match and he told the official Celtic website that he is now looking forward to a difficult match against Jim Chapman’s team, scheduled for either August 2 or 3.
“We’re excited to be part of the process,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge. All respect to Annan, they’re a tough team.
“We had one or two players loaned there from last year and we’ve seen them play so it’ll be a big ask, but it’s a challenge for our young players and hopefully we’ll take it. We’re looking forward to it.
“Looking at the draw, respect to all the clubs, it was going to be a tough game no matter who we got but Annan have done well in the league over the past few seasons and I know the coaching staff well.
“We’ll certainly do our homework, we’ll have them watched and it’s about attention to detail. We’ve got a good pre-season lined up so come the game everyone should be ready to go. We’ll do our preparation, as will they.”
Celtic’s inclusion in the Irn Bru Cup heralds a landmark moment in Scottish football that will see clubs from the senior leagues merge with the U20s teams of Premiership sides in competitive games.
Such a concept is already successfully in operation on the continent in Spain and Portugal, where clubs’ reserve teams play in the lower divisions, allowing young players the chance to cut their teeth against experienced professionals in a competitive environment.
Celtic have long campaigned for a similar set-up in Scotland and McIntyre said the revamp of the Scottish Challenge Cup for the coming season was a step in the right direction.
“We have pioneered for a long time for the opportunity of putting a colt team into the league,” he said. “We’ve seen it in Spain and Portugal where it works well and it’s something the club would value because it’s a good level of competition.
“We’re always looking to bridge the gap between youth and first-team and that would be a way to do that.
“We’re going in the right direction. It’s something we’d like to continue but at least we’re starting to see the fruits of something we’ve looked to do for a number of years.”

 

Cheers for the report Crow

The new format sounds good, give the young players a tough test before they reach first team level which is where a lot fail.

Did we sell or loan someone to Annan last season?

 

Jordan Hart

 

He signed for Annan after his Celtic release last summer, we loaned Jack Breslin to them in January

 

at least I was close it started with a J :icon_mrgreen:

 

CELTIC is delighted to announce that Joe Thomson has signed a two year contract with the club, keeping him at the Scottish champions until 2018.
The young Hoops midfielder made his competitive debut last season in the second-half of a 3-1 victory over Dundee United at Tannadice and had previously featured for the first-team in a string of friendlies over the course of the past two seasons.
The 19-year-old is highly rated by the club and was a key part of the Development Squad that finished the SPFL Development League as undefeated title-winners last season.
Thomson started pre-season this year training with Brendan Rodgers’ first-team at Lennoxtown and told the official Celtic website in an exclusive interview that he was delighted to commit his immediate future to the Bhoys.
“I was pleased to get offered the deal and I have to now keep my feet on the ground, keep focused and not get ahead of myself then just show people why I’ve been offered the deal and then kick-on,” he said.
“First and foremost I need to try to get the manager’s eye in training and take it from there. It remains to be seen if I need to go on loan or not to do that but I’ll just give 100 per cent in every session and game.
“I’ve trained with the first-team a couple of times before they went away for pre-season and the training seems very good. It’s a high intensity and everyone is working hard.
“Although I only played 15 minutes on my debut last season I learned a lot from it. It was a lot quicker than it was at Under-20s and even in the pre-season friendlies it was still a lot faster and a jump up but that’s one I want and need to make if I want to get anywhere myself.”
Thomson is the latest Academy graduate to pledge his future to the club and he added that he is hopeful Brendan Rodgers’ background in youth football will continue to see players like him be given the chance to shine at first-team level.
“The manager started out as a youth coach and worked his way up so he’s someone who knows what it’s like to work with younger players and he’ll give all of us good advice, feedback and tell us what we need to make it.
“Hopefully he’ll give myself and a few other lads a chance.
“I’m very thankful to Ronny Deila for giving me the chance to make not only my competitive debut but for giving me a chance in the pre-season friendlies but there is a new manager now and it's a new start so I have to do well to try to impress him.
“I just need to progress as a player and if I can work on the aspects that I know I need to improve on then hopefully I can make a real push. If not, maybe I need to go out and play some form of first-team football but that’s hopefully going to be here.”

 

Thought he would've been given more oppurtunities after Ronny gave him his debut, but faded off quite a bit. Was ranked as one of the top 50 young Scottish talents not too long ago, think he came in around 15 or so. Hope he kicks on this year!

 

aye I thought that myself with him big season ahead for Joe anyway.

 

Should have been given more of a chance last season, hopefully with the squad size coming down this year he gets some opportunities

 

Yep, scored in a friendly and had been knocking on yhe door for a while but think he was injured a couple of time's and that was that..

Good stuff. Hopefully he get's a look in a bit this season. Seen Jamie Lindsay away with us as well in Slovenia. He's always looked neat and tidy, and get's stuck in. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Brendan develops him and he get's a decent shot as well, now and again..

 

Anthony Ralston and Jamie McCart also away with the first team

 

Didnt realise Jamie Lindsay was still cutting about, decent wee player whos decent on the ball and a hard working player could probably cut it for teams like Partick Thistle if not St Mirren or that I thought hed have been 22/23 now but only 20 he should probably move on now.

 

Heard we signed a young lad from DAFC called PJ Crossan. Suppose to have some potential.

 

Don't think we've signed him yet I'm sure it just says we are going to bid for him

 

Agent Scotland has it down as a done deal

 

Noway, hope so

 

So this Dunfermline lad will go intro the u19?

Maybe a daft question but I assume this isn't a player Rodger's has identified but rather a part of McCart/ McIntyre remit to fill the youth teams with potential prospects? (One of what will be many this summer). I.e signed with no view of first team squad involvement/ fired in with the youth squads?