Extracted this comment: "MON is a talented man manager but do not expect him to bring through talented youth ... He prefers the older/experienced pro! He left Celtic with an ageing squad on high wages - Strachan had to re-build." Any views. Can't recall any youngsters in his teams come to think of it.
I think its a bit of a different comparison in terms of youth set up at that time compared to Celtic's. We certainly didn't have anything more than a basic set up and facilities then. Martin typically brings together solid players but gives them the belief they are world beaters. His players nearly always play above themselves so when somebody follows him unless they have his motivational skills they will find it difficult to succeed initially. Just look at Smithy at Wycombe, Peter Taylor at Leicester and Houllier at Villa and how they struggled. Celtic is a bit different due to the gap between the Old Firm and remaining Scottish teams. An idiot should be able to manage Celtic and make them win with the resources they have compared to the rest of the league, excluding Rangers.
Well said Finchy. He does get teams and players exceedingly well motivated and playing above their station, but I don't really remember many youngers bled through our ranks when he was in charge (whatever happened to Steve Whitby, Simon Hutchinson, to name just two?) Don't get me wrong, MON is GOD for what he did for us, and if such a title of Free Man of Wycombe exists, he should be given it. He made me very happy when I was young and I'll be forever indebited to him for that. HOWEVER, whilst he was great for us, great for Celtic and pretty great at just about any other club he's been to, I am unsure whether he would cut it at one of the big four or five. He has a few systems but really really does like the flying-wingers-and-a-big-man-up-front tactic (Carew, Scott, Heskey) and I wonder how that would transfer into Champions League football against the likes of Barca or Man Utd etc. He might get found out. I guess it remains to be seen and I may be totally wrong. Either way I will always worship the ground he walks on.
Interesting debate - I dont think any of us can fairly comment on MON's ability to bring through youth...... To be fair, where has MON ever gone where he has had the time to nurture talent and build a long standing successful club? Lets look at MON's clubs (ive excluded Norwich as he wasnt really there very long!). Al Leicester, MON took over a team who were basically a steady Championship outfit with a limited budget. He got them up pretty much straight away and then, like any club getting into the top flight, the main priority was keeping them there. Not really the opportunity to build a long lasting legacy with young players. At Celtic, the basic main aim is to beat Rangers to the title. This has normally been done by bringing in semi decent pros on the cheap from Europe that can easily beat the likes of Dunfermline etc. So the need to build long lasting legacys is not really an issue. At Aston Villa, MON took on a big team in the traditional sense that had under achieved for a long time. The priority there was to turn them around gradually and start looking up not down. He succeeded in doing this but once again, not the ideal time to blood youth with a view to long standing success. Looking back Martin has only had jobs where he has has very clear short term goals. He has a fantastic record in turning players into world beaters and I would suggest players like Matt Elliott, Muzzy Izzet, Steve Guppy, Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, Neil Lennon etc have a lot to thank MOM for. As has already been said on here, MON is a god in terms of what he did for WWFC. Like Jock, I spent much of my youth watching his teams tearing others apart and we have much to be thankful to him for. I dont think its fair to judge MON on youth development - I certainly dont think we have seen the best of MON. Ive stated on here before that I believe Sunderland will make a couple of shrewd signings in the summer and go on to come close to qualifiying for Europe next season (ive put money on it!). I wouldnt be at all suprised to see Martin at Liverpool or Man Utd in the next couple of years. Imagine MON at United with Fergie as the director of football. Its enough to get you drooling!! Maybe when he's won a couple of Champions Leagues etc he'll come back Heres hoping!
