DAVID MCCALLUM believes the influence of Steven Gerrard will raise the standard of players and coaches working within the Rangers Academy.
The Liverpool legend made the move to Ibrox last summer following a stint as Reds’ Under-18s boss as he took his first steps into management.
Gerrard keeps a close eye on the up-and-coming talent in the Light Blues’ ranks and youth coach McCallum hopes his kids make the most of their chance to impress.
He told SportTimes: “I think the biggest thing we have had from him is support. He has come from an Academy background at Liverpool and he has seen what we do and given us a lot of good feedback.
“It is not just in a football sense, it is in their character and their approach and how they develop and be better. The manager has made it clear that he is big on that, it is one thing being a good player but you need to have that hunger and desire to prove that you stand out.
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“If there are players of a similar level to you, you have to put yourself beyond them. From that point of view, he has been very good and when you get a chance to speak to him, he asks how the players are doing.
“That has been the case from very early on and he asks if there is anything he can do to help us continue to develop them. He has given us a lot of trust and the Academy has pushed to a level where hopefully we see some rewards in terms of players coming through.”
Boss Gerrard and his coaching staff watched from afar as the Rangers’ Under-17s won the prestigious Al Kass International Cup in Qatar last month.
And McCallum is thankful for the backing that Gerrard and his backroom team have given the staff at the Hummel Training Centre this term.
He said: “It is not just the manager, you have got to look at Gary McAllister, Michael Beale, Tom Culshaw and they want to support us and help push us from a coaching point of view.
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“You are always looking for feedback and when it comes from the first team, you have to listen. Whatever they feel is important, if we can implement that into our programme then clearly we have got to do that.
“As an Academy, we want to make sure that we do visits and check out what other clubs are doing, because any best practice that exists has to be implemented. We are not a closed book, we are always looking to see what is out there that we can bring into our programme.”
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