Hibs and Celtic impress but SPFL's pathway failure laid bare by data

Two sets of figures were published this week which told a story of modern football and which demonstrated where the Scottish game needs to become smarter in its development and handling of pathways for young players.

The CIES Football Observatory, which specialises in the statistical analysis of football, in particular in the areas of demographics, transfer values and performance, released a report on Wednesday which recorded the use of club-trained players by clubs in 31 European leagues.

The Scottish Premiership finished 25th in Europe with club-trained players (defined as those who have been at the club for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21) featuring in 8.2% of the minutes in all games played up until January 17th of this season. Break those figures down further and it's a damning assessment for Premiership clubs such as Livingston and Ross County who have not used a single player from the aforementioned category in their campaigns to date – a statistic that placed them at the bottom of the European rankings with 31 other teams. Meanwhile, Motherwell – a club that likes to pride itself on its youth development – registered a measly 2.5%. At the top of the Premiership list is Hibernian, who have used club-trained players in more than a quarter of their minutes this season, Celtic were second on 13.7% while Kilmarnock and Rangers were joint-third on 10.5%.

Hibs' tally would likely have been higher had they not sold Josh Doig to Verona during the summer. For all the criticism directed the club's way this season, Lee Johnson is following a long-stated Easter Road policy to supplement squads with a combination of youth players and transfers – a blueprint which more Scottish clubs should be following, especially in these more financially straitened times.

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What is a youth academy if clubs are not prepared to use them? Hundreds of thousands of pounds per year are spent on maintaining them and yet the figures released by CIES demonstrate that it is, for the most part, money down the drain. Many years ago when Rangers were in dire straits they allowed Kane Hemmings – an academy product who featured just nine times in the first team – to join Cowdenbeath in the Championship on a free when they themselves were in Division Three and the striker subsequently went on to score 18 goals in 31 games earning himself the Championship player of the year into the bargain. There was, of course, much better success with Nathan Patterson, whom they managed to sell to Everton for circa £16m and thus demonstrate how a youth academy should work, even then though Rangers were unable to benefit from a couple of years of the right-back's performance in the first team.

Meanwhile, the Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has raided the Japanese market regularly since his arrival in Glasgow 18 months ago and looked elsewhere for talent as he has laid down his plans for how he wants his side to play, so it was encouraging to hear him state earlier this week that he expects Matthew Anderson, the Celtic B captain who signed a new contract until 2025 on Tuesday, and other members of the club's Lowland League outfit to start breaking into the first team within the next six to 12 months. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether the Australian sticks to that outline plan. It would certainly make sense from the club's point of view.

Anderson, who turns 19 next week, has been coveted by a number of English clubs in recent seasons including Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United. If he is handled correctly, he should be the next prodigious talent from the club's academy to contribute to the first team and potentially raise a huge transfer fee somewhere down the line.

The other set of figures which appeared this week? The annual Deloitte money list of Europe's richest clubs. Of course, 11 English sides are in the top 20 this year (an ever growing number). That's those clubs who raid Scotland on a habitual basis and take its best young talents – players like Anderson and Patterson – to the Premier League for a comparative song when measured against the hundreds of millions they are raking in every season from commercial deals and television broadcast rights.