Image source, SNSImage caption, Rangers winger Findlay Curtis was involved in all five of Scotland's goals in the win against Azerbaijan
ByThomas DuncanBBC Sport Scotland at Rugby Park- Published12 minutes ago
As starts to a new era go, Scotland Under-21s' dominant 5-2 defeat of Azerbaijan was a rousing one.
Findlay Curtis ran riot, Tyler Fletcher cruised through the game in midfield and three strikers all scored.
All of that contributed to a fantastic team performance full of attacking elan and aggressive pressing.
It was exactly the type of display new head coach Tony Docherty and his assistant Steven Naismith demanded after replacing Scot Gemmill, who had been in charge of Scotland's best young talent for the past decade.
Those appointments were the headline amid a sweeping set of changes to the coaching set-up across Scotland's international youth teams initiated by the Scottish FA's new chief football officer Craig Mulholland.
The aim is to create a more streamlined and effective pathway for Scotland youth players into Sebastien Pocognoli's senior men's side.
It may only be one game - and one they should expect to win - but the under-21s certainly showed their intent to emulate the first team.
"My message to them was I want you to create an identity for the Scotland Under-21 team - by your attacking style of play, by your counter-pressing," Docherty told BBC Scotland after his side's win.
"And I thought we did that in abundance. The performance level, enthusiasm and energy of the players was outstanding."
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'They want us to mirror the first team'
The SFA's plan is for the under-21s to reflect the style and structure of the first team, to make it easier for players to move up to the next level.
Docherty was in La Manga at the senior side's training camp before their Nations League games and Pocognoli has given a presentation on his game model to the age-grade coaches.
Mulholland as well as SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and Scotland assistant Alan Irvine were in Kilmarnock on Wednesday night to observe as Docherty set his team up in the same 3-4-2-1 system Pocognoli favours - and that he himself used at Dundee.
Fletcher and St Mirren's Ryan Carr occupied the midfield berths, with Curtis and James Wilson playing as inside forwards behind West Brom's Barney Stewart.
Scotland pressed high, smothered their opponents and played the ball about quickly and with purpose. It was the type of football Pocognoli described when taking over the Scotland job but that his own team has only delivered in one half against Slovenia so far.
"They want us to mirror exactly what the first team do," former Falkirk striker Stewart, who scored twice on the night, told BBC Scotland.
"We sit down and watch the first-team games. I've got everyone in my ear saying, 'you see what they did there?' We watch patterns of play, pressing, you name it."
In that same vein, Curtis and Wilson joined up with the under-21s, having initially been involved in the senior squad's camp. It could have been viewed as a setback for them and Fletcher too, the trio having already played for the men's side.
However, none of them showed it on the pitch, as Curtis had a hand in all five of the goals, with Fletcher and Wilson both scoring.
"I came back with them from the camp," Docherty said. "They couldn't have been better with their attitude and leadership in the group.
"The team performance, including the subs, was really strong. But they deserve special mention because their attitude to the group has been brilliant and we need to make sure we continue that going forward."
A new era for Scotland's youth setup
The revamp of Scotland's youth teams at national level spreads well beyond the under-21s.
Docherty and Naismith are only two of a suite of new coaches, starting as low as the new under-14s squad.
Former Dundee United manager Tam Courts is leading the under-19s programme alongside former Hearts and Rangers left-back Lee Wallace, who is back at Tynecastle as a youth coach.
Courts managed to steer United into fourth in the Scottish Premiership in 2022 with a young squad, before departing for a short stint at Honved in Hungary.
David McCallum, who led the Rangers and Queen's Park academy, is paired with former Aberdeen and Celtic winger Jonny Hayes, now a coach with the latter, at under-17 level.
While at under-16s, Rhys McCabe is in charge, after his successful spell as a player- manager at Airdrieonians, alongside current SFA coaches James Grady and Stephen Clarke.
They will all be helped by former Aberdeen first team coach Peter Leven and Neil McFarlane, who works as Brentford's first-team coach, having led their B-side before that.
The idea is that while each group has been given an age grade to work with, they will operate more as a team so everyone has eyes across the entire pathway.
To help with that process, the coaches will be tasked with introducing a 'Scottish DNA'. So while the under-21s mirror the first team, the age groups below will have more license to play differently from Pocognoli's side, but underpinned by the same principles.
Image source, SNSImage caption, Rhys McCabe, Tam Courts and David McCallum are part of the Scottish FA's new youth coaching setup
Courts says that will be about channelling the Scottish reputation for passion and hard work - but marrying it with technical improvement.
"If you want to be a team that has credibility on the top stage, for sure we need to have more dominance and control of the ball," he said.
"We need to develop more players that are technically capable of playing in smaller spaces and also creating and scoring chances, because just now at the top level of the game, spaces are at a premium, chances are at a premium and we have to recognise that this is where the game is going.
"We have to develop players that can actually execute in those situations."
It is also no coincidence that the coaches chosen all have significant experience coaching and managing within Scotland's biggest clubs, as the SFA tries to align more with the people who ultimately have a greater hand in the progress of young players on a daily basis.
That is in contrast to Gemmill, as an example, who did not play or coach at a Scottish club and so did not have a natural link.
And while player development is the key focus, the new set-up also creates opportunities and a potential pathway for young coaches like McCabe.
After being thrown into management at just 29 while still playing for Airdrieonians, McCabe managed to make a success of it, leading them from League 1 into the Championship play-offs while playing a possession-based game.
"There's a lot of learning and personal development that I want to do first hand," McCabe said.
"Working with Sebastien and guys that have been about the game at different levels and had different experiences. I want to channel that and use that to ultimately make me a better coach."
The success of these, and other SFA changes to youth football in Scotland, can only ultimately be judged over the long term. But one thing is for sure, they are shaking up the status quo.
