CAMERON CAMPBELL is relishing an exciting challenge for Rangers Under-19s as they prepare to compete in the Otten Innovation Cup in Eindhoven this week.
The eight-team tournament will see the young Gers pit their wits against RSC Anderlecht, FC Utrecht and Red Bull Bragantino in Group A, with Manchester United, PSV Eindhoven, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and FC Copenhagen competing in Group B.
Speaking to the official Rangers website, Campbell, who will function as lead coach for the tournament, commented: “We’re really excited. It’s a historic tournament and it has been running for 73 editions now, so there’s been a lot of heritage and prestige built up.
“You look at the teams who are competing this year, Manchester United, PSV, Rangers, Anderlecht, teams from Brazil and South Korea, it’s a really strong mixture within our Best v Best programme.
“We’ll also be coming up against different styles and cultures of playing football, so it’ll be a really interesting tournament for our young players to compete in.
“It’s going to be a massive squad effort, but we’re also excited to see the squad that we will put together. We typically end up with hybrid groups when we go play tournament football, to ensure we take our highest potential players and that we have enough numbers to cover our games programme.
“We’re going to have players who range from being born in 2004 through to 2007. It will be interesting to see the mixture and chemistry of that group.”
The tournament will utilise a range of innovative rules, including sin bins for cautions, dribble-ins from free-kicks, and a match clock which stops when the ball is not active.
Campbell believes the rules will be a refreshing change for the players and that he is particularly excited to sample the modified match clock.
He continued: “The boys play a lot of football, but a lot of them have played in the British system where they’ve been playing the same rules for a number of years now. To go and play in a tournament where there is a sin bin for yellow cards, kick-ins and dribble-ins, it brings a totally different element.
“You take throw-ins, for example, which is quite simple and straightforward, but now you have three different ways that you can take the throw-in. There are a lot of things for us to go and challenge the boys mentally, but it should also make for really high energy and dynamic games of football.
“I’m really excited by the stop clock approach. Personally, it’s something that I would love to see in elite football.
“You look at the average ball in play time in the top-flight, both in Scotland and England, it ranges from 50 to 55 minutes. If you look at how it’s introduced in basketball and the excitement that is generated from last minute shots, it almost levels the playing field in terms of gamesmanship against teams who slow the game down and purposely take their time on restarts.
“I think a lot of the frustration would come out of players if they knew that none of it was being counted, because although referees do their best to add time back on, it never really works out that way. That is a rule that will be interesting to see and whether it could be implemented into mainstream football.”
Although there is undoubted excitement over both the strength of teams involved and the innovative rules, Campbell insists the players will be highly motivated to get their hands on silverware at the end of the tournament.
He added: “Rangers are a club which demands winning, and the outcome of that is that you want to be lifting silverware at the end of seasons or tournaments.
“The boys will go with the mindset that they are there to win everything, whether it’s one-on-one duels or individual matches, and hopefully they come away with the trophy.
“It’s something that we never shy away from, especially at this age and stage of their careers, and these players are all pushing to be part of Michael Beale’s thoughts.”
You can follow all the action from the Otten Innovation Cup on Twitter @RFC_Youth, where we will provide comprehensive pre-match, in-game, and post-match coverage.
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