Scottish FA chief football officer Craig Mulholland has outlined plans to reform youth development by partnering with top-flight clubs to boost player trading revenues across the country.
Mulholland, who spent nearly 20 years working in the youth academy at Glasgow club Rangers, left his position with English Premier League side Nottingham Forest to take up his new role with the governing body earlier this summer.
His first task was leading the search for a new national team manager after Steve Clarke resigned following Scotland's campaign at the World Cup.
Mulholland was instrumental in the Scottish Football Association's use of artificial intelligence, data and analytics during recruitment, culminating in the appointment of 39-year-old Belgian head coach Sebastien Pocognoli on a two-year contract earlier this week. Pocognoli is Scotland's first foreign head coach in over 20 years.
With the new manager in place, Mulholland is turning his attention to structural reform in youth development. The SFA will meet all Scottish top-flight clubs in St Andrews next month to discuss future strategy.
Youth development meeting at St Andrews
In recent years, Scotland has consistently ranked among the lowest nations in Europe in terms of playing minutes offered to homegrown players under the age of 21.
Mulholland acknowledged that top clubs in Scotland may wish to suit their own agendas, but hopes all parties can work constructively toward financial growth through player development and trading models.
Speaking about club motivations, Mulholland said: "I've sat on the other side of these conversations for one of the biggest clubs in the country for years. Listen, you care about the national team because you are Scottish and proud of it. A lot of our ownership groups aren't even Scottish now but still care about the national team. So I don't think that's a driver for the clubs."
He explained: "The clubs, when you're working for them, it's about making your club better. So the driver here isn't about making the national team better, it's: 'How can we make your club better? How can we bring more money to your club?' That just makes Scottish football better, makes your club better. That's got to be the driver."
He added that a broader playing base benefits the national side: "The by-product for us is if there's more players playing then there's more for Sebastien to go and pick from. That's great. But the driver more for the clubs is how can we generate the significant revenues that Austria, Switzerland are getting? We're not talking about big, big countries. Why are we not getting that?"
Mulholland also urged Scottish football to embrace modern analytical concepts rather than resisting them.
"I'm going to say something daft. You know the way we talk about modern football terminology. And we almost apologise for using it. Well, the rest of the world is talking like that," Mulholland said. "So why should we be the country that is apologising for using it if that's what the players are used to? Let's actually go and smash a few plates and see if we can get somewhere."
Highlighting his personal commitment, Mulholland revealed he turned down lucrative financial opportunities in England to take the job. "I could have stayed in England when I left Forest. I could certainly have earned a hell of a lot more money in England, let me tell you. But this isn't about money. There's actually a chance to leave a bit of a legacy and change something here," he said.
He added that discussions with SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and president Mike Mulraney proved encouraging. "Mike's words were that for the first time in 20 years the SFA are more open to change than perhaps what they had ever been. That excited me," Mulholland noted. "It's about saying once in your career, can you leave a bit of a legacy? Let's give it a go and see if we can do something a bit different, a bit special."
Revenue generation from player trading
Mulholland dismissed reports suggesting the governing body had demanded a confrontation with Premiership teams ahead of the summit in St Andrews.
"I noticed some of the comments about the SFA 'summoning clubs' to St Andrews. That's nonsense. We've not 'summoned' anyone anywhere," Mulholland said. "What we want to do is create a new bit where we work incredibly closely with the clubs. Hopefully we are not fighting with the clubs."
Analyzing the financial landscape, Mulholland pointed out that traditional revenue streams have reached their limits. Commercial sponsorship and broadcasting rights have plateaued worldwide, while Scottish football already leads Europe in stadium attendance per capita.
"Can we get any more sponsorship in our game? Probably not. Can we get any more broadcast in our game? Probably not. They have plateaued across the world," he said. "Can you get more bums on seats? Well, we know we are the highest of any country in Europe for that. So the only bit, if we want to grow in partnership with our clubs, is the revenues we can get from player trading by having a proper playing trading strategy."
To establish a closer working relationship, the SFA is launching a direct support program for top-flight teams.
"On a different topic, one of the things we'll do now is the national youth team coaches will get four clubs each and go into the clubs once a fortnight," Mulholland explained. "And they'll say: 'How can we help you grow your club?'"
He noted that assistance could cover technical matters, player trading strategies, or arranging expert support for injury management.
"If we're going to get this game better, then we need to get the SFA and clubs working hand in hand, and the Press, the public," Mulholland said. "Because we also need to accept we can't be sitting bottom of the tables across Europe for giving young players minutes and think that's okay. We need to be aware of the reality of the problem."
Fortnightly club visits by national coaches
Reflecting on his previous two decades at Rangers, Mulholland admitted that he shared responsibility for the current state of youth development in Scotland.
"I was 20 years at Rangers, so I'm not sitting here preaching to anyone. I was part of that problem; we were all part of it," Mulholland said. "But now we need to be brave enough to say, right, we're at a bit of a crossroads. We've just come back from a World Cup, we're lowest in that league table for player minutes. We have appointed an exciting new coach. Can we now go after some other bits and give ourselves more of a chance?"
Data gathered during the search for Clarke's successor also produced key insights regarding international squad depth, challenging conventional beliefs about single star players such as Gareth Bale for Wales or Erling Haaland for Norway.
"One of the myths I wasn't sure about in my head and the data had to tell us was, remember when Wales were outstanding?" Mulholland explained. "We all thought that was because they had Gareth Bale. Or you look at Norway just now with Erling Haaland and they think it's because of Haaland. Turns out it's not. The success of your group is dictated by your bottom-end players, not the guy at the top end."
He added: "Scotland's top-end players compare well from a data perspective with other countries' top-end players. What we need to do is make sure we are refreshing the group."
Data insights on squad depth and recruitment
Pocognoli, who previously managed Monaco in France and Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium, was chosen after the SFA evaluated roughly 40 coaches through data profiling before conducting in-person interviews.
Mulholland confirmed that Pocognoli was also being monitored by several English Premier League clubs prior to joining Scotland.
"I know for a fact he was on the list of some Premier League clubs," Mulholland said. "Part of my job is to know the intel of what those clubs are looking at. We profiled about 40 coaches through the data. We went and spoke to loads in honesty but the personal bit becomes really important."
He explained that data analysis was balanced with personal meetings to ensure the new head coach could connect with the players. Mulholland spent around six hours with Pocognoli in London, followed by a five-hour meeting in Brussels alongside SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell.
"Sebastien and I had about six hours in London. Ian and I then met him in Brussels and had about five hours with him there," Mulholland said. "He's constantly been on the group chat since then with a million questions. He's forgetting this is my first camp this next one as well, I don't know all the answers. His enthusiasm for it has been brilliant."
Pocognoli will take charge of Scotland for the first time next month when the UEFA Nations League campaign begins with fixtures against Slovenia and Switzerland.
