Scott’s 20-year playing career took in distinguished spells at Leeds, Newcastle and Bolton among others and since hanging up his boots seven years ago he has coached at both youth team and senior level at clubs including Mansfield, Chesterfield and Sheffield United.
His appointment enhances the back-room team at Platt Lane, which was recently added to with the arrival of Brian Kidd as Technical Development Manager.
The Academy has produced 27 players for the City first team so far, and Scott is of the opinion that Platt Lane’s excellent reputation will continue to grow.
“The Academy has a reputation for not only producing good teams but excellent individual players within those teams,” he declares.
“So many have come through into the first team over the last few years, but even now when the club is looking to break into the very top level some of those lads are staying in the team. Yes, the club will bring in new players, but there is still that nucleus of the young players as well. That’s not just the case here, lots of clubs are doing it this way where the policy is not just based on spending money on bringing in new players.
“All the young players here have to do is watch the first team play and see Stephen Ireland, Micah Richards and Michael Johnson in there. They should look at them and say to themselves, ‘they have been through the same system as me, they have had an opportunity and taken it, so can I’. But at the same I think they will understand that as the club develops, they will have to raise their standards to get to that level.”
Scott has started work at the Academy following a summer where the pitches, medical facilities and analysis suites were all improved, giving the young players what he sees as the ideal environment to work in.
He added, “I’m lucky in that I’ve come in after all the changes have been made. What I can see is that with the facilities we have here the staff and the players have no excuses. Everything has been put in place for us to develop the lads’ careers, and we can have no complaints over what we have to work with here at the Academy.”
