It’s abundantly clear that youth development in Scotland requires a radical overhaul.

As such, Rangers' big announcement regarding their Academy on Thursday afternoon should be viewed as a positive step.

Zeb Jacobs has been confirmed as the club's new Academy Director, replacing Craig Mulholland.

It represents a promotion for Jacobs from his role as Head of Academy coaching, where he implemented a number of unique methods to enhance the youth development processes. 

Just 28-years-old, Jacobs has accelerated through the youth coaching system and there is a clear correlation of ideas with Michael Beale - himself an expert in the development of talented youngsters. 

Beale spotted Jacobs when he was tasked with identifying the best promising young European coach back in 2021. He was instructed to perform a similar assignment by Liverpool in 2014 when now assistant manager Pep Lijnders was selected. 

Lijnders has been a highly-respected and influential member of Jurgen Klopp’s backroom team during a period of huge success at Liverpool and also assisted in the identification of Jacobs. 

Thursday's appointment of the Belgian further highlights Beale's influence across all areas of the football department and it’s understood he will be prominent in selecting the new technical director.

That process is progressing and James Bisgrove pointedly mentioned the relationship between the pair when reacting to Jacbos’ appointment. 

He said: "I'd like to firstly congratulate Zeb on his appointment. Michael Beale and I, along with other key colleagues from the football department, led a thorough and diligent recruitment process to identify our next Academy Director, with Zeb the outstanding candidate.

"Zeb will bring constant innovation and a clear vision to the role, and his strong collaborative relationship with Michael Beale and the first team staff will ensure a direct link and pathway between the Academy and Men's first team that will flourish for many years.” 

Jacobs is widely regarded as a pioneer in youth development and he places huge emphasis on implementing innovative ideas. 

His clear principles and vision will improve the pathway between the youth academy and first team. Rangers simply haven’t produced enough players across the last decade or two and Jacobs has acknowledged this publicly in previous interviews. 

Jacobs places great emphasis on individual players rather than the team, with an open-minded approach to adopting ideas.

Furthermore, the new Academy Director is clearly confident, not only in his own ability but also in his belief that Rangers can become a trailblazer in youth development. 

READ MORE: Antonio Colak's Rangers future assessed amid transfer links

“With the resources and elite infrastructure already in place, I firmly believe that our Academy has the potential to become world-leading in player development,” he said after his appointment was confirmed.

“My vision is crystal clear: ‘Create the most exciting learning environment in sports'. 

“By maximising the potential of every player and nurturing their skills, we aim to produce a new generation of players who can excel not only for Rangers in Scotland but also on the European stage.”

Despite not accumulating many first-team appearances, Nathan Patterson remains the flagship recent example of Rangers' youth development. 

He became the club's highest-ever transfer sale when he joined Everton in a deal that could be worth up to £16 million. 

Patterson’s sale clearly demonstrated the financial benefit of developing players, but youngsters can also enhance Beale’s first-team options if they are of the required quality.

The jump from youth football to first-team is substantial and there’s currently not a suitable system in place in Scotland to effectively bridge the gap.

Placing B teams within the Scottish football pyramid has been a contentious issue across the last few seasons and plans for a Conference League have recently been scrapped. 

Rangers remain committed to the idea of B-teams and it’s understood they have strong support from other clubs and the SFA, as there is an acceptance that a suitable structure for 18-21 year-olds doesn’t exist at present.

Innovative thinking is required to revamp the system and facilitate an improved pathway from youth football to the first team.

The SFA’s Performance Schools are proving to be increasingly successful with a number of players benefiting from coaching within the curriculum. 

The criticism of these schools early on in the process highlighted a lack of patience and an unbeneficial reticence to new ideas, which must change.  

While implementing a successful programme for 18-21-year-olds in Scotland isn’t imminent, Rangers should be encouraged that they’ve got a highly-skilled operator in Jacobs overseeing the development of their young players.