MARK WARBURTON reckons Scottish clubs and kids have to broaden their horizons if we are to improve our national game in the coming years.

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan is set to be at the heart of plans to overhaul our football structure across the board as he revealed the pursuit of improvement has become an ‘obsession’.

Having seen our national side yet again fail to qualify for a major finals this year, the focus is, not for the first time, firmly fixed on how we can rescue the game and see it prosper once more.

Warburton revolutionised youth football in Europe with the creation of the NextGen series as top clubs from across the continent went head-to-head at Academy level.

Rangers’ Under-20 side are currently fifth in the SPFL Development League table and Warburton admits the familiarity factor is not helping our most promising prospects.

He said: “When I was at Watford we’d play Chelsea eight or nine times in the one season.

“Very quickly you’d lose the excitement, lose the challenge. It all becomes too familiar.

“Coaches would play the same systems and it would become a training game.

“All the coaches here know all the young players in Scotland so there’s no challenge for them.

“That’s why I say go play AC Milan, go play Ajax, go play Alkmaar, go and play PSV home and away and improve the challenge.

“If you speak to the coaches from the NextGen that was the attraction from them. Coaches sharing ideas, and kids being challenged.

“Man City were excellent at that because their target has to be the Champions League.

“Our challenge at Rangers has to be to offer our players a better challenge.

“They have to be ready to make the leap from Elite Youth performer to first team performer.

“That’s a big jump for a player to make and we have to help them.”

In an exclusive interview with Gers Under-20 boss Ian Durrant last month, SportTimes revealed the Light Blues are keen to line up clashes with European sides to give their top young talents a taste of continental action early in their careers.

And Warburton is confident the experience will stand the Murray Park kids in good stead as Rangers look to produce their own stars of the future.

He said: “If you are a young driver is it enough to drive round the same circuit all the time?

“It becomes all too familiar. You need to take them out of their comfort zone.

“What are the like at travelling, how do they deal with the flight, how they deal with the hotel, how do they deal with the foreign crowd.

“One game against Olympiakos there was a crowd of 19,000 for an Under-19.

“So Rangers v Barcelona at Ibrox in an Under-19 game would be fantastic.

“That’s how you accelerate the development of younger players.”

Warburton made the move north of the border from Championship side Brentford in the summer and left behind a league that is flush with cash on the back of the huge rights deals that have been struck with the Premier League.

And the Englishman knows Scottish football will continue to struggle until we can bring money into the game and are able to promote a vibrant product once again.

Warburton said: “As an outsider coming in, and this is purely my opinion, it’s all down to investment.

“We’ve spoken before about the financial climate down south.

“The challenge for Scottish football must be to improve the investment in the game. That has to be the challenge.

“Where does the investment down south come from? It comes from TV. I’m no expert but the common sense approach would be to improve the quality of the product.

“It’s just my opinion, but to attract more TV investment you have to improve the product.

“It comes down to money, it’s as simple as that so Scottish football has to improve its product to attract greater investment.”