Legendary Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson has praised the youth set-up at Easter Road. Speaking before Man Utd’s clash with Rangers in the Champions League, Ferguson was discussing the way forward for Scottish Football, and praised Hibs youth set-up. Hibs have produced a number of exciting youngsters over the last few years, including Garry O’Connor, Derek Riordan, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Kenny Miller, Steven Whittaker and Kirk Broadfoot, who have all been capped by Scotland in recent times. These players have been sold on for massive fee's, allowing the club to wipe most of it's debt, build a £5m state-of-the-art training facility at East Mains, Tranent, and just this summer, spend £3.2m to build a new East Stand, completing the re-building job and finish the stadium that began in 1995. Add to that the current crop, with David Wotherspoon and Paul Hanlon currently fighting it out in the first team spots at Easter Road, and with a number of others out on loan to gain experience, and it's an ongoing plus for the Hibees. The Hibees have also set-up an expansive scouting system, that has seen the club unearth some gems, and sell them on for big fees following some polishing, David Murphy, Dean Shiels, Rob Jones and Ivan Sproule to name but a few. Ferguson said: "I know Hibs work very hard on developing young players," said the United manager, "and that is definitely the way ahead for Scottish clubs. High praise indeed.
"Hibs have a very healthy attitude when it comes to young players and have produced a few really good ones in the last five or six years.
"I'm not so sure about some of the other clubs in terms of what they are doing. You have to look at the Scottish teams a bit more deeply. The key element is what you have coming through. I don't know what the foundations are like.”