Dick Advocaat, the new manager of Glasgow Rangers, has wasted little time in joining the mad rush abroad for players.

In the past couple of weeks, the Dutchman who recently replaced Walter Smith in charge at Ibrox, has brought in the Ukraine's former Manchester United and Everton winger Andrei Kanchelskis, French goalkeeper Lionel Charbonnier, Argentinian forward Gabriel Amato, and Holland duo Arthur Numan and Giovanni van Bronckhorst on a summer spending spree worth around $25 million.

All in all, it's something you might expect to discourage youth team coach John Chalmers and his young troops, who tonight face Bermuda in the International Youth Tournament at BAA Field.

Especially when you consider that of the squad that visited the Island's shores for the inaugural competition two years ago, nine were later awarded apprentice contracts by the Scottish Premier League runners-up. Two of those -- Mark Brown and Robert Malcom -- have since appeared in the first team.

But, paradoxically, Chalmers believes that the prospects for the home-grown youngsters will improve under the new regime.

"We had an albatross round our necks in that we were going for 10 championships in a row and obviously for Walter and Archie (Knox) that was an important thing for them and they wanted to keep a winning team,'' he says.

"So the chances of the young boys getting games were limited to those times when somebody was suspended or injured. As soon as that player came back in it meant they were back in the reserves again.

"But I don't think that will happen now; they think we must have Scottish players as well so that the feelings and traditions of the club are not forgotten and they are looking for us to regularly produce one or two players a season for the first team.'' Chalmers recently had an initial meeting with Advocaat and proposed the setting up of a School of Excellence -- similar to the Football Academies springing up alongside England's Premiership clubs, where players get their academic and footballing educations side by side in a live-in environment.

"I actually did a survey on it for the chairman two years ago -- we had the headmaster in place, we had the staff in place and we had quite a number of boys ready to come in,'' says the 48-year-old, who had coaching spells with Southampton, Ipswich under former England manager Bobby Robson and Motherwell before moving to Rangers 15 years ago.

"But unfortunately the Bosman ruling killed it. That meant that you could be paying a million pounds a year and getting nothing at the end of it. So I think he sort of backed off from it a little bit.

"But after seeing what's happened in England, they're going to look at it again.'' That, though, is in the future, and of more immediate concern to Chalmers, a midfielder with St Mirren before injury finished his playing career, is tonight's meeting with the hosts.

He watched Bermuda's game against Barbados on Monday night and was impressed.

"They seem to have progressed from the team we played last year and have one or two good young lads which must be pleasing for the coaches involved. But no two games are the same and I'm more concerned with the way we play. We have to look to impose ourselves and pose Bermuda some problems.'' One of those to catch Chalmers' eye is 15-year-old captain Marlon Dill. Dill was carried off close to the end of the Barbados game with mild concussion and missed last night's replayed match against the US, but coach Mark Trott was hopeful he would be fit for tonight.

If so, it will be a game worth watching simply for the quality of the wing play. Rangers have their own star in Iain Russell, three goals already in the tournament, who seems to glide past opponents at will.

Russell is the grandson of Ian MacMillan, who won a number of championship and cup medals with Rangers in the 1960s.

JOHN CHALMERS -- impressed by local youth team.