" DECLAN JOHN? "
Inside Cardiff City
By Jamie Kemble
Saturday 18th February 2017
Declan Johns contract runs to June 2018 and he is on approx £5,000 a week.
Declan John has been in and out of the Cardiff City squad since making his breakthrough more than four years ago but does he have a future at the club?
It’s been a frustrating few years for the winger after featuring regularly in the Premier League, he found himself left out and sent on-loan.
Former boss Russell Slade didn’t take too kindly to the Wales under-21 international at all with John sent to complete loan spells with Chesterfield and Barnsley. Slade even accused him of not having the right attitude to improve, saying he ‘needed to go out on-loan to get back on-track’.
John then started this season in Paul Trollope’s side and featured regularly but since Neil Warnock joined the club, only making two appearances and both have been from the bench.
Neil Warnock’s view
Neil Warnock spoke this morning about the 21-year-old and said he hasn’t seen ‘enough drive’ to put him into the team. He admitted: “I’ve not really seen enough of him (Declan John) at the top-level, there’s enough ability in there, but I’ve not seen enough drive to warrant him coming into the team.
“I have looked at a few things in training, like Rhys Healey has got into my squad and my thoughts because of training, Craig Noone got into the team because of training and he got back in because he was back to normal, whereas a few weeks before he was really poor, so I left him out.
“Junior (Hoilett) will be the next one back in because he needed a rest and those two have to be on their toes, but it’s a matter of showing me what we can do, especially at the moment when we only have six or seven subs including young Mark Harris.”
Warnock was also quizzed about what position best suits John and like most, he wasn’t quite sure. He added: “I think we’ll be saying that in 10 years time about him, whoever is managing him. He has a lot to learn defensively – if he wants to be a defender – but I thought he did well when he came on the other night and so did Junior.
“The way we played the game out, we had four of the six minutes by the corner flag and him (john) and Ken (Zohore) did very well. Declan has to keep doing what he did the other night and he will be in my thoughts.”
Who’s standing in John’s way?
There’s been much debate about where john’s favoured position is and given the form of the current squad, neither left-back or left-wing gives him a great opportunity.
In full-back, Joe Bennett has returned to fitness, while Jazz Richards and Matt Connolly have covered the full-back positions during Bennett and Peltier’s absence.
And Warnock has even admitted John has a lot to learn defensively, effectively ruling out a start for him in that position, with the Bluebirds’ boss not being one for taking defensive risks.
If John is a winger, and he most likely is, then he has an even tougher task of breaking into the team with junior Hoilett and Kadeem Harris impressing this season.
Also, Craig Noone has returned to form and indeed the starting XI, scoring an absolute cracker in the 4-3 win over Derby County.
So John’s route to the starting XI is far from clear, and he will have to make-do with five-minute cameos to show the manager what he can offer.
How long has John got to impress?
John has been trying to establish himself in the Cardiff City first team for what seems like forever. He featured regularly in the Premier League, but bizarrely hasn’t been deemed good enough to play in the Championship.
But while he seems like he has been around for an age, he is still just 21 and has time to establish himself as a first team player.
Having said that, his contract runs out in the summer of 2018, making the next 15 months or so vital for him.
Warnock has already said he wants a promotion push next season so providing he sticks around, then he is expected to be ruthless with the building and selecting of his squad.
That doesn’t bode well for John who clearly hasn’t impressed too much just yet, and he may have to find a way into his manager’s thoughts before the end of the season if he is to be given a new contract and to avoid being shipped out in the summer.
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