SCOTTS YOUNG GUNS

We have as a group, gone with the Young Guns title for our scheme and fund raising plans, we feel that Scott will always have a special place amongst City fans, born here, played all his football here, been thru the youth set up and now runs the youngsters set up, and even at the peak of his "fame" career, he was always one of us and one of the most approachable players you could ever be privileged to meet,oh and he did score a goal against some team that I can't recollect

To see how passionate and excited he is about the scheme and the fact that it's been organised by fans for the grass roots of football in the area is contagious. He's got loads of plans and it can only benefit us as fans and the club in general long term.

As a fan I don,t see the setup at the football League clubs closest to us as rivals, in fact our existing set up is already the envy of many clubs. But we do have to compete with rugby as a sport in this area and whilst it is changing most of us will remember that in most schools Rugby was always the sport that was promoted and encouraged.

We need to provide the facilities and good coaching to attract these kids into the Cardiff City football pyramid, not every player that enters this set up will turn into the next Adams or Ramsey and for every diamond we discover we will have to sort though lot's and lot's of stones, but these stones can be the foundations of our club and football in general.

Hopefully the skills they are taught and the coaching they get will help Welsh football in general, some of these players who don't quite make the grade will filter in the Welsh League and local Leagues.

Also a lot of these kids and their families hopefully after being a part of the Cardiff City setup, will want to stay a part of it, even if only as fans. I can only see good coming out of this initiative and hope as we have done so many times in the past we can give it our full backing and help the club we love. Onwards and upwards.

Who knows, if we're lucky, this scheme might well unearth the next Cameron Toshack...

Ok, bad example...

well done to you and the others who have put the work in gwyn.

hopefully the best youngsters can be kept at cardiff city to develop or even just as fans, instead of being moved on to bristol city and the jacks

well done to you and the others who have put the work in gwyn.

hopefully the best youngsters can be kept at cardiff city to develop or even just as fans, instead of being moved on to bristol city and the jacks

Good luck with the fund raising Gwyn, the scheme you support certainly needs the funding especially after the Ridsdale era.

No doubt as with any project all the money/funding helps.

At the same time though it's not the answer to everything either.

You have already stated that the system is the envy of other Clubs?? excuse me but could you explain where you got this information from and which Clubs are envious as you state? I think you will find it's the complete opposite - but of course you go by what the Club told you last night . And there lies the problem the attitude and the belief with blinkered specs.

Finally did you get 2 minutes to ask the simple question from these great leaders of football/business you have praised so highly this morning?

Here was the question again , why did they not recontact a client who paid them 2k for coaching last season , this season? 2k is a lot of money for an underfunded system that we are raising money for , dont you agree?

We have as a group, gone with the Young Guns title for our scheme and fund raising plans, we feel that Scott will always have a special place amongst City fans, born here, played all his football here, been thru the youth set up and now runs the youngsters set up, and even at the peak of his "fame" career, he was always one of us and one of the most approachable players you could ever be privileged to meet,oh and he did score a goal against some team that I can't recollect

To see how passionate and excited he is about the scheme and the fact that it's been organised by fans for the grass roots of football in the area is contagious. He's got loads of plans and it can only benefit us as fans and the club in general long term.

Couple of questions here, in relation to your statement. What are the plans you talk of and are they new plans and when can we expect to see these plans? Are these plans based on finances raised or if they are raised? As for benefits you mention, not sure how it will benefit the fans , maybe you could explain? unless your thinking the benefit is just maybe one day one youngster may nuture? although there is no real benefit in that for a fan, a fan expects 11 decent players on a pitch in return for their entrance payment where ever they come from or however they were obtained. The Club yes will see benefit if they can avoid lumping out on a transfer fee or selling on a nutured asset . Should not the benefit not be that of the fan or the Club but that of the Child/parent in having better than current organisation and offerings .

If it's for the Clubs benefit, with Billionaire owners why is it the fan is being asked to fund? although I do understand that it's a freedom of choice rather like a charity contribution and I do wish the fund raising scheme you are setting up well and admire your efforts

As a fan I don,t see the setup at the football League clubs closest to us as rivals, in fact our existing set up is already the envy of many clubs. But we do have to compete with rugby as a sport in this area and whilst it is changing most of us will remember that in most schools Rugby was always the sport that was promoted and encouraged.

I think as you start with " As a Fan" you answer the question probably anyway, but to form that opinion what other set ups have you seen to form that opinion that other clubs are envious? you say thats a fact? how is that a fact? you then move onto Rugby and Schools , dont the rivals suffer with the same syndrome that you mention? Agree though Thugby needs to be weeded out

We need to provide the facilities and good coaching to attract these kids into the Cardiff City football pyramid, Agree, but who is " WE" the Club or the fans? Billionaire owners or supporters? instead of sending out Staff to Malaysia and building houses of sport there, why not invest that money locally? not every player that enters this set up will turn into the next Adams or Ramsey and for every diamond we discover we will have to sort though lot's and lot's of stones, but these stones can be the foundations of our club and football in general. You mean 99.9% of children who enter a Development centre will be a stone so at this stage there should not even be any thought of a Ramsey and just allowing the kids fun and enjoyment learning , obviously then if they show the potential - its up to the Academy.

Hopefully the skills they are taught and the coaching they get will help Welsh football in general, some of these players who don't quite make the grade will filter in the Welsh League and local Leagues. Hopefully as it will be a very large volume of them in development, the emphasis should be on this and not powered on you come here in Development to try and make the grade.

Also a lot of these kids and their families hopefully after being a part of the Cardiff City setup, will want to stay a part of it, even if only as fans. I can only see good coming out of this initiative and hope as we have done so many times in the past we can give it our full backing and help the club we love. Onwards and upwards.

Totally agree

We have as a group, gone with the Young Guns title for our scheme and fund raising plans, we feel that Scott will always have a special place amongst City fans, born here, played all his football here, been thru the youth set up and now runs the youngsters set up, and even at the peak of his "fame" career, he was always one of us and one of the most approachable players you could ever be privileged to meet,oh and he did score a goal against some team that I can't recollect

To see how passionate and excited he is about the scheme and the fact that it's been organised by fans for the grass roots of football in the area is contagious. He's got loads of plans and it can only benefit us as fans and the club in general long term.

Couple of questions here, in relation to your statement. What are the plans you talk of and are they new plans and when can we expect to see these plans? Are these plans based on finances raised or if they are raised? As for benefits you mention, not sure how it will benefit the fans , maybe you could explain? unless your thinking the benefit is just maybe one day one youngster may nuture? although there is no real benefit in that for a fan, a fan expects 11 decent players on a pitch in return for their entrance payment where ever they come from or however they were obtained. The Club yes will see benefit if they can avoid lumping out on a transfer fee or selling on a nutured asset . Should not the benefit not be that of the fan or the Club but that of the Child/parent in having better than current organisation and offerings.

We got lots of plans about getting retired players involved and getting around the support areas building bonds with the club and community whilst also raising funds for the youngsters. Scott as gone away to draw up areas where funding can be best used an then we can sit down and see what help we can give. Part of the benefits I see for fans is hopefully seeing more home grown talent come thru the ranks and I'm sure most of us would love to see a team full of home grown talent, also i'm sure we'd all be happy to see the community development centres and other grass roots schemes coming to every corner of the areas we live in, also if the parents and family of any children are drawn towards supporting or helping the club in any way, then that can only be good.

If it's for the Clubs benefit, with Billionaire owners why is it the fan is being asked to fund? although I do understand that it's a freedom of choice rather like a charity contribution and I do wish the fund raising scheme you are setting up well and admire your efforts

It isn't the Billionaire owners or even the CEO of Cardiff City asking us for more money, it's fellow fans offering to help and wanting to contribute. Yes we spend a lot of money on our tickets and travelling around the country, but I don't see that money as a donation, more as a cost for the entertainment I choose to spend my money on, supporting schemes and charities is purely a choice thing, I don't think its expected of us, but I know that People such as Scott and his team are over the moon that fans are being pro-active. Also it send out a message to the Malaysians surely, we are asking them to invest in our club, and i'm sure our gesture will impress upon them our wish to help as well rather than just sit back and ask them to chuck more money in from month to month.

We could take the attitude that some footballers earn 90 grand a week, so if we raise ten grand for Scotts kids that's a drop in the ocean, but if we all took that approach there'd be no charities. I'm not a rich man, but I do feel a sense of conflict when I spend a grand on a holiday and then work out that 1 grand could stop a hundred kids from starving to death for their lifetime. Lot's of people giving lot's of help no matter how small is often the better way forward, gives a lot of us a good feeling.



As a fan I don,t see the setup at the football League clubs closest to us as rivals, in fact our existing set up is already the envy of many clubs. But we do have to compete with rugby as a sport in this area and whilst it is changing most of us will remember that in most schools Rugby was always the sport that was promoted and encouraged.

I think as you start with " As a Fan" you answer the question probably anyway, but to form that opinion what other set ups have you seen to form that opinion that other clubs are envious? you say thats a fact? how is that a fact? you then move onto Rugby and Schools , dont the rivals suffer with the same syndrome that you mention? Agree though Thugby needs to be weeded out


I have always been involved in local football and I am Vice President of my local club, I have also helped with the youth set up there and am in contact with quite a few lads involved in coaching kids, and they speak highly of our set up. Swansea on the other hand don't have an Academy status for the best of the crop to head towards, also whilst sitting in the foyer last night there were families there from Bristol who had brought their kids over for training and they spoke highly of what we had, and for them to travel that distance, proves something, either that we have the best facilities, or that their kid didn't cut the mustard in the Bristol Academy and they have come over here to try and prove he's got what it takes, that's bound to happen both ways and as I have said before the club will not get it 100% right on 100% of the occasions, but a lot of it is about impartial opinions rather than blinkered parents thinking their boy is the next Aaron Ramsey when truth is he's more chance of being Gordon Ramsey.


We need to provide the facilities and good coaching to attract these kids into the Cardiff City football pyramid, Agree, but who is " WE" the Club or the fans? Billionaire owners or supporters? instead of sending out Staff to Malaysia and building houses of sport there, why not invest that money locally?

We!,surely is all of us from top to bottom, as for the staff going to Malaysia, the funding for that trip didn't come out of Scott's budget, and surely it's a two way thin, if we want to build a relationship with the Malaysians that benefits both parties, isn't that the way forward.

Not every player that enters this set up will turn into the next Adams or Ramsey and for every diamond we discover we will have to sort though lot's and lot's of stones, but these stones can be the foundations of our club and football in general.

You mean 99.9% of children who enter a Development centre will be a stone so at this stage there should not even be any thought of a Ramsey and just allowing the kids fun and enjoyment learning , obviously then if they show the potential - its up to the Academy.

Spot on, and this is one area Scott and his team really stressed to us,it's about grass roots and the kids can all find a place and a level that benefits them, some kids develop in stages and spurts, at 8 they may look like- Giggs, at 10 they can llok like Goggs, but again at 24 they could look like Giggs yet again, if they are in e pyramid, then there is more chance of picking up on this, but as long as they are given the chance then surely the scheme is working.

Hopefully the skills they are taught and the coaching they get will help Welsh football in general, some of these players who don't quite make the grade will filter in the Welsh League and local Leagues. Hopefully as it will be a very large volume of them in development, the emphasis should be on this and not powered on you come here in Development to try and make the grade.

Also a lot of these kids and their families hopefully after being a part of the Cardiff City setup, will want to stay a part of it, even if only as fans. I can only see good coming out of this initiative and hope as we have done so many times in the past we can give it our full backing and help the club we love. Onwards and upwards.

Totally agree

We got lots of plans about getting retired players involved and getting around the support areas building bonds with the club and community whilst also raising funds for the youngsters. Scott as gone away to draw up areas where funding can be best used an then we can sit down and see what help we can give. Part of the benefits I see for fans is hopefully seeing more home grown talent come thru the ranks and I'm sure most of us would love to see a team full of home grown talent, also I'm sure we'd all be happy to see the community development centres and other grass roots schemes coming to every corner of the areas we live in, also if the parents and family of any children are drawn towards supporting or helping the club in any way, then that can only be good.

Gwyn,

Firstly thank you for your reply ,

It's good to hear that you have plans and look forward to hearing from you in due course to what they actually are. The only problem I for see on being able to use former players is their present locations even Leggy lives in Nottingham and Bows already has his own football development private centre. But as you say you will be announcing these plans ,so it's best to wait to hear what they actually curtail.

For actually seeing a team full of home grown talent one hell of a structure and Academy is certainly going to be needed, that's for sure. When you take the 96's for Wales currently its divided between 9 Swansea City and 3 Cardiff. A lot different to the 95's who took part in the Victory shield this year. Possibly a signal of what's gone on behind the scenes under the Ridsdale regime and the under funding and poor infrastructure in place and organisation. When you state "
also if the parents and family of any children are drawn towards supporting or helping the club in any way, then that can only be good" it will be good if its well organised and the kids are treated well, if not it can turn totally the other way, you have already heard the various complaints from parents who's Children are in " Development" and that's just on here which is a very small percentage of audience.

Regards the finances and the current board, obviously first it's a charity that's a free choice for someone to contribute and support, again I admire your efforts as a fund raiser, a lot of people moan but never do something about it themselves , you personally have never been one of those types, you back your words up with your actions as again shown here. I look forward to seeing how much you raise and what it is spent on in the future.

If you follow a few of my tips that I have given to Carl , you should do well.

You then say

have always been involved in local football and I am Vice President of my local club, I have also helped with the youth set up there and am in contact with quite a few lads involved in coaching kids, and they speak highly of our set up. Swansea on the other hand don't have an Academy status for the best of the crop to head towards, also whilst sitting in the foyer last night there were families there from Bristol who had brought their kids over for training and they spoke highly of what we had, and for them to travel that distance, proves something, either that we have the best facilities, or that their kid didn't cut the mustard in the Bristol Academy and they have come over here to try and prove he's got what it takes, that's bound to happen both ways and as I have said before the club will not get it 100% right on 100% of the occasions, but a lot of it is about impartial opinions rather than blinkered parents thinking their boy is the next Aaron Ramsey when truth is he's more chance of being Gordon Ramsey.

So it's not as a fan as earlier stated but your opinion comes from being the Vice President of your local Club. That's good as you will have further knowledge to debate on the subject. How do you work your youth system at your Club? How many do you have currently in development? which centres do they attend? at those centres what are the facilities like? How many of your Development players have been up for 6 weeks at the Academy? From Development do they always get their 6 week easements? Will be interesting to hear how you do things at your Club. If you have an under 12 side maybe we could set up a friendly? little wager on it with winner handing the funds to your Young Guns Scheme.

You seem to have a fixation with Bristol as you mention them again. Although earlier you stated they are envious, of which they aren't, you state facilities , sorry but take a trip over to Failand and take a look and make your own judgement, but again that's Academy level, and Development, you so far have only discussed Development who in truth have quite awful facilities - you don't learn much football playing on a hockey Astro that's for sure. The envious development structure you promote is not quite that at all, it needs masses of funding and also needs some better organisation too. Hopefully again the funding you raise will assist but the acumen of those who run the business side of matters need to sharpen up, I've already explained how they gave away £2,0000 of lost revenue just by one local club. I'm sure there will be more instances too.

As for opinions , yes parents can be blinkered that's for sure - its nature of the beast, but as you state above you need these parents and hope to encourage them into supporting Cardiff City. You wont achieve that if you don't look after their little Johnnie's correctly, so to achieve that aim you desire you basically can't piss them about in many ways either as has happened. ( Again revert to feedback left on here previous)

So you met Aliens from Bristol in the foyer, so are there not enough good players in the Nation of Wales , maybe more focus should go West.? Reverting though to a bigger scale it does surprise me that the Malaysians are prepared to invest development in Malaysia but not in surrounding areas of the Club they part own, that investment could bring far better facilities to develop the young local generation, more chance of finding gems in Wales that Malaysia that's for sure.

The best way forward as in any business is not to fixate on the competition but to concentrate on your own business, that's what Cardiff City need to do, as they need to do a lot to get their own house in order , but it seems they still live in the world where they just think they are better when actually they aren't, this being shown in the envious comments etc and discussion of others operations. But there lies one of many problems- attitude.

Of course we have only discussed Development Centres. I understand Mark Neville was present too from the Academy, what was their interest in the meeting?

We got lots of plans about getting retired players involved and getting around the support areas building bonds with the club and community whilst also raising funds for the youngsters. Scott as gone away to draw up areas where funding can be best used an then we can sit down and see what help we can give. Part of the benefits I see for fans is hopefully seeing more home grown talent come thru the ranks and I'm sure most of us would love to see a team full of home grown talent, also I'm sure we'd all be happy to see the community development centres and other grass roots schemes coming to every corner of the areas we live in, also if the parents and family of any children are drawn towards supporting or helping the club in any way, then that can only be good.

Gwyn,

Firstly thank you for your reply ,

It's good to hear that you have plans and look forward to hearing from you in due course to what they actually are. The only problem I for see on being able to use former players is their present locations even Leggy lives in Nottingham and Bows already has his own football development private centre. But as you say you will be announcing these plans ,so it's best to wait to hear what they actually curtail.

I'm sure plenty of players are now out of the area, but there are still a hell of a lot living in and around Cardiff, actually Cohen Griffiths lives a bottle throw from my house and we have a regular catch up caht during our dog walking, and that is dog walking not dogging.

For actually seeing a team full of home grown talent one hell of a structure and Academy is certainly going to be needed, that's for sure. When you take the 96's for Wales currently its divided between 9 Swansea City and 3 Cardiff. A lot different to the 95's who took part in the Victory shield this year.

Of course that would need a lot of work and vision, but it's got to start somewhere and there's nowt wrong with aiming for great things, even if you may only achieve good things.
Possibly a signal of what's gone on behind the scenes under the Ridsdale regime and the under funding and poor infrastructure in place and organisation. When you state "
also if the parents and family of any children are drawn towards supporting or helping the club in any way, then that can only be good" it will be good if its well organised and the kids are treated well,
Surely that is even more reason to support our setup and get it to the best levels possible.
if not it can turn totally the other way, you have already heard the various complaints from parents who's Children are in " Development" and that's just on here which is a very small percentage of audience.
We are agreed it's only a small percentage, because the majority seem to be pleased with the set up


Regards the finances and the current board, obviously first it's a charity that's a free choice for someone to contribute and support, again I admire your efforts as a fund raiser, a lot of people moan but never do something about it themselves , you personally have never been one of those types, you back your words up with your actions as again shown here. I look forward to seeing how much you raise and what it is spent on in the future.

Glad to hear you are looking forward to see how much we raise and what it's spent on, great to have your interest


If you follow a few of my tips that I have given to Carl , you should do well.
Where would we be without your tips Steve, can't imagine anyone else being so sharp and switched on

You then say

have always been involved in local football and I am Vice President of my local club, I have also helped with the youth set up there and am in contact with quite a few lads involved in coaching kids, and they speak highly of our set up. Swansea on the other hand don't have an Academy status for the best of the crop to head towards, also whilst sitting in the foyer last night there were families there from Bristol who had brought their kids over for training and they spoke highly of what we had, and for them to travel that distance, proves something, either that we have the best facilities, or that their kid didn't cut the mustard in the Bristol Academy and they have come over here to try and prove he's got what it takes, that's bound to happen both ways and as I have said before the club will not get it 100% right on 100% of the occasions, but a lot of it is about impartial opinions rather than blinkered parents thinking their boy is the next Aaron Ramsey when truth is he's more chance of being Gordon Ramsey.

So it's not as a fan as earlier stated but your opinion comes from being the Vice President of your local Club.
No it's definitely as a fan, being I have always been involved in football from playing at an early age to being a committee member at my local club for many years, also having children who played at every age group, unfortunately (they may feel differently) the valley Rams came along and that took precedence over my life for a number of years, i'm sure there's a book around somewhere on that topic

That's good as you will have further knowledge to debate on the subject. How do you work your youth system at your Club? How many do you have currently in development? which centres do they attend? at those centres what are the facilities like? How many of your Development players have been up for 6 weeks at the Academy? From Development do they always get their 6 week easements? Will be interesting to hear how you do things at your Club. If you have an under 12 side maybe we could set up a friendly? little wager on it with winner handing the funds to your Young Guns Scheme.
You got a thing about wagers Steve, I remember pissing a good part of the thousand pound you lost to Big Sam Murphy up against a wall after one such wager You can keep your money Steve, must cost a fair bit with all these trips to Bristol As for knowledge about the youth set up in Cwmaman, I did mention that I have also helped rather than still do help, I no longer live in the Cwmaman area, but if you are that interested I can put you in touch with ssome people up there who are involved with the youth set up, or better still if you speak to Scott Young I'm sure he can put you in touch with lots of youth teams in the south Wales area


You seem to have a fixation with Bristol as you mention them again.
Steve I didn't even know Bristol had an academy until you brought it up on this board one or two (dozen times) so perhaps you should look closer to home for the comparisons made and any fixations.
Although earlier you stated they are envious, of which they aren't, I didn't state they were jealous, just the two family's that Carl and I spoke to last night bigged ours up in comparison, and had traveled over here, so if we may be losing some over there, it would appear it's working both ways. you state facilities , sorry but take a trip over to Failand and take a look and make your own judgement, but again that's Academy level, and Development, you so far have only discussed Development who in truth have quite awful facilities - you don't learn much football playing on a hockey Astro that's for sure. The envious development structure you promote is not quite that at all, it needs masses of funding and also needs some better organisation too. Hopefully again the funding you raise will assist but the acumen of those who run the business side of matters need to sharpen up, I've already explained how they gave away £2,0000 of lost revenue just by one local club. I'm sure there will be more instances too.

I'm sure they have made many mistakes along the way, but it is a fairly new set up but they are learning fast and can only improve with our help hopefully


As for opinions , yes parents can be blinkered that's for sure - its nature of the beast, but as you state above you need these parents and hope to encourage them into supporting Cardiff City. You wont achieve that if you don't look after their little Johnnie's correctly, so to achieve that aim you desire you basically can't piss them about in many ways either as has happened. ( Again revert to feedback left on here previous)

So you met Aliens from Bristol in the foyer, so are there not enough good players in the Nation of Wales , maybe more focus should go West.? Reverting though to a bigger scale it does surprise me that the Malaysians are prepared to invest development in Malaysia but not in surrounding areas of the Club they part own, that investment could bring far better facilities to develop the young local generation, more chance of finding gems in Wales that Malaysia that's for sure.
I'm sure the Malaysians can see the benefit of promoting our club in their country and the benefits it can bring both parties, I'm quite excited about the benefits all round.


The best way forward as in any business is not to fixate on the competition but to concentrate on your own business, that's what Cardiff City need to do, as they need to do a lot to get their own house in order , but it seems they still live in the world where they just think they are better when actually they aren't, this being shown in the envious comments etc and discussion of others operations. But there lies one of many problems- attitude.

I don't think the comments from a couple of people on a message board would show a true representation of the full picture, and its usually those with axes to grind who are the most vociferous, but as I keep repeating, it can only get better with more help

Of course we have only discussed Development Centres. I understand Mark Neville was present too from the Academy, what was their interest in the meeting?

I am sure our academy can see the benefits of an improved grass roots pyramid structure, it's bound to have a knock on affect and help the academy in the long run, surely that is easy to see, don't understand why there is any confusion there

it's getting like multi coloured f*cking swap shop ! will start a non quote one.