' Declan John '

My personal opinion, Declan John will be class in the Championship

Declan made 23 appearances for the Bluebirds in all competitions, making 20 @PremierLeague apps in total.

' DECLAN JOHN REFLECTS ON BREAKTHROUGH SEASON '

Declan John makes his Premier League debut in City's first game against West Ham in the Premier League.



Tuesday 20th May 2014

Full-back looks back on personal positives of 2013-14

Playing quite a substantial amount of games in the Premier League isn't bad for an 18-year-old."
' Declan John '

18-year-old defender Declan John wrapped up an impressive season on Monday night as he played the full 90 minutes of Wales Under-21’s qualifying fixture against England at the Liberty Stadium.

A Nathan Redmond hat-trick helped England secure an important 3-1 victory, but it did little to take off the shine of a breakthrough year for City’s young full-back - a season that has seen him make 24 appearances for the Bluebirds and claim his first senior International cap.

Making his second Under-21 appearance for Geraint Williams’ side, City’s recently crowned Young Player of the Season reflected on a tough test against a strong England outfit saying: “They have a very strong side, full of experienced Premier League players. They played some very good football at times and caused us a few problems.

“Nathan Redmond had a good night, getting the hat-trick, he caused problems for us all evening to be fair. He’s one of many in their squad with plenty of Premier League experience but I thought the boys did well and we showed that we can compete.”

The Merthyr born Bluebird will now take some time out to reflect on a season that saw him establish his worth as a Premier League full-back, with full focus on making an instant return to the league’s top flight when the squad returns to pre-season training.

“Personally, it has been a good season for me,” reflected John. “Playing quite a substantial amount of games in the Premier League isn't bad for an 18-year-old, although of course getting relegated was very disappointing and difficult to take for us all.

“It's all the more motivation to want to make an instant return to the Premier League now however, we have a taste of it.

“You've got to be confident,” John continued. “We've got a good squad of players there, with a lot of the squad that got us promoted still with us. It's a good foundation for us to build on and hopefully we can get back there as soon as possible.

“It's the league that we want to play in, it's probably the best league in the world. We know we've got the players that can get us there so hopefully we can go and do it.”

I have met Declan at school presentation evenings. He was always positive and even down to the Newcastle game, he was positive that we would survive. He is a level headed young player who wears his heart on his sleeve.

I agree, young Declan will have a good season and will hold a regular place in the Welsh squad for many a year to come

His only negative and area I feel he needs to work on, is positioning in defence after he attacks and the opposition counter attack on us.

I'm still unsure on him if I'm honest. If we could get a decent left back in I'd loan him out.

Decent going forward and looks a threat when on the ball. Defensively however I think he's poor. Leaves or loses his man too easily and gets himself out of position. Against a quality right winger he was found out a few times last season. Would probably loan out on a quick recall as unsure what can offer us.

Good running with the ball at his feet but generally his crossing is poor and his passing choice usually very poor. Defensively obviously poor.

I'm still unsure on him if I'm honest. If we could get a decent left back in I'd loan him out.

Same for me. I think he's got a bright future but I still want to see a new good left back brought in which will allow Declan to learn from him.

Decent going forward and looks a threat when on the ball. Defensively however I think he's poor. Leaves or loses his man too easily and gets himself out of position. Against a quality right winger he was found out a few times last season. Would probably loan out on a quick recall as unsure what can offer us.

Agree with that..A few times he got caught out 'ball-watching'....tends to react to rather than anticipate play and by then it's too late. However, he can learn from that and you don't get punished in the Championship in the same way as the Premiership. Needs a good defensive coach to sit down, look at and work on his defensive positional play. He has the potential though and he will also physically 'fill out' as well. (important for defenders to have a presence about them)

Needs to be played on the wing. He ain't no defender.

wednesday 21st May 2014.

Season Of Positives For John

Youngster Declan John has said that despite our disappointing relegation from the Premiership, he has to look at the positives from 2013-14 when it comes to his own personal development.

The 18 year old defender capped off his breakthrough season by earning his second cap for the Welsh U21 side when they faced England the other night and speaking to the Official Site about the last year, our Young Player of the Year said.

'Personally, it has been a good season for me. Playing quite a substantial amount of games in the Premier League isn't bad for an 18 year old, although of course getting relegated was very disappointing and difficult to take for us all. It's all the more motivation to want to make an instant return to the Premier League now however, we have a taste of it.'

John played in 24 games for us across the season and earned his first cap for the Welsh U21s, so for John he knows he can go into 2014-15 now feeling confident, because he knows we have a good squad of players, and of course most of our squad have succeeded in the Championship previously, so he sees no reason why we can't do that again.

'It's a good foundation for us to build on and hopefully we can get back there as soon as possible. It's the league we want to play in, we've got the players that can get us there so hopefully we can go and do it.'


Read more: http://www.cardiff.vitalfootball.co.uk/ ... z32MXe95R7

Still needs time, would like to see someone with a bit of experience in our starting 11 with John coming in for cup games and a a good handful of league games/sub appearances. Still has a lot to learn and needs bringing in slowly