INTERESTING " ARE WE FAILING BADLY ? ".

I've just got this from Mikes board

What should City do different? Or is everything ok?

YOUR OPINIONS?



Our Youth policy is failing

Wednesday 14tg July 2015

The Academy seems intent on finding and processing young talent with absolutely no intention of letting them loose in the real world.

John aside, its not since Ramsey have we actually seen a kid come through the ranks, and John has now essentially been thrown out like dirty dishwater.

At senior level too, there seems to be no appetite for seeing young players develop and contribute. Mason and Adeyemi two of the more recent examples of bringing youngsters here and simply holding them back or loaning them out, pointlessly. Ralls could have made a real impact on the side last year yet was seen as a last ditch back up for the undroppable Gunarsson and Whittingham - who ironically got spanked frequently when up against youthful energetic midfielders last term.

We have what we THINK is real talent in our youth ranks yet a loan, away from the club, often to teams in the same division, is seen as a better option than giving them a break.

Jonny Williams and Will Hughes at Derby are two examples of players given a chance and now they are still kids yet with over 100 league games under their belts.

Slade is obviously terrified at the thought of having a mere 'kid' in a position of responsibility so the questions are

"What is the Academy for?" or "What is the clubs policy on young players?"

I think we have kids that would be better than some in the Championship. Healey, O Sullivan, Oshilaja being three.

What is the point though if we never ever try to find out.

I finish my latest rant with a name who came into the club to solidify our midfield Stuart O Keefe.

That sums our youth policy up.

Was on about this with my mates the other day, something is wrong I believe with the coaching set up, I do think we would benefit from having a reserve team to blood the youngsters through

One problem i think is that we have to many players in the first team and block the youngsters from getting a chance i think it will resolve over time i think Slade will give a a couple of the youngsters a chance because from what i have seen so far Slade likes having some youngsters in the team but right now i think the gulf in quality is a bit to much huge for the youngsters at the moment.

Went down hill after Matthew Croker left and he ended up at Southampton He had a great vision on how kids should play and enjoy the game Who came through under him or started a city while he was there
Ramsey, Matthews, Gunter, Ledley and John Cardiff run the academy on the cheap How many academies ask the boys to buy there own training kit ( they did when my boys was there Same time as Declan John)

Very goog post and it hits the nail on the head!

Forgive me guys but apart from the above names mentioned (and bearing in mind there's not a massive age gap between most of them) have we in the last 15-20yrs produced raw talent..?

We miss out on our local youngsters giving the likes of Giggs (man u, man city, Salford), Bellamy (Norwich Coventry), Bale (cardiff civil service, Southampton) to name a few.. Why? Why oh why can we not keep our local youngsters and develop and nurture them onto our pitch and produce the goods for us..

For me there's always been an issue in that department and with the investment already given providing the house of sport etc then surely we are missing a trick.. There are lots of talented youngsters on the parks and streets of not just cardiff but Wales and grass roots football in all areas needs investing and looking at

I agree totally 100% with this post. I also think that there are better and more useful players in our U21 & U18 squads than some of the players we have brought in and some of the players who have been here within the last year or two, who are not at the club anymore. I really think that Oshilaja at the age of 22/23 should have at least 50 games under his belt as a Cardiff City player. Yet, he hasn't even played 50 first team games, for us and the three or more other clubs that he has been on loan at. I think he is a lot better than some of the defenders that we have signed in the last few seasons and he's better than some of the defenders in the first team that we have now. I would rather Oshilaja was playing at left back rather than Malone and he certainly should have been given a chance at left back ahead of Declan John, when we won the Championship the other season. Declan John has never been and never will be a full back. I really rate the lad but he should be given a chance on the wing, in his best position.

The same could be said about players like Theo Wharton, Tommy O'Sullivan, Curtis Watkins, Rhys Healey and even David Tutonda, who is making great progress and has a bit of League experience, after being at Newport last season. I would give him a chance ahead of Malone too. Sorry if it seems like I am going on about Ade Oshilaja, but last season when he went on loan at Wimbledon, he was their young player of the season. Neal Ardley was absolutely delighted with him and Ardley has said on numerous occasions that Oshilaja is unlikely to go back to Wimbledon next season, as he feels that Adedeji is far too good to be playing League 1 & 2 football and that he should be playing regular Championship football. Now why hasn't he been give a chance yet? He certainly deserves one for staying loyal, as he has been at the City since the age of 16/17. I would love for him to get a few chances this season for us, but with all of the defenders that we have I just don't think he will have a look in. Then if that is the case, we should be loaning him out for the very last time, to a fellow Championship club for the season. I bet there are quite a few teams who would take a chance on him. I think teams possibly like Rotherham, Huddersfield, MK Dons, Preston and Birmingham, would be interested in signing him on loan. Then if he were to have a very good season and had a good run of games in the Championship, he can come back to the club, sign a new contract and battle it out with the other defenders for a starting place. Another good thing about him is that he can play in a number of positions. He can play anywhere in defence and also in midfield. But, I feel his best position is at centre half. I would certainly rather him playing ahead of Nugent - who has done nothing over the past few seasons and should have been released - and Morrison. I would not mind in the slightest if we had Manga, Turner, Connolly and Oshilaja as our four centre backs fighting it out for the two positions in the centre of defence, with Ajayi as our young and up coming central defender, who may be needed in emergencies. Just like at left back I would have Fabio as first choice with David Tutonda 2nd choice. Then Declan John being back up on the wing and in emergency situations, possibly at left back. Personally, I don't rate Malone one little bit and I don't think we need him as we have better options within our 3 Squads (First Team, U21's & U18's).

Finally, I absolutely long for the day that we bring in a young, hungry, ambitious and modern new manager. A guy who wants to focus a lot on the U21's, U18's and the Academy players by bringing them into the First Team and actually playing them. Rather than for just one or possibly two games throughout the whole season, just calling them up to the First Team, giving them a place on the bench and then not even giving them a short 5-10 minute cameo appearance in each game. Not only do we need a new manager who wants to give the younger players a chance, we also need our Chief Executive, Chairman and Owner who are all in agreement with the manager, who all need to agree, believe and focus on the youth player direction that they want the club to follow. However, I can't see that happening with our current regime, as we as fans have witnessed over the past year or so the commitment to our academy and young players dwindle, as we are not focusing enough energy in these areas.

That's it.

Bloooooobirds.

Trouble is with viewpoints like this is there are focused on hearsay and anecdotal evidence.If you focus on a broard range of football academies we are not much different to the others.In most clubs in the premier and championship the number of kids that breakthrough into the first team is very small.You'll find most kids that are in academies end up making the grade with other clubs after they are let go by their original club.Players like Ramsey,Ledely,etc tend to be the exception to the rule.Its just a numbers game really,not much comfort for the parents who tend to see their offspring as the next big thing.

Trouble is with viewpoints like this is there are focused on hearsay and ecdotal evidence.If you focus on a broard range of football academies we are not much different to the others.In most clubs in the premier and championship the number of kids that breakthrough into the first team is very small.You'll find most kids that are in academies end up making the grade with other clubs after they are let go by their original club.Players like Ramsey,Ledely,etc tend to be the exception to the rule.Its just a numbers game really,not much comfort for the parents who tend to see their offspring as the next big thing.

Very true so few come through from any club with rare exception like Southampton!! Even man c with their billiosn don't produce much!!

This is the best article I've ever read about football academies, and explains the brutal truth of how they operate and why.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/4938593/Football-academies-kicking-and-screaming.html