' STUNNED RESPONSE FROM COACHES '
Mon Aug 10, 2015 7:52 pm
Neal Ardley tells of the time he said he was interested in young midfielder Joe Ralls... and didn't quite get the reaction he was expecting.
WalesOnline
Monday August 10th
Neal Ardley has revealed there was a stunned response from Cardiff City youth team coaches when he declared: “I’m going to sign Joe Ralls.”
Ardley, a former Bluebirds’ player and academy manager, had seen something in Ralls, then aged 17, during a trial match.
“There were a couple of passes he made in that game which caught my eye,” said Ardley.
“I decided to sign Joe and offered him a pro deal. People around me were saying: ‘really?’, but he showed enough for me to give him a chance.
“Not everybody had seen the two passes which showed me he had quality, but we paid a small fee for him and brought him in.”
Fulham were tracking the progress of Ralls and had invited him for a trial, but Cardiff moved in first during July 2011 and a month later the Aldershot-born midfield player was given his first team debut in League Cup ties against Oxford United and Huddersfield by Malky Mackay.
Ralls has now made 75 Championship appearances for Cardiff and Yeovil, where he spent time on loan, while this season he is a key player in Russell Slade’s team.
“Joe has always been a central midfield player and that’s where he will be as his career develops, but it can be important for teams to have experienced players in that area,” added Ardley.
WalesOnline
Monday August 10th
Neal Ardley has revealed there was a stunned response from Cardiff City youth team coaches when he declared: “I’m going to sign Joe Ralls.”
Ardley, a former Bluebirds’ player and academy manager, had seen something in Ralls, then aged 17, during a trial match.
“There were a couple of passes he made in that game which caught my eye,” said Ardley.
“I decided to sign Joe and offered him a pro deal. People around me were saying: ‘really?’, but he showed enough for me to give him a chance.
“Not everybody had seen the two passes which showed me he had quality, but we paid a small fee for him and brought him in.”
Fulham were tracking the progress of Ralls and had invited him for a trial, but Cardiff moved in first during July 2011 and a month later the Aldershot-born midfield player was given his first team debut in League Cup ties against Oxford United and Huddersfield by Malky Mackay.
Ralls has now made 75 Championship appearances for Cardiff and Yeovil, where he spent time on loan, while this season he is a key player in Russell Slade’s team.
“Joe has always been a central midfield player and that’s where he will be as his career develops, but it can be important for teams to have experienced players in that area,” added Ardley.
Re: ' STUNNED RESPONSE FROM COACHES '
Mon Aug 10, 2015 8:42 pm
Needs to be given a chance in centre midfield. Either him or gunnar need to partner dikgachoi. Both have more energy and can go box to box and put us on the front foot miles better than an aging peter whittingham.
Re: ' STUNNED RESPONSE FROM COACHES '
Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:00 pm
BlueMagic wrote:Needs to be given a chance in centre midfield. Either him or gunnar need to partner dikgachoi. Both have more energy and can go box to box and put us on the front foot miles better than an aging peter whittingham.
Absolutely agree, give Ralls the centre midfield position and I am convinced he will blossom.
Re: ' STUNNED RESPONSE FROM COACHES '
Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:37 pm
ardley should have been our manager instead of the idiot Slade. 
Re: ' STUNNED RESPONSE FROM COACHES '
Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:49 am
As a team that has Noone, Pilkington and Ameobi, I'm amazed that there's still this idea of Ralls playing out wide. Get him in the thick of the action. I've always thought he's more a central midfielder.
Re: ' STUNNED RESPONSE FROM COACHES '
Tue Aug 11, 2015 11:04 am
Zabier wrote:As a team that has Noone, Pilkington and Ameobi, I'm amazed that there's still this idea of Ralls playing out wide. Get him in the thick of the action. I've always thought he's more a central midfielder.
In the games so far this season rolls has actually be in more of a free/ central roll anyway
He's been demanding the ball in the middle and whites has been dropping back more
Personally I've not seen ralls that wide
Re: ' STUNNED RESPONSE FROM COACHES '
Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:45 pm
I still think the biggest problem is the formation rather than the personnel.
4 in midfield simply doesn't work in the Championship unless you have outstanding players (which we don't !), just ask Dave Jones
A 5 man midfield of Noone - Ralls - Dikgachoi - Whittingham (Gunnar away from home) - Pilkington does it for me ! You could then afford to have Jones upfront to hold it up and bring in the runners.
I just wish the penny would drop with Slade as he has the players to change the system but seems so reluctant to do it, very strange/frustrating that he won't even experiment with it
4 in midfield simply doesn't work in the Championship unless you have outstanding players (which we don't !), just ask Dave Jones
A 5 man midfield of Noone - Ralls - Dikgachoi - Whittingham (Gunnar away from home) - Pilkington does it for me ! You could then afford to have Jones upfront to hold it up and bring in the runners.
I just wish the penny would drop with Slade as he has the players to change the system but seems so reluctant to do it, very strange/frustrating that he won't even experiment with it
Re: ' STUNNED RESPONSE FROM COACHES '
Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:43 pm
carlccfc wrote:BlueMagic wrote:Needs to be given a chance in centre midfield. Either him or gunnar need to partner dikgachoi. Both have more energy and can go box to box and put us on the front foot miles better than an aging peter whittingham.
Absolutely agree, give Ralls the centre midfield position and I am convinced he will blossom.
Totally agree. But not only will Ralls blossom, the whole team will too!