DARREN PURSE:
Fri May 27, 2022 11:54 am
Darren Purse Cardiff City U23 Manager
Purse was recommended to Cardiff as the U23 manager by Steven Morison as they knew each other well through Millwall.
Purse is one of Morison’s staff.
Already had loan enquiries about Crole, Davies & Semenyo
Wants four or five players in
Wanting the conveyor belt to be 'relentless'
Ashford's 'tonnes of ability'
Purse Says “Just look at Mark Harris who has now made 50 appearances for the Bluebirds.”
DARREN PURSE:
"I'm loving every minute of it," "Me, my wife and my son have moved down to south Wales and are looking to buy somewhere, which is tough at the minute! But I am looking to get my roots down here.”
"I loved playing for the club all that time ago and hopefully I'll enjoy my stint in the coaching and management side over the next few years.“
"That rapport I've got with the fans. I just try my best for the football club. It's all I've done at every football club I've been at. Whatever you do, you've got to give your best and make the right decisions for the best of the football club. If you look at the club now it's in a really good position.
"The manager has got a vision of where he wants to take the football club. The youngsters he is trying to bring through and young players he is trying to bring into the club, the future really does look bright. It'll be a development year and probably a transitional year, with the number of players we are looking to bring in, but it's an exciting time to be a Cardiff fan, just be patient and enjoy watching the youngsters grow over the next year or few years."
The buzz word around Cardiff at the minute is 'alignment'. There is a real desire to get everyone singing off the same hymn sheet and that is to be drip-fed right from the very top down to the under-9s.
"We like to play good football, we like to play with pace and energy in the forward areas and we like to excite people. I think we are quite aligned from that point of view," Purse added.
"We talk every day. That's the good thing about training at the same venue. We might sit down at breakfast, he might just ask me who did well in training yesterday and half an hour later he will come in with his squad of players who he wants to work with that day and there will be two or three of our lads stepping up. There is that reward for the under-23s. One little injury, one suspension, as an under-23s player you are only that away from making your debut and making a career in the game."
"You've got James Crole and Tom Davies. They were two under-18s scholars last year and they went and played 25 games for the under-23s. To do that at under-18 age is excellent. They will be first-year pros next year," he added.
"The experience they've had, the path is probably for them to go out on loan somewhere. Whether that's the first six months or second six months of the season. I've already had a few clubs ask, not just about those two, but other players."
The same, too, can be said for 18-year-old right-back Jai Semenyo, who was plucked from non-League Mangotsfield United less than a year ago before making his debut against Liverpool at Anfield in January. The plan is for him to be sent out on loan next term, too, and Purse has been fielding a number of calls for his services.
"Look at someone like Jai Semenyo, who has made his debut for the first team. He's probably not ready [for first-team football] from a growing-up point of view just because he hasn't been in the system, he came in as an 18-year-old. He's only been in an academy system for a year. He has got a load of stuff to work on but you can really see a bright future for him because he has so many good attributes," the under-23s boss said.
"You want the players to play at the highest level they can, but there's other ways to look at it. Sometimes people want to play a level below if it's the right club. At Cardiff, we have made mistakes sending people out on loan to the wrong club, but the more we build relationships out by sending lads on loan then the more we will know they are the right clubs.
"Jai is one that a few Conference South or National League clubs have enquired about. It's about picking the right club for him."
You just have to look at the likes of James Connolly. The 20-year-old centre-back had captained City's under-23s at the beginning of the campaign and finished it by winning promotion to League One with Bristol Rovers and earning his first Wales under-21 call-up this week.
Purse admitted, though, that even he thought a move to League Two might be too much for Connolly, but is more than happy to concede that the Bluebirds youngster proved him wrong and then some.
He added: "James Connolly's loan to Bristol Rovers. We looked at that and wondered whether it was quite right for him, for his first loan at that level. But he has stepped into that, played every game, I watched him three or four times, and he had an unbelievable second half of the season. Wow.
"That's the level he's stepped into and he's improved since he has been there. I thought League Two might be a bit too much for him, if you send him out and he doesn't get the game time. But he has proved himself and fair play to him. He has come back and he will be an even better player for it next season."
"You can see clearly he has got tonnes of ability," Purse said of Ashford. "His ability in possession of the ball you can't doubt. At times he has shown his inexperience, his youth, he is only a first-year scholar.
"He has stepped into an under-23s environment, I don't know if that was the right thing or not at the start of the season, but he is a player who really excites me and I'm really looking forward to working with him in his second season. He is still young, the same age as Joel Colwill, Morgan Wigley, Isaac Jefferies.
"Cian excites me, he is a very good young footballer. Hopefully he is over his injuries now and he has had a couple of training sessions and games at the end of the season. I know now he is with the Wales under-18s over the close season. I hope he comes back in pre-season and hope he proves he is worthy of playing for the under-23s and it will be an exciting season for him and the fans watching him."
Purse is not only encouraged by Ashford, but his contemporaries and even the players below that. Just because the club has had debuts in recent years, the former defender insisted the work is only just beginning. He wants Cardiff's production line to be relentless for years to come.
"Players like Joel Colwill, Rubin's brother, and Isaac Jefferies, who are first-year scholars and played six or eight games in the second half of last year, so they are coming through. Even the under-16s and under-15s, the number of Welsh international players we have at Cardiff at the minute is really exciting. The next few years are going to be bright," Purse said.
"It'll be challenging at times, because we will have a young side. But that's our remit. I am really excited about the players we have got in the building and I'm really excited to see how the group will develop and how many more players we can get into the first team.
"We are relentless. As soon as Ollie Denham and Eli King played against Liverpool, it wasn't 'Job done, we can rest and relax'. It was, 'Who is the next one coming through?'
“Just look at Mark Harris who has now made 50 appearances for the Bluebirds.”
“ Isaak Davies is another one who will be very similar to that, Joel Bagan as well. We want the boys to make careers for themselves."
"Our first team next year will probably be made up of 12 academy graduates. It's a great football club. It's exciting times. I think we have got a really good group of 17, 18, 19-year-olds, we are looking to bring a couple in over the summer and I'm really excited about it."
Purse was recommended to Cardiff as the U23 manager by Steven Morison as they knew each other well through Millwall.
Purse is one of Morison’s staff.
Already had loan enquiries about Crole, Davies & Semenyo
Wants four or five players in
Wanting the conveyor belt to be 'relentless'
Ashford's 'tonnes of ability'
Purse Says “Just look at Mark Harris who has now made 50 appearances for the Bluebirds.”
DARREN PURSE:
"I'm loving every minute of it," "Me, my wife and my son have moved down to south Wales and are looking to buy somewhere, which is tough at the minute! But I am looking to get my roots down here.”
"I loved playing for the club all that time ago and hopefully I'll enjoy my stint in the coaching and management side over the next few years.“
"That rapport I've got with the fans. I just try my best for the football club. It's all I've done at every football club I've been at. Whatever you do, you've got to give your best and make the right decisions for the best of the football club. If you look at the club now it's in a really good position.
"The manager has got a vision of where he wants to take the football club. The youngsters he is trying to bring through and young players he is trying to bring into the club, the future really does look bright. It'll be a development year and probably a transitional year, with the number of players we are looking to bring in, but it's an exciting time to be a Cardiff fan, just be patient and enjoy watching the youngsters grow over the next year or few years."
The buzz word around Cardiff at the minute is 'alignment'. There is a real desire to get everyone singing off the same hymn sheet and that is to be drip-fed right from the very top down to the under-9s.
"We like to play good football, we like to play with pace and energy in the forward areas and we like to excite people. I think we are quite aligned from that point of view," Purse added.
"We talk every day. That's the good thing about training at the same venue. We might sit down at breakfast, he might just ask me who did well in training yesterday and half an hour later he will come in with his squad of players who he wants to work with that day and there will be two or three of our lads stepping up. There is that reward for the under-23s. One little injury, one suspension, as an under-23s player you are only that away from making your debut and making a career in the game."
"You've got James Crole and Tom Davies. They were two under-18s scholars last year and they went and played 25 games for the under-23s. To do that at under-18 age is excellent. They will be first-year pros next year," he added.
"The experience they've had, the path is probably for them to go out on loan somewhere. Whether that's the first six months or second six months of the season. I've already had a few clubs ask, not just about those two, but other players."
The same, too, can be said for 18-year-old right-back Jai Semenyo, who was plucked from non-League Mangotsfield United less than a year ago before making his debut against Liverpool at Anfield in January. The plan is for him to be sent out on loan next term, too, and Purse has been fielding a number of calls for his services.
"Look at someone like Jai Semenyo, who has made his debut for the first team. He's probably not ready [for first-team football] from a growing-up point of view just because he hasn't been in the system, he came in as an 18-year-old. He's only been in an academy system for a year. He has got a load of stuff to work on but you can really see a bright future for him because he has so many good attributes," the under-23s boss said.
"You want the players to play at the highest level they can, but there's other ways to look at it. Sometimes people want to play a level below if it's the right club. At Cardiff, we have made mistakes sending people out on loan to the wrong club, but the more we build relationships out by sending lads on loan then the more we will know they are the right clubs.
"Jai is one that a few Conference South or National League clubs have enquired about. It's about picking the right club for him."
You just have to look at the likes of James Connolly. The 20-year-old centre-back had captained City's under-23s at the beginning of the campaign and finished it by winning promotion to League One with Bristol Rovers and earning his first Wales under-21 call-up this week.
Purse admitted, though, that even he thought a move to League Two might be too much for Connolly, but is more than happy to concede that the Bluebirds youngster proved him wrong and then some.
He added: "James Connolly's loan to Bristol Rovers. We looked at that and wondered whether it was quite right for him, for his first loan at that level. But he has stepped into that, played every game, I watched him three or four times, and he had an unbelievable second half of the season. Wow.
"That's the level he's stepped into and he's improved since he has been there. I thought League Two might be a bit too much for him, if you send him out and he doesn't get the game time. But he has proved himself and fair play to him. He has come back and he will be an even better player for it next season."
"You can see clearly he has got tonnes of ability," Purse said of Ashford. "His ability in possession of the ball you can't doubt. At times he has shown his inexperience, his youth, he is only a first-year scholar.
"He has stepped into an under-23s environment, I don't know if that was the right thing or not at the start of the season, but he is a player who really excites me and I'm really looking forward to working with him in his second season. He is still young, the same age as Joel Colwill, Morgan Wigley, Isaac Jefferies.
"Cian excites me, he is a very good young footballer. Hopefully he is over his injuries now and he has had a couple of training sessions and games at the end of the season. I know now he is with the Wales under-18s over the close season. I hope he comes back in pre-season and hope he proves he is worthy of playing for the under-23s and it will be an exciting season for him and the fans watching him."
Purse is not only encouraged by Ashford, but his contemporaries and even the players below that. Just because the club has had debuts in recent years, the former defender insisted the work is only just beginning. He wants Cardiff's production line to be relentless for years to come.
"Players like Joel Colwill, Rubin's brother, and Isaac Jefferies, who are first-year scholars and played six or eight games in the second half of last year, so they are coming through. Even the under-16s and under-15s, the number of Welsh international players we have at Cardiff at the minute is really exciting. The next few years are going to be bright," Purse said.
"It'll be challenging at times, because we will have a young side. But that's our remit. I am really excited about the players we have got in the building and I'm really excited to see how the group will develop and how many more players we can get into the first team.
"We are relentless. As soon as Ollie Denham and Eli King played against Liverpool, it wasn't 'Job done, we can rest and relax'. It was, 'Who is the next one coming through?'
“Just look at Mark Harris who has now made 50 appearances for the Bluebirds.”
“ Isaak Davies is another one who will be very similar to that, Joel Bagan as well. We want the boys to make careers for themselves."
"Our first team next year will probably be made up of 12 academy graduates. It's a great football club. It's exciting times. I think we have got a really good group of 17, 18, 19-year-olds, we are looking to bring a couple in over the summer and I'm really excited about it."
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Re: DARREN PURSE:
Fri May 27, 2022 11:57 am
Under Darren Purse:
Yes quite a few younger ones played now and again,but the oppositions did similar.
MILLWALL U23’S 2 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 0
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 0 IPSWICH TOWN U23’S 2
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 1 SWANSEA U23’S 1 hmmmm
BRISTOL CITY U23’S 3 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 3
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 0 QPR U23’S 2
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 1 BRISTOL CUTY U23’S 3
WATFORD U23’S 0 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 2
COLCHESTER UNITED U23'S 2 CARDIFF CITY U23'S 1
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 2 BARNSLEY U23’S 0
HULL CITY U23’S 3 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 0
CHARLTON U23’s 6 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 1
COVENTRY CITY U23’S 1 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 2
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 2 CREWE U23’S 1
Yes quite a few younger ones played now and again,but the oppositions did similar.
MILLWALL U23’S 2 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 0
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 0 IPSWICH TOWN U23’S 2
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 1 SWANSEA U23’S 1 hmmmm
BRISTOL CITY U23’S 3 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 3
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 0 QPR U23’S 2
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 1 BRISTOL CUTY U23’S 3
WATFORD U23’S 0 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 2
COLCHESTER UNITED U23'S 2 CARDIFF CITY U23'S 1
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 2 BARNSLEY U23’S 0
HULL CITY U23’S 3 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 0
CHARLTON U23’s 6 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 1
COVENTRY CITY U23’S 1 CARDIFF CITY U23’S 2
CARDIFF CITY U23’S 2 CREWE U23’S 1