Dave ‘Devon Loch’ Jones

Malky Mackay must put faith in Bluebirds youngsters
by Delme Parfitt, Wales On Sunday
Jul 10 2011

FROM having the bare bones of Dave ‘Devon Loch’ Jones’ leftovers, Malky Mackay now appears to be building the nucleus of a decent squad at Cardiff City, even if there have been no superstar signings in the Craig Bellamy muold.

Whether people like Andrew Taylor, Craig Conway, Don Cowie and, of course, Rob Earnshaw, turn out to be hits or misses, it is encouraging to hear on the grapevine there is a clutch of promising youngsters who may be ready to cut it this coming season.

Striker Nat Jarvis and midfielder Ibrahim Farah are just two who are being tipped to make an impression and, if they are indeed good enough, I hope Mackay isn’t afraid to use them.

One of Devon Loch’s weaknesses, in my opinion, was his reluctance to place any faith in younger homegrown players, none from that bracket flourished on his watch.

He seemed to have an innate conservatism that precluded it.

Devon preferred loan signings and more senior professionals who he’d worked with elsewhere.

Aaron Ramsay was criminally underused – not least in the 2008 FA Cup final – before he left for Arsenal. Ditto Adam Matthews, sold to Celtic months ago after being condemned for an own goal at Ipswich and relegated to being a perennial bench-warmer while the likes of Lee Naylor – dear, oh dear, oh dear – were preferred.

Others like Darcy Blake, Aaron Wildig and Jonathan Meades have flitted in and out of things, a lack of reserve team matches last term hindering their progress. But they could still have a hell of a lot to offer.

If you want to know about the wisdom of writing off younger players then ask Alan Hansen.

The former Liverpool defender once famously declared on the Match of the Day settee that “you win nothing with kids” after watching David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville boys as part of a Manchester United side that lost to Aston Villa on the opening day of the 1998-99 season. Nine months later, United had won the treble.

These Cardiff kids may not be quite in the same league, but if they don’t get a chance we’ll never know.

So I hope Mackay can integrate some of them to productive effect from August onwards.

Let’s face it, he can’t do any worse on that front than Devon.

Best I have read from there in a while.

How many days until kick off? Can't fecking wait to see how play.

24 Days i think cheif you will have to double check that

24 Days i think cheif you will have to double check that

28 days, 0 hours, 25 minutes, 47 seconds

Check how long here

http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcounter.html?msg=1st+Game+of+the+season&day=07&month=08&year=2011&hour=13&min=00&sec=00&p0=298

That clock should be made a sticky at the top of the page!!

Last edited by SBF1 on Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Dunno we should ask annis or carl ?

That clock should be made a sticky at the top of the page!!

I agree

Have I missed something with this Devon Loch? Wtf is it???

Have I missed something with this Devon Loch? Wtf is it???

At the race climax, with only ten horses still running, Devon Loch was on the final stretch, in front of the Royal Box just 40 yards from the winning post and with a five-length lead, when it suddenly, and inexplicably, jumped into the air and landed on its stomach, allowing E.S.B. to overtake and win

Have I missed something with this Devon Loch? Wtf is it???

At the race climax, with only ten horses still running, Devon Loch was on the final stretch, in front of the Royal Box just 40 yards from the winning post and with a five-length lead, when it suddenly, and inexplicably, jumped into the air and landed on its stomach, allowing E.S.B. to overtake and win

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXNVtxIxtP8

Quite adapt that.

Hi there, I grateful to you for posting me here, but your above posts are so old, i have no idea what's my next step.