" 17 Year Old Malaysian To Train At Cardiff For 1 Year! "

CARDIFF CITY could be set to strengthen their ties with Malaysia even further with the arrival of one of the Asian nation’s hottest young talents in the Welsh capital.

Bluebirds’ boss Malky Mackay is back from Malaysia today after holding discussions to bring 17-year-old midfielder Nazmi Faiz to the club on a year’s placement.

Faiz shot to prominence last year when he became the youngest player in the Malaysia Olympic squad for the South East Asia Games in Jakarta.

He is part of the Malaysian set-up trying to qualify for the football tournament at this summer’s Olympics in London.

The pacy youngster also scored a superb first international goal for his nation against Bahrain last year.

Mackay has been in Malaysia looking at the initiative to further links between the country and the Bluebirds called 1Malaysia Cardiff City.

Chairman Dato Chan Tien Ghee and financial backer Vincent Tan both hail from Malaysia and are keen to see closer relations between their homeland and the club.

The Bluebirds have already given trials to striker Safee Sali and Malaysian national team captain Safiq Rahim, but with Sali aged 27, and Rahim 24, Faiz is seen much more likely to make the breakthrough.

And he could now have 12 months to develop under Mackay and his staff.

Cardiff chairman TG certainly believes there is plenty of young talent in Malaysia which could benefit the Bluebirds.

“Malaysia possesses a vast pool of talented and skilled footballers as well as many aspiring ones,” said TG.

“Safee and Safiq Rahim were at Cardiff for trials and both were exposed to different kinds of training,”

“We will continue to give opportunities to players and coaches as the club are a part of Malaysia.”

Discussions are on-going to bring Faiz to the Welsh capital for a year.

Mackay believes any Malaysian players hoping to make it in British football would need plenty of time to acclimatise.

“Safee adapted very well in training as he easily picked up the drills with the first team, and as for Safiq, he was smaller in size but technically gifted,” said Mackay.

“The pace and tempo of the game in United Kingdom is quicker and one needs to be physically strong to make it and Safee did well.

“However, a player needs to spend a couple of years to adapt to our football and also learn about the physical, nutritional and fitness aspects of it. A younger player will be better.”

Mackay has already handed first-team football to 18-year-old Joe Ralls this season and it looks likely Faiz will be given the same chance now to show what he can do in the Welsh capital.

“When I was manager of Watford, the club was financially restricted and we decided to invest in youth development as we had a good academy,” added Mackay.

“In Cardiff we also believe in development and one of our products was Aaron Ramsey, who worked his way through the club’s youth system.”

“We have given some of our youth players first team action and they have responded well.”

Cardiff also offered Malaysian under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee the chance to spend time at the club to work with backroom staff, but the former international player looks unlikely to be able to take up the offer due to work commitments.

forgot to mention, that there's a cracking goal by Nazmi Faiz, in a youtube video, on the walesonline link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... T3E63p2k1E

Second signing

Second signing

Doubt we'll be signing him yet and we may struggle to get a permit for him, should Malky deem him good enough for first team action!

I don't mind these sorts of signings/exchanges because it works on loads of levels. We might tap into a Market and find a gem but if not, the awareness of Cardiff City will become huge and we all know how fanatical far east support can be. I would have liked us to sign that Salif Safee but obviously paperwork got in the way

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

Isnt there a rule about overseas players requiring work permits needed x amount of international caps , or are City using the back door method and bring this lad sort of through the Acadamy ?

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

I agree Annis. I'm very skeptical about this sort of thing. I will take a bit of convincing that these players are in the game because of their tallents. I'm thinking it's a case of "daddy, I want to play football". Is it a case of these people trying to buy their way in to a football team? Of course some players look very good when surrounded by a rubbish team so it's easy for these business people to get carried away. What is the standard of the teams they play in? Are they Championship or Premiership standard for instance?

Sport is a great leveler, especially football. It doesn't matter how rich you are no one in the English League will let you score a goal just so that you'll be their friend.

It's obvious these Malaysians want stars of their own, but they have to realise that there's no fast track way of getting them. They have to be careful that they are not putting pressure on the manager to have mediocre players in his squad.

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

Thats not negative. Its true. Malaysian football is way behind in terms of just about
everything right now. But its good publicity having one or two here, even if they do
go back having failed miserably. The tongue in cheek "he did very well" is just a face
saver, but the lads themselves will know they just couldnt cut it.

The plus side for us though, is that if we do unearth a gem, its costing the club peanuts
and if he makes the first team in a couple of years... Cardiff City shirt sales will go through
the roof over there. Hell of a strike that goal was fair play. Reminded me of a young me

We might just have a new Lionel 'Tan' Messi on the books

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

Thats not negative. Its true. Malaysian football is way behind in terms of just about
everything right now. But its good publicity having one or two here, even if they do
go back having failed miserably. The tongue in cheek "he did very well" is just a face
saver, but the lads themselves will know they just couldnt cut it.

The plus side for us though, is that if we do unearth a gem, its costing the club peanuts
and if he makes the first team in a couple of years... Cardiff City shirt sales will go through
the roof over there. Hell of a strike that goal was fair play. Reminded me of a young me

We might just have a new Lionel 'Tan' Messi on the books

completely agree
in my opinion
these are like extended trials put on an international level with players from Malaysia coming over to Wales to show off their skills and see if they are on a par or better than what we have at our club.
Every prospect doesnt come through as our next superstar, just because one failed doesnt mean the next will or all Malaysian players are equally as poor.
Like Taffyapple says we could uncover the next Lionel Messi, but it is a lottery and should be treated as such

Lets be honest the way that English Premier League football is potrayed in Asia then Im sure any decent up and coming players would have interest from at least 20 other clubs including 1 in the Prem League already with a Malaysian owner ! Plus even the rest of Europe for that matter should an emerging player be good enough .

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

Thats not negative. Its true. Malaysian football is way behind in terms of just about
everything right now. But its good publicity having one or two here, even if they do
go back having failed miserably. The tongue in cheek "he did very well" is just a face
saver, but the lads themselves will know they just couldnt cut it.

The plus side for us though, is that if we do unearth a gem, its costing the club peanuts
and if he makes the first team in a couple of years... Cardiff City shirt sales will go through
the roof over there. Hell of a strike that goal was fair play. Reminded me of a young me

We might just have a new Lionel 'Tan' Messi on the books

completely agree
in my opinion
these are like extended trials put on an international level with players from Malaysia coming over to Wales to show off their skills and see if they are on a par or better than what we have at our club.
Every prospect doesnt come through as our next superstar, just because one failed doesnt mean the next will or all Malaysian players are equally as poor.
Like Taffyapple says we could uncover the next Lionel Messi, but it is a lottery and should be treated as such

Why not bring overlooked youngsters from places like Spain, Argentina, Brazil or other big footballing countrys? Surely the chances of finding the next Messi would be from a country where football is massive. Now if we were trying to find the next Bruce Lee, then fine, root around in Malaysia and countries like that.
Lets be honest here if we were looking for a Bobsleigh team we wouldn't bother wasting our time rooting around Jamaica, even though they've been in the Olympics once. We'd be looking in places like Austria wouldn't we because the chances of finding one is massively greater.

A Malaysian billionaire is ploughing millions into our club.....nothing wrong with indulging him a little bit is there?

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

Thats not negative. Its true. Malaysian football is way behind in terms of just about
everything right now. But its good publicity having one or two here, even if they do
go back having failed miserably. The tongue in cheek "he did very well" is just a face
saver, but the lads themselves will know they just couldnt cut it.

The plus side for us though, is that if we do unearth a gem, its costing the club peanuts
and if he makes the first team in a couple of years... Cardiff City shirt sales will go through
the roof over there. Hell of a strike that goal was fair play. Reminded me of a young me

We might just have a new Lionel 'Tan' Messi on the books

completely agree
in my opinion
these are like extended trials put on an international level with players from Malaysia coming over to Wales to show off their skills and see if they are on a par or better than what we have at our club.
Every prospect doesnt come through as our next superstar, just because one failed doesnt mean the next will or all Malaysian players are equally as poor.
Like Taffyapple says we could uncover the next Lionel Messi, but it is a lottery and should be treated as such

Why not bring overlooked youngsters from places like Spain, Argentina, Brazil or other big footballing countrys? Surely the chances of finding the next Messi would be from a country where football is massive. Now if we were trying to find the next Bruce Lee, then fine, root around in Malaysia and countries like that.
Lets be honest here if we were looking for a Bobsleigh team we wouldn't bother wasting our time rooting around Jamaica, even though they've been in the Olympics once. We'd be looking in places like Austria wouldn't we because the chances of finding one is massively greater.

lol COOL RUNNINGS lol
actually the Jamican's still compete in the bobsleigh event at the olympics not always qualifying but they have a team so it wasnt a one off, but just because a sport isnt popular in a country doesnt mean the skill potential isnt there and if we have the opportunity to break into that we should.

Safee and Safiq Rahim was supposed to be the best out there they couldnt get in are reserve teams and was sent back like annis said training on there own and stuck in digs on there own it shows how crap malaysian football is .If we are to waste millions on football schools out there i would rather it be put in YOUTH back home here as i do not know and i doubt there will ever be one player who will ever make it in british football as a whole at any level just like today

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

You and i both know its a PR stunt nothing else

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

You and i both know its a PR stunt nothing else

But what if it's not??

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

You and i both know its a PR stunt nothing else

But what if it's not??

I cant say its a 100% fact, but I honestly believe it is, but you never know, we could end up one day with a class player. I have to agree with Berwyn, there is much better undiscovered talent in many other countries.

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

You and i both know its a PR stunt nothing else

But what if it's not??

I cant say its a 100% fact, but I honestly believe it is, but you never know, we could end up one day with a class player. I have to agree with Berwyn, there is much better undiscovered talent in many other countries.

You're right there is talent in other counteries, isn't that why we have a French contingent in our youth ranks? However, as we have Malaysian investors ploughing over a £ million into the club every month; I don't see taking a player on trial and using our name for promotional purposes in Malaysia as a biggie.

At the moment I'm more intrigued about our Cypriot investor!

As I seem to point out ad nauseum, work permit.

Malaysian nowhere near good enough in the rankings for one to be rubber stamped.

A Malaysian player could get signed, IF it was deemed they were an exceptional talent, so good that they could be termed world class.

Only way around it would be getting the lad on board then shipping out to a European team for a good few years where they could then theoretically become eligible by getting a European passport.

PR stunt? Of course. No problem with that, boost our profile and thus potential income streams.

Sorry to be negative, the last one they sent over, was suppose to be the Asian David Beckham, look what happened with him, he even trained on his own,then got sent back,but with the club praising him.
I honestly believe us having some of their players over here training with us, is just another publicity stunt in Malaysia.

You and i both know its a PR stunt nothing else

But what if it's not??

I cant say its a 100% fact, but I honestly believe it is, but you never know, we could end up one day with a class player. I have to agree with Berwyn, there is much better undiscovered talent in many other countries.

You're right there is talent in other counteries, isn't that why we have a French contingent in our youth ranks? However, as we have Malaysian investors ploughing over a £ million into the club every month; I don't see taking a player on trial and using our name for promotional purposes in Malaysia as a biggie.

At the moment I'm more intrigued about our Cypriot investor!

So am I, I have only heard good about our new Director.

It would be brilliant if Malaysia made it to the Olympics and this young lad played at the Millennium Stadium

What a day out that would be 70,000 Bluebirds all backing Malaysia....

As I seem to point out ad nauseum, work permit.

Malaysian nowhere near good enough in the rankings for one to be rubber stamped.

A Malaysian player could get signed, IF it was deemed they were an exceptional talent, so good that they could be termed world class.

Only way around it would be getting the lad on board then shipping out to a European team for a good few years where they could then theoretically become eligible by getting a European passport.

PR stunt? Of course. No problem with that, boost our profile and thus potential income streams.

A few years ago John Fashanu had an idea to buy Barry Town and bring in loads of African youngsters to gain experience and become European qualified.

I wonder if it is still possible to loan out youngsters to a League of Wales team?

forgot to mention, that there's a cracking goal by Nazmi Faiz, in a youtube video, on the walesonline link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... T3E63p2k1E

what a goal!!! with a bit of development from MM and co, this kid could be quality!

should sell a few shirts for you in malaysia.we had the same type of thing at brum.mcliesh was offered a couple of chinese players but turned them down.as long as the final call is malkys then there isn,t a problem.arsenal started this type of thing when they had that jap fellew.part of the deal was to beam the RESERVE games back to japan.they made out of it,sold some kit and had a player to train up.tbf he didn,t cut it the gooners.you never know your 17yr old may be the real deal

Surley its worth the risk put some money into what could be a class act if he doesn't turn out to be that good so be it. This deal can't cost that millions as long as the Malaysians carry on putting in money and doing what a i think a good job here then they can bring in 3 or 4 what could be good talents into the youth ranks isn't that what they're there for

Now i think the difference is with the other two Malaysians were that they were a lot older one being 24 and the other 27 i think. Would they have much time to adapt to a new game of football over here personally i don't think so where a 17 year may be able to

As I seem to point out ad nauseum, work permit.

Malaysian nowhere near good enough in the rankings for one to be rubber stamped.

A Malaysian player could get signed, IF it was deemed they were an exceptional talent, so good that they could be termed world class.

Only way around it would be getting the lad on board then shipping out to a European team for a good few years where they could then theoretically become eligible by getting a European passport.

PR stunt? Of course. No problem with that, boost our profile and thus potential income streams.

A few years ago John Fashanu had an idea to buy Barry Town and bring in loads of African youngsters to gain experience and become European qualified.

I wonder if it is still possible to loan out youngsters to a League of Wales team?

I remember John Fashanu`s dealings with Barry Town very well Tony , although it was a hell of a long time ago now , as I was directly involved with the club at the time. It wasn`t just young African players he was trying to bring in either , it was also more established ones that might be sold on with a sales commission to himself.

There were other weird and wonderful transactions taking place there at the time of his involvement , some of which might be described as "creative".Including "investing" in the club then taking the money out within a week , bringing in some Middle East investors and giving them a legal charge over assets that could never be realised for cash etc.

It was also the time when JF was pushing his "African prince" persona - he would turn up for meetings in full tribal chief robes.

Pleasant enough guy , but mad as a box of frogs.

I leave myself open to be corrected but it was my understanding that in order to sign a player from outside of Europe that player had to have played in 75% of the International games during the preceding 12 months and that his National Side also needed to be in the top 150 Fifa Ranking Table.

It may be worth noting that Malaysia have just risen from 157 to 148 - which shold make it easier?