The Bluebirds Academy and DVP thread...

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

He looks decent, from what i have seen. I know it's the wrong thread, but i did like the look of Eli king against Bristol Rovers. He did make some poor long range passes, but i put that down to wanting it a bit too much. What impressed me was his urgency, he wanted the ball, looked to play quickly. I haven't seen him like others have, but there could be something to work with.

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Mainly because of his loans, I haven't seen a lot of King. I've seen plenty of positive things said about him but I'd be guessing to say where he's at. Maybe it was a consequence of his injury at the end of last season but he's had a slow start to this one. He didn't seem to feature much in pre-season and was, I felt, a bit disappointing against Rovers. He's only had 12 minutes for Stevenage so far too. Even if he ends up having a stand-out season there then people will still say 'it's only League 1' so it won't be conclusive.

It hardly seemed worth replying to your post just to say that but it'll be interesting and informative to see what Bellamy makes of our youngsters. He's already had Giles and Ashford training with the senior squad and he knows King because he had him playing for the under-18s here when he was only 15 so must've rated him then. It'll be a yardstick to use when assessing some of our players, if they impress and make visible progress within the Wales set-up while stalling here then it'll surely be a sign that the club/manager is failing them.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

Mainly because of his loans, I haven't seen a lot of King. I've seen plenty of positive things said about him but I'd be guessing to say where he's at. Maybe it was a consequence of his injury at the end of last season but he's had a slow start to this one. He didn't seem to feature much in pre-season and was, I felt, a bit disappointing against Rovers. He's only had 12 minutes for Stevenage so far too. Even if he ends up having a stand-out season there then people will still say 'it's only League 1' so it won't be conclusive.

It hardly seemed worth replying to your post just to say that but it'll be interesting and informative to see what Bellamy makes of our youngsters. He's already had Giles and Ashford training with the senior squad and he knows King because he had him playing for the under-18s here when he was only 15 so must've rated him then. It'll be a yardstick to use when assessing some of our players, if they impress and make visible progress within the Wales set-up while stalling here then it'll surely be a sign that the club/manager is failing them.

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What i liked most about king was his urgency, and i'm a sucker for players who show up, take responsibility, even when things aren't working out the way they want them to. From the little i saw of King, he looked that type of player. I've always been of the opinion that attitude and commitment can over ride a players deficiencies and can produce a very valuable player, Time well tell i suppose, but he obviously needs to play. Luey Giles looked really composed, great touch, didn't panic in possession, he sort of slowed things down to suit his game. I was encouraged.

Noah Williams was the only City player in the starting line up for Wales under 17s 5-0 win over Qatar today, none of our players starting for the under 18s in their game that kicks off at 5.

https://dragonsoccer.co.uk/newsite/u17.php?id=974

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

What i liked most about king was his urgency, and i'm a sucker for players who show up, take responsibility, even when things aren't working out the way they want them to. From the little i saw of King, he looked that type of player. I've always been of the opinion that attitude and commitment can over ride a players deficiencies and can produce a very valuable player, Time well tell i suppose, but he obviously needs to play. Luey Giles looked really composed, great touch, didn't panic in possession, he sort of slowed things down to suit his game. I was encouraged.

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Siopis is urgent, to be fair. Whenever I've seen King he's been neat and tidy but I've wanted a bit more from him. After a couple of decent loans last season I was hoping to see him take charge and dominate the midfield but his normally sound technique let him down a bit and he even gave Rinomhota a run for his money for bad touches and missed passes. Not that the pair of them got overrun or anything, we were unusually solid that night and they gave good protection to a young back four but I felt it was an opportunity missed for King. I'm not going to generalise from that though, hopefully his time will come here.

Here's his assist for Hugill from the Derby game a couple of years ago, good bit of play this. It comes at around 1.05 in these highlights.

https://www.google.com/search?q=derb...XRCzDNZF8,st:0

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Noah Williams was the only City player in the starting line up for Wales under 17s 5-0 win over Qatar today, none of our players starting for the under 18s in their game that kicks off at 5.

https://dragonsoccer.co.uk/newsite/u17.php?id=974

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The under-18s beat Slovakia 3-2. All three of our lads came on in the second half.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

Siopis is urgent, to be fair. Whenever I've seen King he's been neat and tidy but I've wanted a bit more from him. After a couple of decent loans last season I was hoping to see him take charge and dominate the midfield but his normally sound technique let him down a bit and he even gave Rinomhota a run for his money for bad touches and missed passes. Not that the pair of them got overrun or anything, we were unusually solid that night and they gave good protection to a young back four but I felt it was an opportunity missed for King. I'm not going to generalise from that though, hopefully his time will come here.

Here's his assist for Hugill from the Derby game a couple of years ago, good bit of play this. It comes at around 1.05 in these highlights.

https://www.google.com/search?q=derb...XRCzDNZF8,st:0

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Fair enough, that was the first time i'm really taken a look at King. When i say urgency, i meant in a switched on kind of way, always wanting to get involved as opposed to the busy siopis. Yeah, King did make some mistakes, but maybe they were brought on by an over willingness to impress. I just liked his attitude. If i was a betting man though, i wouldn't put money on him getting much of an opportunity under Bulut.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Noah Williams was the only City player in the starting line up for Wales under 17s 5-0 win over Qatar today, none of our players starting for the under 18s in their game that kicks off at 5.

https://dragonsoccer.co.uk/newsite/u17.php?id=974

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As can be seen by the link, the result of the Qatar game has been changed to a 2-1 loss for Wales.

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

Fair enough, that was the first time i'm really taken a look at King. When i say urgency, i meant in a switched on kind of way, always wanting to get involved as opposed to the busy siopis. Yeah, King did make some mistakes, but maybe they were brought on by an over willingness to impress. I just liked his attitude. If i was a betting man though, i wouldn't put money on him getting much of an opportunity under Bulut.

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Tuerto, you're right about King. He should be playing ahead of Siopis. Siopis is OK, but we are never going to be a good team with players like him in the starting line up. King may be, at the moment, no better than him but he has the potential to become a top player and worth a lot of money. He could become our Declan Rice.

The counter argument is that he is better off doing his development elsewhere but that is valid only if his progress with us is being blocked by good players and we are playing well. Siopis, for one, is no better than Stevenage standard and we have been dire for approaching 12 months.

I'm certain that the fluke against Southampton saved Bulut's job. But we should have been 5 down at half time and it took a big deflected goal from a subsequently discarded teenager to win the match.

Whatever the rhetoric, we all know we are going nowhere until there is a change. And players like King, Ashford, Giles etc are of little interest to the current coach. At least the transfer committee has spent money wisely

Kpakio, Thomas and Davies started for Wales in today’s under18 game with Turkey, Jake Davies scored to reduce the deficit to 2-1 and it looks like they missed a chance to complete their recovery when they failed with a late penalty.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Kpakio, Thomas and Davies started for Wales in today’s under18 game with Turkey, Jake Davies scored to reduce the deficit to 2-1 and it looks like they missed a chance to complete their recovery when they failed with a late penalty.

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Kpakio's been getting some good reviews from people watching the games. Wonder if we may consider loaning him out in January to get him some senior football? Unless he's down as the backup here of course...

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Originally Posted by City123

Kpakio's been getting some good reviews from people watching the games. Wonder if we may consider loaning him out in January to get him some senior football? Unless he's down as the backup here of course...

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We were safe relatively early last season, that was the time to blood our youngsters (I say youngsters, aren’t some of the ones we go on about in the early 20s? Which really isn’t that young in football terms). They could have got senior football with their own club with little pressure. Also Bulut would have got a massive ‘Get out of jail free’ card, perhaps even being praised for giving our lads a go. In fact when a couple were involved they were a breath of fresh air.

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Originally Posted by splott parker

We were safe relatively early last season, that was the time to blood our youngsters (I say youngsters, aren’t some of the ones we go on about in the early 20s? Which really isn’t that young in football terms). They could have got senior football with their own club with little pressure. Also Bulut would have got a massive ‘Get out of jail free’ card, perhaps even being praised for giving our lads a go. In fact when a couple were involved they were a breath of fresh air.

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Missed opportunity as ever

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Originally Posted by City123

Missed opportunity as ever

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It was, it was the ideal situation for any newish manager with a club, safe from relegation but fans getting restless with your style. Yet you’ve got nigh on half a season to win the crowd over with the introduction of the club’s own youngsters, something that most fans love, a team of their own. It would have been sink or swim with little repercussions should the plan fail.

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Originally Posted by splott parker

It was, it was the ideal situation for any newish manager with a club, safe from relegation but fans getting restless with your style. Yet you’ve got nigh on half a season to win the crowd over with the introduction of the club’s own youngsters, something that most fans love, a team of their own. It would have been sink or swim with little repercussions should the plan fail.

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Hey, to be fair to Bulut the youngsters might have done something really embarrassing like ship 5 at Rotherham or lose 4-1 at home to Boro

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Originally Posted by City123

Hey, to be fair to Bulut the youngsters might have done something really embarrassing like ship 5 at Rotherham or lose 4-1 at home to Boro

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:yikes:

A 3-0 win for the u-19s today against Azerbaijan, Mafico and George started with Twose on the bench. (Also, Biancheri and Lewys Benjamin, started, Iwan Morgan scored).

The under-21s play Iceland tomorrow. Some coming and goings there but as far as i know Luey Giles, Joel Colwill, Tom Davies, Eli King and Cian Ashford are travelling. Charlie Crew too.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

A 3-0 win for the u-19s today against Azerbaijan, Mafico and George started with Twose on the bench. (Also, Biancheri and Lewys Benjamin, started, Iwan Morgan scored).

The under-21s play Iceland tomorrow. Some coming and goings there but as far as i know Luey Giles, Joel Colwill, Tom Davies, Eli King and Cian Ashford are travelling. Charlie Crew too.

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Iceland beat Denmark 4-2 on Thursday or Friday, it’s a really congested table currently with everyone in the group bar Lithuania fancying their chances of winning it.

https://www.uefa.com/under21/news/02...tate-of-play/#

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Iceland beat Denmark 4-2 on Thursday or Friday, it’s a really congested table currently with everyone in the group bar Lithuania fancying their chances of winning it.

https://www.uefa.com/under21/news/02...tate-of-play/#

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Big game tomorrow, yes, Interesting that Crew has been recalled from the senior squad for it but not Colwill. Presumably that means Rubin will be involved at some point tonight. We'll soon see.

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Originally Posted by Loramski

Big game tomorrow, yes, Interesting that Crew has been recalled from the senior squad for it but not Colwill. Presumably that means Rubin will be involved at some point tonight. We'll soon see.

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Looking light on the ground up top without Colwill & Koumas. Harris & Pat Jones out as well

King and Joel Colwill start for Wales Under 21s.

Three City players among the subs.

https://x.com/Cymru/status/1833524981629915557

Playing on 4G, bit of a change for them and a bit different to last night!

Wales on top and they’ve missed a sitter through Cotterill, but there’s a strong wind blowing down the pitch and Wales have it behind them - think it’s going to be a struggle in the second half.

0-0 at half time.

Decent game. Wales def the better side. Pity that open goal was missed. All to play for still.

Wales a goal up through Cotterill.

Good finish. Attones forchis earlier miss.

Lovely run by Cotterill, then his finishing lets him down again - Josh Thomas just missed a good chance for Wales.

Now Joel Colwill misses from six yards!

Cotterill makes it 2-0.

Wales win 2-1 - of course, we had to concede an added time goal and then endure two or three minutes of frayed nerves, but they held on and have a five point gap over third placed Iceland.

Much the better side. Should have win more easily.

Wales move into 2nd place in the group, joint on 14 points with leaders Denmark: https://dragonsoccer.co.uk/newsite/index.php?id=261

One game to go, a draw with Czechia will guarantee a top 2 finish. Top 3 second placed teams automatically qualify and a point might be enough for that, a win and they'll almost definitely qualify either as group winners or one of the top 3 second placed sides. Wales currently the 2nd best second placed side: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_U...d-placed_teams

A 2-2 draw for City's under 21s at Ipswich in the other Cup competition they play in - Cody Twose and Trey George the goalscorers.

The under 18s have a home game with Crewe this lunchtime - kick off is 1 o clock according to the club website.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

A 2-2 draw for City's under 21s at Ipswich in the other Cup competition they play in - Cody Twose and Trey George the goalscorers.

The under 18s have a home game with Crewe this lunchtime - kick off is 1 o clock according to the club website.

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Strong team last night but no Reindorf (or Kpakio).

Our Welsh League Cup tie with Merthyr is on Tuesday night at 7.30 at the CCS.

Under 18s 2-1 winners over Crewe this lunchtime, Dan Ola and Jake Davies the scorers.

Despite the first team’s struggles, the under 18s and 21s continue to do well. The former were 2-0 down early on today to Ipswich at Leckwith, but ended up winning 4-3 with Jac Thomas, Dan Ola and Jake Davies with two the scorers.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Despite the first team’s struggles, the under 18s and 21s continue to do well. The former were 2-0 down early on today to Ipswich at Leckwith, but ended up winning 4-3 with Jac Thomas, Dan Ola and Jake Davies with two the scorers.

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We're back to the situation where the academy sides are our only ray of hope aren't we.

Turnbull and Ashford both getting a game for the u21s today. 0-0 at half time v Brentford.

Won 1-0
Would love to have a report.
https://x.com/CF11Academy/status/183...LzySw5yaQ&s=19

Good win that - must be close to the top of the league now.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Good win that - must be close to the top of the league now.

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3rd but with games in hand
https://www.flashscore.com/football/.../M1pKa26m/live