Cardiff are the only club in the efl

[Badly Ironed Shirt]

Eh? Trippier worked his bollocks off for Burnley which earnt him the move to Spurs.

Posters rule Declan John out because he's not good enough. He's not good enough defensively to play left back, doesn't offer enough to play wide left. That's not the view of "posters here", it's the view of managers here who don't think him good enough, the view of managers elsewhere who have zero interest in loaning him or buying him, it's the view of managers where he's been on loan.

It's easy to blame his lack of development on the squad rather than looking at the player himself - he's looked at in a far better light than some ( ie Malone for one ) due to being "local".

How many managers passed through the club in Declan John's time? Mackay, OGS, Slade, Trollope, Warnock. Throw in Coleman at international level, plus the various managers at the other clubs he played for and, had he signed on a free transfer from Wigan, John would have a weaker defence from posters here than he offered in many games.

All fans like a good home grown player, the magic of a kid who stood on the Bob Bank scoring a winning goal in a big game is part of football's allure. Also, as the game becomes more global, it is still important for us that it retains an image and a connection to the city and area it represents. It is somewhat sad, and coincidental, that at a time where Cardiff lost its roots, it also lost its way in producing good local talent.

Why is that? Is Championship football now at such a standard that young players have to be exceptional to break through? Would, for example, a 17 year old Joe Ledley get as much game time this season as he did 12 years ago?

Are young players being luxuried into ruts? Are they too pampered? If so, aren't football clubs creating massive problems for hundreds of young men who experience the lifestyle, protection and good will of a club only to fail to make the grade and fall to the real world with a massive bump?

Should the club be investing more in youth development? I am not criticising the current setup, but the results of the football conveyor belt are suggesting that there is something wrong in the process. Fair enough if people label Aaron Ramsey a "freak" - but Ledley, Collins, Earnshaw, Gunter were all produced in the same period as the last time the academy produced a million pound player (Ramsey).

I don't think any manager can be criticised for not picking players who are not good enough, but the process of producing good enough players is open to criticism.