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as you are all probably now aware he's gone to Man City.
It's a massive disappointment and the eppp rules are a ****ing joke.
We probably would have got £8 million for him in a few years but clubs are now powerless to keep their rising stars if a big club comes knocking.
A big shout out to his agent who has allegedly behaved like a right greedy wanker throughout his departure.
I'm gutted mate. This kid would have been destined for big things with us but he'll probably get lost in the system up there.
I know I bang on but I can't help but think that the ignorance of Slade had a part to play in this.
Slade never spoke to the kid once. Contrast that to Chris Coleman who called Matondo in on the night of the Belgium game in Cardiff to tell him he needed to stick with Wales as England were courting him!
He'll Probably choose england too now.
Will be interesting to see what happens with this young, Welsh talent. I hope he has a bright future ahead of him.
That's a disaster . What's the point in putting millions into an academy when the big clubs can just walk in and take their pick
One big positive is another lad has turned them down.
The only option we have if we want to keep talent like this is to build a reputation like Southampton as a club who will give youngsters their opportunity
This link explains EPPP quite well - and why it's nothing more than bullying and is doomed to failure I think:
https://tomkinstimes.com/2014/07/str...ning-the-weak/
They are very different players to be honest mate. Matondo is explosive and absolutely rapid with and eye for goal. (something our first team are crying out for)
The other lad is a pure footballer. Finds pockets of space and is very intelligent with an eye for goal too. Should be a top top player
I believe he is playing for Merthyr
Back to Matondo... His mind was probably made up when Slade was here. Who does he have in front of him to see that staying in Cardiff would've been the best decision? Declan John making a debut 4 years ago and being shot out of action for the whole of last season.
Players like O'Sullivan, Tom James etc are rotting away in our academy, if I was the lad I would've jumped ship too
Potentially, but he never even got a chance in a shite couple of seasons for the club. Not even in the pointless cup games. That's either telling me the lad is crap or that the management at the time couldn't be arsed with youth players.
If he was that bad he would've been released years ago and wouldn't have won the most recent Welsh young player of the year award
I agree with Gringo that the next we'll probably hear about Matondo is when he's loaned out by Man City to some League One or Two side and then a year or two later, we'll probably read he's signed for someone like Rochdale after being released by Man City. It's not only bad news for City that he's gone though, because I can't help thinking that he's more likely to opt for England for international football now.
It doesn't surprise me in the slightest to hear it said that Russell Slade never spoke to Matondo - someone has questioned whether there is any point having an Academy these days, but, if we accept that it's main function is to produce Cardiff City first team footballers, it was, effectively, already closed from October 2014 to May 2016 while Slade was in charge!
Last Saturday I watched the Academy Under 18's and Under 16s take on their Aston Villa counterparts. I watched the first half of the Under 18s match (they were very poor and on the way to a 6-1 drubbing) and then wandered the hundred yards or so to the pitch where the Under 16s were playing to watch the second half of their match. While I was doing this, I saw Sion Spence walking towards the Under 18s match. City were doing something I'd seen them do a few times with him last season - start him in an Under 16 match, then substitute him so that he could be brought on for the Under 18s.
I must admit I'm not much of a fan of this approach and I'm even less of it when what I've seen of the player and what I saw of the Under 18s last week suggests Spence should be starting for them every week now.
I got my first look at Sam Bowen in that Under 16 match - I believe they were losing 1-0 when I started watching, but they pounded away at the Villa goal for the third quarter of the game and it seemed like a goal had to come. Everything was going through Sam Bowen during this period and, based on what I saw, he was the best player on either side, but then he was taken off and, like Spence before him, introduced into the Under 18 team for the last half an hour or so of their match - Villa also brought one or two good players on and so a weakened Under 16 team lost all of their momentum as they ended up losing 2-1.
I hope I caught the Under 18s on a bad day last week, because, if they really are as a poor as they looked against Villa, then I'd say Sam Bowen would be better off for now staying with the Under 16s. On the other hand, it's hard to see what Sion Spence will gain from playing for the Under 16s now because he's some way further along the development process - I know there was a time under a few of our former managers when the best young prospects at the club were taken along with the first team squad for away matches and included in the occasional senior team training session to give them some experience of what was involved in being professional footballer at Cardiff City, I hope and trust this will happen under Paul Trollope, but I'd be absolutely amazed if it ever happened under Russell Slade.
Last edited by the other bob wilson; 13-08-16 at 09:37.
I'm at the game now Bob. We just scored and are drawing 1-1 with Hull.
It's a really good game to be honest.
Welch, So Sani playing really well
2-1 Cardiff. great pass by Welch and brilliant run and finish by Waite.
2-2 straight from kick off. Cardiff should be winning this. dominated the last 15
4-2 and Hull haven't got out of their half in the second half
finished 4-3 cardiff. good game