Despondency

[Llandaff Blue]

The most ludicrous thing of all is that anyone who has seen the current crop of youngsters coming up through the age groups, will now that the methods they were taught during that time were completely contradictory to what awaits in the first team. It's easy just to look at the careers of the many talented footballers who have come through the ranks at Cardiff in the last decade and more and say they weren't good enough because they didn't break into the first team, but all that proves is that they weren't suited to the "Cardiff way".

Keenan Patten's older brother Robbie was released by the club after injury disrupted his progress and I know he had teams interested in him at National League level, at least, who didn't offer him a contract because his footballing education at Cardiff had taught him to play the game the "right way". He was too much a footballer for the way these clubs were going to play!

It's been a joke at Cardiff in recent years - you get players coming through who are unsuited to the way the first team has played in the last ten years or so. Therefore, you have to ask why are we spending so much on the Academy?

We may, finally, be about to see a return on all of that investment, but my impression is that nearly all of the promising crop of players coming through will fail to fulfil their potential if the first team continues to play like it does.

Wonder what he's up to now, oh look he's playing for Barry! He was capped 3 times for the Welsh u19s! Come off it, the players we produce are crap. Like Patten, they barely get capped at international level. I remember people raving about Ratfcliffe cause he looked good at youth level despite being on loan at fecking Barry and being kept out of the Wales side by Przybek. Although he's still young, he would be on loan at national league sides like Pryzbek has but he's obviously not good enough.

I don't want to shit on these kids cause they are being poorly coached regardless of what level they're at, but let's not pretend the stuff they play at youth level is worlds away from the first team, that's nonsense. If we had capable coaches or players, either the players would make it elsewhere (despite your LAUGHABLE comment about Patten) or the coaches would be snapped up by other clubs that are invested in youth development. We have a category 2 academy remember, there's little in the way of us stopping players being snatched

The academy is a joke and a waste of money. I am honestly surprised Tan hasn't scrapped it already

[surge]

I still think this year will be judged as being an interesting one in hindsight.

Smithies
Sang NG Morrison Nelson Bagan
Wintle Ralls
Giles
Moore Collins/Harris

Not a bad starting XI and if the new kids can get 12+ games from the season it sets us up nicely going forward. We finished 8th last year, three teams ahead of us should be worse this year and only five teams behind us will be significantly better. 10th place seems a fair prediction with outside shot at play-offs again.

[the other bob wilson]

Wonder what he's up to now, oh look he's playing for Barry! He was capped 3 times for the Welsh u19s! Come off it, the players we produce are crap. Like Patten, they barely get capped at international level. I remember people raving about Ratfcliffe cause he looked good at youth level despite being on loan at fecking Barry and being kept out of the Wales side by Przybek. Although he's still young, he would be on loan at national league sides like Pryzbek has but he's obviously not good enough.

I don't want to shit on these kids cause they are being poorly coached regardless of what level they're at, but let's not pretend the stuff they play at youth level is worlds away from the first team, that's nonsense. If we had capable coaches or players, either the players would make it elsewhere (despite your LAUGHABLE comment about Patten) or the coaches would be snapped up by other clubs that are invested in youth development. We have a category 2 academy remember, there's little in the way of us stopping players being snatched

The academy is a joke and a waste of money. I am honestly surprised Tan hasn't scrapped it already

I've been wrong about the Academy and the youngsters that come through it in the past and I'm sure I will be again - I'm also probably a bit naive in my thinking in championing our young players as much as I do. However, I'll tell you something, I'd much rather have my attitude towards youth development at City than yours.

You say you "don't want to shit on these kids" and then go on to do precisely that - more than that, is there any need to adopt such a sneering and cynical style while doing so?

Whether by accident or design, you've completely missed my point about Robbie Patten. I acknowledged that injuries had affected his time at the club (he missed an awful lot of football in his late teens, so was always likely to be let go by City) and my point was about him being coached in a way that people at good quality non league sides did not think was best suited for the style of play they favoured.

Do you watch much age group football at City? Judging by your opinion that the way our youth sides play is not too far away from how our senior side plays, I suspect not.

Here's another anecdote concerning something I overheard at game between City and Colchester Under 18s (we had players like George Ratcliffe, Sam Bowen, Keenan Patten, Keiron Evans, Isaak Davies and, possibly, Rubin Colwill in our squad that day). City were 5-0 up at half time and I listened in on a conversation between someone who was obviously very clued up about youth football and who worked for Colchester, or had done in the recent past, talking to the parents of one of their players that day. One of the things he said was that we may be getting well beat, but I can still appreciate the football Cardiff have played today. Year in, year out, Cardiff play the most entertaining and skilful football I see from an opposition team and I always look forward to our matches against them.

It was as much as I could do not to blurt out "you haven't seen our first team play then?". Do you honestly think anyone at another Championship club has said something similar about our senior side in the last ten years? There might be an acknowledgment of our physicality, about how we're difficult to play against and how dangerous we are from set pieces, but envy at the quality of our football? Really?

My message was about the absurdity of having an Academy geared to play one way and a first team set up to play in a manner which is almost completely opposite to it - dismissing every young player the club has produced since Aaron Ramsey as not good enough is just lazy thinking.