' He was Never coached to play at Left Back at Cardiff '

'Declan John was never coached how to play left back at Cardiff' — Rangers boss' claim about Cardiff City outcast


Friday 6th October 2017

Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha has vowed to reignite Declan John's development and has backed the Cardiff City loanee to make a big impact at Ibrox, despite suggesting that he was previously unequipped to play as a left-back.

Having joined the 54-time Scottish champions on loan in the summer to little fanfare, John has left made quite an impression in Glasgow, with a sparkling performance against Hamilton impressing plenty of fans north of the border and beyond.

Despite being a regular for Cardiff during their ill-fated spell in the Premier League, the 22-year-old saw his career stall at Cardiff City Stadium in recent years, with first team opportunities becoming increasingly hard to come by.


But he has benefited from the faith shown in him by Caixinha, who had little hesitation in slotting John in at left-back on the back after an injury to Lee Wallace.

The Portuguese's call has been vindicated, but Caixinha he has no intention of allowing complacency to creep in, and insists he is confident of getting the very best out of the Welshman on a regular basis this season.

And despite turning out at left-back numerous times for the Bluebirds, Caixinha believes John has a lot to learn if he wants to eventually make the position his own.

He told RangersTV: “Declan is a player that was never coached how to play as a left back, so he did it a couple of times with us and he did it very well, because we are a team that likes to attack and likes to have the full-backs go up and attack, so he can give us that.

“We will try to coach him a little bit more now, not only to defend the wide area but the relation with the winger in front of him, the midfielder on his side and also the centre-half from his side.

“He needs to know those relations and which space he needs to cover when he is defending, but he is also a player who can play as a winger.”

A successful spell in Scotland will give Cardiff City plenty to ponder this summer, particularly if they manage to earn themselves a place in the Premier League, where John's experience could prove valuable.

Perhaps more importantly, becoming an Ibrox hero could also give the Bluebirds outcast the chance to once again challenge for a place in the Wales squad — a goal that he himself has identified.

In his first Rangers press conference, he said: "Of course if I'm up here and playing well it's certainly going to put me in good stead in terms of getting back into the national team."

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

I think that is total bollocks not coached for sure he was coached we r not a Sunday league outfit

seen this happen a number of times.
you put a square peg in a round hole because you dont have a decent round peg. 3 changes of manager/coach later the new guy just assumes your a round peg and always have been.
credit to Declan to have progressed as far as he has..and good luck to him.

6 managers never coached him really

Hopefully this will be great for Declan

More time up there than championship where experimenting can not be carried out with players as pressure not to lose is too great.

No easy games..........

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
6 managers can't be wrong

English is not Caixinhas first language and much gets lost in translation. As for John getting more time on the ball that's untrue, it might be a shite league but it's played at a frantic pace, just ask Joey Barton, who thought he would stroll it but was miles off the pace.

Sometimes things just don't work out, for whatever reason. Wish him well, but no great tragedy. He's getting a game with a big club.

He was considered not good enough on the left wing ny Malkie Mackay and his coaching staff. He was swapped to left back and sufficiently coached to make his debut in Cardiff's first Premier League game at West Ham as I recall?

He was a left back from that period onwards but simply lacked defensive ability. Good luck to him but don't try and blame several coaches;unlikely everyone was wrong.

He's only 22 you never know what a different scene and a bit of confidence can give you just ask Sohire when Warnock came in...

Don't write him off yet- don't get me wrong I've not seen anything to write home about but he's still a city player trying to improve himself- hopefully he does so for us.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
6 managers can't be wrong

Well said and Neil Warnock is amongst them!

The Rangers manager is on a confidence boosting mission in a very Warnock-like fashion and credit to him if (at last) someone is finally getting the best out of Declan John

He's a good lad but he wasn't in the picture at the CCS and it was right for him to make the move at this time. He'll learn from it and (who knows) he may come back and stick two fingers up to the majority of us that lost faith in him

I sort of hope he does but I'm not going to join some of the 'after the fact' soothsayers on here who are already saying we should have kept him here!

His lack of opportunity here and his grasping (so far) of his new role proves otherwise and credit to Declan (for making the move), to Neil Warnock (for doing what others should have done for him) and to Pedro Caixhinha for seeing his role in his team!

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
6 managers can't be wrong

Well said and Neil Warnock is amongst them!

The Rangers manager is on a confidence boosting mission in a very Warnock-like fashion and credit to him if (at last) someone is finally getting the best out of Declan John

He's a good lad but he wasn't in the picture at the CCS and it was right for him to make the move at this time. He'll learn from it and (who knows) he may come back and stick two fingers up to the majority of us that lost faith in him

I sort of hope he does but I'm not going to join some of the 'after the fact' soothsayers on here who are already saying we should have kept him here!

His lack of opportunity here and his grasping (so far) of his new role proves otherwise and credit to Declan (for making the move), to Neil Warnock (for doing what others should have done for him) and to Pedro Caixhinha for seeing his role in his team!

Wise words Sven.