The curious case of Adam Matthews, the ex-Cardiff City

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The curious case of Adam Matthews, the ex-Cardiff City

Postby Forever Blue » Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:58 pm

The curious case of Adam Matthews, the ex-Cardiff City, Celtic and Sunderland star who tamed Lionel Messi but is now without a club


Adam Matthews is currently without a club



By Tom Coleman


Friday 21st June 2019


At just 17 years of age, Adam Matthews looked set to become the latest 'next big thing' to come off Cardiff City's bulging conveyor belt of young, local talent.

After breaking into a first team ravaged by injury and poor investment back in 2009, Matthews quickly established himself as a first-team regular under boss Dave Jones, who even had to bat away rumours that Manchester United had completed a deal for him the following January, such was the full-back's impact.

When quizzed on those rumours Jones even compared his possible career trajectory with that of Aaron Ramsey, who had not long left for Arsenal at the time.

However, nearly 10 years on, the man who once kept the great Lionel Messi quiet is currently without a club having been released by Sunderland on the back of a mixed spell at the Stadium of Light.








It's been an interesting ride...

A bright beginning

A product of the Cardiff City academy, Matthews first broke into the first team set-up at the beginning of the 2009/10 season, with the Bluebirds struggling to cope with several injuries in the squad.

Handing a chance to youth may not have been what Jones would have wanted in an ideal world, but Matthews seized the opportunity brilliantly, becoming a regular in the side as they launched what proved to be an ultimately unsuccessful promotion bid.

Despite having only just burst onto scene, Matthews was already attracting attention and, prior to the January transfer window, the Daily Mail ran a story claiming he was on his way to Man United, despite only having 12 senior league games under his belt.

Jones denied the story, claiming there had not been any bid for the player.


He said at the time: "At the moment, there's no decision to make because nobody's made any offer. There's a difference between having to sell and a big club coming in for one of your players. That's what happened with Aaron Ramsey last year. How do you tell a 17-year-old kid to stay here for the next four years and forget about Arsenal and playing in the Champions League?"

Matthews would go on to rack up a total of 35 first-team appearances that season, and the talk of Champions League football wasn't all that far from the reality.








The move to Glasgow

An own goal in the 2-0 defeat to Ipswich Town presented Matthews with his first setback and the kind words from his manager soon evaporated.

"I haven't got time to mollycoddle people. It's a man's world now and it's a tough old world and you've got to pick yourself up," Jones said at the time.

"But you can't legislate for where Adam's headed it and I've done that myself in my career and it's about how you bounce back.

"And he's got to bounce back quick otherwise he'll find himself dumped in the reserves and not playing football."

Matthews would only play one more game in a Cardiff shirt, before Celtic swooped in, snapping up the Swansea native on a pre-contract agreement.


Neil Lennon heralded the free transfer as a "coup" and, alongside former City team-mate Joe Ledley at Celtic Park, things were once again looking up, with Matthews tasting the heights of league titles, Champions League football and even a breakthrough onto the international stage with Wales.

"Matthews arrived under the radar and was seen as a reasonable signing and a solid option which came for virtually nothing," Daily Record writer Craig Swan remembers.

"His time at the club was successful. Adam played in an excellent Celtic team and will always be remembered as having a terrific game against Lionel Messi when Celtic defeated Barcelona 2-1 at Parkhead in the Champions League.

"He's still recalled as a steady full-back who did his job well for the most part. Dependable"

Matthews would go on to make 150 appearances for the Celts, and was once again attracting Premier League attention, before eventually falling out of favour to new arrival Mikael Lustig.

"His departure was just about his time running its course. There was nothing sinister," Swan adds. "Mikael was a higher standard. It was best for both parties for him to move on."

Matthews earned praise for his performance against Barcelona during a famous win for Celtic (Image: Daily Record)
The Premier League dream finally happens

After a fair bit of speculation, and despite now being second choice at Celtic, the move to the Premier League finally arrived in 2015 when Sunderland snapped him up for a fee of £2million.

Little did Matthews know what was in store at the Stadium of Light as the Black Cats rapidly became one of the English football's biggest ever basket cases.

"It was probably seen as a little bit of a surprise signing," says Phil Smith of the Sunderland Echo. "I don't think anyone expected him to come in and be the first-choice right-back. I think they wanted to see what he had to offer."

Unfortunately fans on Wearside wouldn't initially see all that much of the full-back, who despite making his debut on the opening day of the season, was kept out for six weeks with an ankle problem.


It was an injury that would see him slip down the pecking order and, after making just two appearances for the Black Cats, he was loaned out to Bristol City.

Having started out as one of Welsh football's brightest young prospects, Matthews was then left at home for Wales's magical Euro 2016 campaign, another gut punch.

But things weren't going to get any easier.

The tumble down to League One

When he returned, David Moyes was the man in the hot seat, and it's safe to say the two didn't really get along.

"Moyes didn't really fancy him. Didn't really rate him," says Smith.

"In terms of the Premier League years he never had a manager who backed him. He never had a proper go, so you don't know what could have happened."

Another loan spell at Bristol City would follow, although even that stint would be ravaged by a four-week injury lay-off. He made just 12 league appearances for the Robins in that season-long stay.

Again, when he returned, it was all change at the Stadium of Light.


Sunderland had crashed out of the Premier League for the first time in 10 years, with Simon Grayson's arrival signalling the start of a prolonged run in the team for Matthews.

Not that there was too much cheer at the time.

A disastrous start to the season saw Grayson sacked and Chris Coleman installed as boss, and while Matthews continued to play a big role in the team, Sunderland were relegated a second time.

"When they got relegated from the Championship, he probably played around 30-odd games in the end," says Smith. "But a lot of those were filing in at left-back and were still often interrupted by niggly injuries.

"He's probably not thought of negatively in the same way other players are who were part of that team that went down twice, but it was just someone unable to put together long run of games. When he was playing, in fact, he actually still looked like he had something to offer."

Given his pedigree, one would have expected Matthews to play a big role in helping Sunderland bounce back, but injury woes were once again a setback.

"Last season he didn't do too badly. He was a player on a lot of money with a big reputation for that level and he actually played pretty well.


"Jack Ross was a manager he liked. He offered a lot going forward and defended pretty well. But then he had a bit of an injury and then when Luke O'Nien started playing right-back he really took to it, meaning Matthews kind of faded out and never really got back into the team.

"I suppose you could argue that for much of the season he was second choice given the way O'Nien was playing and having said that, if he'd been on a normal League One wage I think Jack Ross would have been more than happy to keep him."







What next?

Matthews, now 27, is at a crossroads in his career.

His release from Sunderland was arguably due to financial reasons more than anything else, but there is nevertheless a danger that his career could fade away into obscurity after such a bright start.

But the view from Wearside is that he still has plenty to offer, amid rumours that Celtic could be plotting a return this summer.


"I think generally speaking, his performances last season suggested that if he can stay fit, which he suggested he can. I certainly think he'd be a decent squad option for a club like Celtic or for a Championship club.

"It wouldn't surprise me to see him get picked up by a Championship club to be honest."

The right move could also help to reignite his Wales career, with his brief involvement in the China Cup suggesting that Ryan Giggs has not closed the door on a recall.

However, not everyone is convinced that a return to Celtic is all that feasible, meaning he may well have to look at other options if he is to catch they eye once again.

As Swan explains: "I can't see Matthews returning. It feels like a book closed."
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The curious case of Adam Matthews, the ex-Cardiff City

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Re: The curious case of Adam Matthews, the ex-Cardiff City

Postby valleymodeller » Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:26 pm

Nothing wrong with him. He's out of contract at Sunderland and on big money so they obviously want to cut costs.

He will probably get fixed up somewhere but on less money.
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