‘ CARDIFF CITY REVEAL NEW PLANS ‘

My View:
Sounds great BUT just being honest and a bit negative, but Tan & CEO’S Said this 10years ago and I chatted personally to them and they promised all this then ? ? ?
Personally Myself and many Cardiff fans I know love local talent playing for us




Owner Vincent Tan wants Cardiff youngsters in the Cardiff team and Wales team.


By Glen Williams

Wednesday 4th December 2019



Cardiff City reveal plans to bring through home-grown teen talent and flood Wales team with Bluebirds players

Bluebirds want to see more Welsh youngsters given an opportunity in the first team, a more sustainable business model for the club which would also benefit Wales


Bluebirds want to see more Welsh youngsters given an opportunity in the first team, a more sustainable business model for the club which would also benefit Wales

For a club with a rich history of bringing through Welsh teenage talent, Cardiff City would be the first to admit the last few years have been barren ones.

From John Toshack in the 1960s, through the Darling Buds of Eddie May in the 1990s (Nathan Blake, Damon Searle, Jason Perry), to the millennium crop of Rob Earnshaw, James Collins, Joe Ledley, Chris Gunter and Aaron Ramsey, the Bluebirds were renowned for developing home-grown youngsters.

You probably have to go back to Declan John for the last one, a succession of different managers preferring to pick experience ahead of the rich promise of youth.

Neil Warnock was recently called out by Craig Bellamy , who worked in the Cardiff Academy for two years, for refusing to give Welsh youngsters their chance.

This wasn't just a Bellamy rant. He is positively gushing about the ability of some of the youngsters on the Bluebirds books, genuinely feels they have been held back... and when Bellamy raves about a player, you know that individual has talent.

We shouldn't be surprised. Wales' capital city and its surrounding area has produced some of the greatest footballers on the planet in recent times, Gareth Bale, Ryan Giggs, Ramsey and Bellamy himself amongst them.

The Cardiff talent hasn't suddenly dried up. It just needs to given its chance, a pathway, and the Bluebirds are making moves to actively encourage that process under new boss Neil Harris.

Painstaking work has been put in behind the scenes by Cardiff chief executive Ken Choo and the Bluebirds' Head of Academy James McCarthy and they hope to be in a position soon where they see the labour come to fruition.

Ambitious moves are afoot for Cardiff to build a Category One Academy, which would put them on the same level as the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and other Premier League giants.

And they feel that with Harris at the helm, the best teenagers are more likely to be handed their chance, given his own background as Millwall Academy and Lions' under-21s boss.


Aaron Ramsey came through the Cardiff system...

It's very much a balancing act between good results with seasoned professionals and giving Welsh youth its head. But Cardiff owner Vincent Tan is insisting on a better business model.

Choo explained: "Vincent says we need to bring young players through not only with Cardiff City, but also into the Wales international team.

"He wants to see Wales playing at Cardiff City Stadium with a number of Bluebirds stars in that side.

"Ryan Giggs is doing really well after going with youth at international level and as the capital city we have to help.

"Cardiff City can't just keep buying, buying, buying and spending big on wages the whole time. The balancing act needs to be right, because Vincent is still keen to see us mount a proper promotion challenge this season, but we have to develop our own players as well. And with the system we have in place, we will."

Although it is not an exact science, ideally Tan and Choo would like a squad of around 18 seasoned professionals, backed up by the youth, verve, energy and fearless approach provided by seven home-grown youngsters.

At the moment, it is lop-sided. Close on 30 battle-hardened professionals, with no Academy players given their opportunity because of the blockage at the top.

"The figures are not precise," explains Choo. "If it's three players from the youth team rather than seven to start with, fine. No problem. But we do need to start giving these youngsters more of an opportunity."


Cardiff City chief executive Ken Choo had specific questions for new boss Neil Harris
This is partly where the appointment of Harris as manager, ahead of Chris Hughton or Lee Bowyer, comes into the equation.

Harris is already closely working with Academy boss James McCarthy to learn as much as possible about the best youngsters on the Bluebirds' books and to determine which ones he can pick in due course.

He has taken a keen interest in the Cardiff under-23 side, has arranged a mix and match behind closed doors game between young and old and will watch the under-18s in action on Saturday morning, ahead of his own side's Championship clash with Barnsley.

Choo revealed one of the very first questions asked of Harris at the interview stage was his view of youth development and how he would help make it work at Cardiff.

"We didn't choose a manager who was necessarily a fans' favourite, we would have gone elsewhere if it were as simple as that," says Choo.

"Our responsibility as a management group is to look beyond the surface, delve into it deeper and analyse the best option for the club as a whole. We did our homework and wanted a young manager with the right character and philosophy and we feel Neil is that man.

"Look, if the first three results had gone wrong, of course that might have caused a few initial problems. But we have to look beyond just that. Neil is the kind of prototype manager this club needs to be looking at.

"When you are chasing promotion, as Vincent wants, it can be very difficult to strike the kind of balance I mentioned earlier between senior and younger players. But Neil knows what this club needs. We can't just always gamble, like a lot of other clubs do. Cardiff City has to be a self sustaining football club, which is precisely why we're throwing so much at the Academy."

It must be stressed that none of this is meant as a criticism of Warnock, who achieved folklore status amongst Bluebirds fans, even if his tenure ended in disappointment this season.

He has always preferred experience to giving younger players a chance, and was by no means the only recent Cardiff manager to do that.

But the work the likes of Giggs and Chelsea manager Frank Lampard are doing with young guns is being noticed elsewhere in football. If you're good enough, you're old enough.

"The strategies of the current manager and the previous one are different," says Choo. "That's not to say one is better than the other, it's just the way it is.

"Neil Warnock wanted senior professionals, Neil Harris, in time, wants more of a two-thirds to one-third blend.

"He has seen the talent in our Academy and wants to unblock it."

No Cardiff fan should suddenly expect five teenagers to be in the team against Barnsley this weekend, or indeed for the remainder of the Championship campaign.

This is a project which will take time, but it is one the Bluebirds are determined to embark upon.

Choo says: "We can't go from one extreme to the other, but Vincent wants to see this transition made - whilst still being highly competitive and pushing hard for promotion.

"Developing youngsters doesn't necessarily mean we flood the first team with them. We can send them out on loan at other clubs, encourage them in other ways. It's part of the learning process. But the goodwill is there and Neil, myself and James McCarthy will work closely together to ensure it happens.

"It does frustrate me when I hear criticism of our Academy because not everyone is aware of the work we have been doing behind the scenes and the pathways that are being created."

Already a number of Bluebirds teenagers have made the Wales age-grade teams and high hopes are expected of them.

Welsh under-21 goalkeeper George Ratcliffe, 19, is tipped within the Wales set-up to be the man to eventually replace Wayne Hennessey.



Warnock had four senior goalkeepers on his books, Neil Etheridge, Alex Smithies, Joe Day and Brian Murphy. There was no path there for the highly-rated Ratcliffe and there were fears Giggs would hand him a senior international debut before Cardiff did at club level!

That might still happen, of course, but Cardiff have sent Ratcliffe on loan into the Welsh Premier League with title-chasing Barry Town so he can develop further in the rough and tumble of mens' football.

Sixteen-year old left-winger Ntazana Mayembe, who is quick and possesses dazzling skills, is another tipped for big things. He is being monitored by Manchester United and is bound to be catching Harris' eye already.

There are others. Midfielders Keenan Patten and Sion Spence have also moved into the Welsh Premier for a while, strikers Isaac Davies and Dan Griffiths are well thought of, left-back Joe Bagan has greatly impressed Harris.

The key is creating that pathway for them which eventually, by whatever route, leads into the Cardiff City first XI. And hopefully then Wales, too.

Head of Academy McCarthy says: "I went to watch Wales under-19s the other week and five of our players were on the pitch at the same time for a game against Russia.

"It's lovely to see, demonstrates the quality, and depth, of player that we have here.

"But it does take a boldness from a manager to be prepared to give youth its chance. Neil Harris is showing an enthusiasm and embracing the Academy, which is clearly positive for the staff and players.

"This will take time, we have to be realistic about that. Look at Chelsea and what they're doing under Lampard. Their plan for youth development really started in 2005, in terms of bringing players into the first team, or the successful loan model they have introduced.

"So it's taken 14 years to come to fruition, whereas we're only four or five years down the line. The key is to have a vision, a strategy in place, that will enable those plans to one day bear fruit.

"Ken has outlined what he sees as the ideal mix. It may not be seven youngsters in the senior squad to start with, it might just be three or four. But they will raise the bar for others in terms of the requirements needed to get in there."

Cardiff City, of course, famously - or should that be infamously - missed out on Gareth Bale and Craig Bellamy when they were young, the superstars snapped up instead by Southampton and Norwich.

It's not as if that kind of thing is happening today, a huge development structure and scouting network having been set up to spot the best talent within an hour's radius of the capital.

New Wales star Rabbi Matondo is an example. He was spotted by a Cardiff scout playing for Tremorfa-based side St Albans, was signed up and given a scholarship at 16.


Cardiff turned down one approach from Chelsea, but were powerless to prevent mega-rich Manchester City from luring Matondo away.

"He played with the current Academy youngsters mentioned earlier," says McCarthy. "A loveable rogue in a way, a great youngster, great footballer, little bit of mischief in his eye. What a talent. Pace, power, scored goals for fun. He was always going to attract attention."

Cardiff did their best to keep Matondo, but couldn't halt Man City's relentless pursuit.

However, at least they didn't miss out financially, as was the case with Bale and Bellamy, receiving a sizeable transfer fee from Man City and significant sell-on extras following Matondo's shock £11m move into German football with Schalke.

They expect other teen talent to attract interest from the bigger clubs. But the plan is to keep them, see them make the step up, hopefully make them stalwarts of the side, but if necessary sell them on for big money.

It's a far more sensible business model for a club of Cardiff's side than just looking short-term the whole time, buying senior stars and not making the most of the young talent that is available to you.


Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan wants Cardiff youngsters in the Bluebirds team and Wales' and hopes Harris will fast-tack their development

As we saw during the Eddie May era, and then with the emergence of Earnshaw, Ledley and Ramsey, Cardiff fans also feed off the passion of seeing one of their own playing out on that pitch.

No-one should criticise Warnock, he did a brilliant job and who could really argue with the methods?

But Warnock was always going to be a short-term fix. Cardiff City are finally looking more to the future.

Sometimes a departure offers an opportunity to do things differently. More the Cardiff City way, perhaps.

If it works as well as anticipated, the Bluebirds - and Wales - will be the biggest beneficiaries.

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The club must do all it can to be a cat 1 academy. If we are not we will keep losing the very best players. Matundo went to man city and then onto Schalke for around 11m....

Perhaps the strangest decision NW in the summer was to let Radcliffe go on loan and then take Joe Day on a free from newport.
Really can see one of our keepers moving on in January

It's a massive commitment probably in excess of 4m a year! To run level 1 academy properly is that feasible in championship? It will take tan to put it in himself which he can do as doing so falls outside falling of ffp rules ....

Past experience of going down that road did not work out that well .Practice and theory ?

Past experience of going down that road did not work out that well .Practice and theory ?

The whole system is wrong,not just at Cardiff,clubs spend years coaching the young players,and any showing any signs of being quality are snapped up by the big clubs,Rabbi motonda for example,not sure what Cardiff received from Man City but it weren’t that much,they sell him a year later for 10 million

Sadly I just don't see the point. Nothing better than seeing a youth player come through but if they are decent they will still get snapped up.

Seems a big expense to me. I'd probably look to cut back costs if anything.

Sadly I just don't see the point. Nothing better than seeing a youth player come through but if they are decent they will still get snapped up.

Seems a big expense to me. I'd probably look to cut back costs if anything.

agree

all this is pie in the sky .

The club must do all it can to be a cat 1 academy. If we are not we will keep losing the very best players. Matundo went to man city and then onto Schalke for around 11m....

Spot On .

The club must do all it can to be a cat 1 academy. If we are not we will keep losing the very best players. Matundo went to man city and then onto Schalke for around 11m....

does being a cat1 academy prevent other clubs taking players ?

What’s the plan to make this happen then or didn’t they reveal it

When you have a manager with a playing style like Sir Neil there is a completer disconnect to the Academy. Unless your academy plays same way which they don't.

That's now over and our young crop stand a chance.

Not sure how long Choo and Dalman been here but it's a long time and they've had a long time to put this in place, and havent.

Al well and good and I hope Harris can deliver but "management" can take the lead and tell the manager the vision. This has been sadly lacking.

I've said this countless times on various threads touching on the subjects but Choo and Dalman appear to be yes men to their paymaster Tan and repeatedly dance to whichever tune Tan is in favouring at the time.

When you have a manager with a playing style like Sir Neil there is a completer disconnect to the Academy. Unless your academy plays same way which they don't.

That's now over and our young crop stand a chance.

Not sure how long Choo and Dalman been here but it's a long time and they've had a long time to put this in place, and havent.

Al well and good and I hope Harris can deliver but "management" can take the lead and tell the manager the vision. This has been sadly lacking.

I've said this countless times on various threads touching on the subjects but Choo and Dalman appear to be yes men to their paymaster Tan and repeatedly dance to whichever tune Tan is in favouring at the time.

Can you give me 2 examples of when choo and dalman have danced to the tune of tan?

When you have a manager with a playing style like Sir Neil there is a completer disconnect to the Academy. Unless your academy plays same way which they don't.

That's now over and our young crop stand a chance.

Not sure how long Choo and Dalman been here but it's a long time and they've had a long time to put this in place, and havent.

Al well and good and I hope Harris can deliver but "management" can take the lead and tell the manager the vision. This has been sadly lacking.

I've said this countless times on various threads touching on the subjects but Choo and Dalman appear to be yes men to their paymaster Tan and repeatedly dance to whichever tune Tan is in favouring at the time.

Can you give me 2 examples of when choo and dalman have danced to the tune of tan?

Yes. Going red obviously the biggest of all. Compounding a red kit with red seats in extended stand. The Malky witch hunt and sacking another. Didn't join in the laughter when Tan querried why Marshall had never scored a goal for us either. Neither did they tell Tan he had no place on the touchline after matches.

[quote="Isawgarystevensscoreagoal"]When you have a manager with a playing style like Sir Neil there is a completer disconnect to the Academy. Unless your academy plays same way which they don't.

That's now over and our young crop stand a chance.

Not sure how long Choo and Dalman been here but it's a long time and they've had a long time to put this in place, and havent.

Al well and good and I hope Harris can deliver but "management" can take the lead and tell the manager the vision. This has been sadly lacking.

I've said this countless times on various threads touching on the subjects but Choo and Dalman appear to be yes men to their paymaster Tan and repeatedly dance to whichever tune Tan is in favouring at the time.[/quot


if you have players good enough they will come through.
all this playing styles is nonsense . we buy players or loan or get free transfers and had a squad here that didnt play that style so how does that work..?
might as well just say you hate Warnock...

When you have a manager with a playing style like Sir Neil there is a completer disconnect to the Academy. Unless your academy plays same way which they don't.

That's now over and our young crop stand a chance.

Not sure how long Choo and Dalman been here but it's a long time and they've had a long time to put this in place, and havent.

Al well and good and I hope Harris can deliver but "management" can take the lead and tell the manager the vision. This has been sadly lacking.

I've said this countless times on various threads touching on the subjects but Choo and Dalman appear to be yes men to their paymaster Tan and repeatedly dance to whichever tune Tan is in favouring at the time.[/quot


if you have players good enough they will come through.
all this playing styles is nonsense . we buy players or loan or get free transfers and had a squad here that didnt play that style so how does that work..?
might as well just say you hate Warnock...

Not at all. Very grateful to him for what he delivered. Just realistic about it.

When you have a manager with a playing style like Sir Neil there is a completer disconnect to the Academy. Unless your academy plays same way which they don't.

That's now over and our young crop stand a chance.

Not sure how long Choo and Dalman been here but it's a long time and they've had a long time to put this in place, and havent.

Al well and good and I hope Harris can deliver but "management" can take the lead and tell the manager the vision. This has been sadly lacking.

I've said this countless times on various threads touching on the subjects but Choo and Dalman appear to be yes men to their paymaster Tan and repeatedly dance to whichever tune Tan is in favouring at the time.[/quot


if you have players good enough they will come through.
all this playing styles is nonsense . we buy players or loan or get free transfers and had a squad here that didnt play that style so how does that work..?
might as well just say you hate Warnock...

Not at all. Very grateful to him for what he delivered. Just realistic about it.

to be honest mate if we have an academy full of kids that cant hit it long when asked they shouldn't be there..

When you have a manager with a playing style like Sir Neil there is a completer disconnect to the Academy. Unless your academy plays same way which they don't.

That's now over and our young crop stand a chance.

Not sure how long Choo and Dalman been here but it's a long time and they've had a long time to put this in place, and havent.

Al well and good and I hope Harris can deliver but "management" can take the lead and tell the manager the vision. This has been sadly lacking.

I've said this countless times on various threads touching on the subjects but Choo and Dalman appear to be yes men to their paymaster Tan and repeatedly dance to whichever tune Tan is in favouring at the time.[/quot


if you have players good enough they will come through.
all this playing styles is nonsense . we buy players or loan or get free transfers and had a squad here that didnt play that style so how does that work..?
might as well just say you hate Warnock...

Not at all. Very grateful to him for what he delivered. Just realistic about it.

to be honest mate if we have an academy full of kids that cant hit it long when asked they shouldn't be there..

Really hope academy has players able to do more than hit a long ball when asked to.

When you have a manager with a playing style like Sir Neil there is a completer disconnect to the Academy. Unless your academy plays same way which they don't.

That's now over and our young crop stand a chance.

Not sure how long Choo and Dalman been here but it's a long time and they've had a long time to put this in place, and havent.

Al well and good and I hope Harris can deliver but "management" can take the lead and tell the manager the vision. This has been sadly lacking.

I've said this countless times on various threads touching on the subjects but Choo and Dalman appear to be yes men to their paymaster Tan and repeatedly dance to whichever tune Tan is in favouring at the time.[/quot


if you have players good enough they will come through.
all this playing styles is nonsense . we buy players or loan or get free transfers and had a squad here that didnt play that style so how does that work..?
might as well just say you hate Warnock...

Playing style obviously plays a part in it. It is easier to transition and make the step-up if playing styles are similar. Any youngster would have struggled coming in and playing the football Warnock played unless they were playing it in the youth setup. We havnt seen any youngsters come through for years because, like Warnock, our last few managers have not favoured youth. That is not knocking Warnock, that is just stating facts.
Unless a club are very good at buying players for cheap and selling them on for a profit then a club will never be anywhere near sustainable. You only have to look down the road to see what a decent academy can produce financially.

The club must do all it can to be a cat 1 academy. If we are not we will keep losing the very best players. Matundo went to man city and then onto Schalke for around 11m....

does being a cat1 academy prevent other clubs taking players ?

Yeah cat 1 stops this. Matundo would have stayed if we were not cat 2

Or better still the rules change so Cat one clubs can't shit all over the rest.

We are fairly isolated geographically but clubs in the shadows of big clubs in the north east or London must find it almost impossible. What chance Bolton or Rochdale have of retaining any strong talent when others have goodness knows how many talent centres and development sides. Same argument goes for Chelsea who have countless youngsters out on loan all the time. Should be a cap on numbers.

Unless they have the best people running it, very few academies seem to work?

Mathew Crocker was the last successful Manager we had who brought through Ramsey, Matthews and many more, he is now Director of Football at Southampton after bringing though many players there, if we are serious, we need to recruit the best available and pay top money.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/foo ... ce-5126580

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/foo ... ty-2068902

https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2019 ... operations

Obviously getting the best is easier said than done, but it is a key appointment and one of the most important decisions a club can make, the alternative option would have been to have scrapped it completely and gone down the Brentford route!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... e-the-box/

Fingers crossed they get someone decent and we get some good homegrown players in the next few years!

Unless they have the best people running it, very few academies seem to work?

Mathew Crocker was the last successful Manager we had who brought through Ramsey, Matthews and many more, he is now Director of Football at Southampton after bringing though many players there, if we are serious, we need to recruit the best available and pay top money.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/foo ... ce-5126580

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/foo ... ty-2068902

https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2019 ... operations

Obviously getting the best is easier said than done, but it is a key appointment and one of the most important decisions a club can make, the alternative option would have been to have scrapped it completely and gone down the Brentford route!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... e-the-box/

Fingers crossed they get someone decent and we get some good homegrown players in the next few years!

Crocker is now Director of Operations at Southampton, not Director of Football.