Honestly Fed Up:

Of Glen Williams and some posters saying that they are still only young 20, 21 and 22 years old and they need to be sent out to lower leagues etc

At those ages they should have actually established themselves in our Championship first team squad and by 24-25 years old would be their prime years.

If they can’t get in the first team by 20 years old, 99% of the time they won’t make it in our team, which has proved that way.
Actually with us it’s been 100% of the time in the last 14 years.

So let’s get it straight, they should be either established in our team or at least in the first team squad.

Sadly we have brought NO one through other than Rubin Colwill who is in and out.

All of our 19,20,21, 22 and 23 years have all faded away and sadly were not good enough.

Gutted really as I would love local players to make it.


Dalman made a statement this week that we have sent quality out on loan for a year Isaak Davies, Eli King and Kieron Evans, well I believe if they are that good they would be finally in our first team squad and I wish they were.
When they return they will be 21 , 22 yrs and nearly 23 yrs old.

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Ledley, Earnshaw, Collins, Gunter, Ramsey and Jerome had either played more than 100 games for us or moved on to the Premier League by the time they were the age of these "youngsters." We have had nothing through since those days with the possible as yet unproven Colwill.

Totally agree Annis.

Ledley, Earnshaw, Collins, Gunter, Ramsey and Jerome had either played more than 100 games for us or moved on to the Premier League by the time they were the age of these "youngsters." We have had nothing through since those days with the possible as yet unproven Colwill.

Exactly and Spot on, So Dalman and Glen Williams need to stop all this shite.

Totally agree Annis.

Thanks, but it is the truth, we keep kidding ourselves that they will return as stars.

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On a much lower level its no different to what Man City, Chelsea etc do. They send players out to lower levels and hope that they prosper to play in their 1st team or to give them a saleable value. How many of those players come back and have a successful career at those clubs....not many.

On a much lower level its no different to what Man City, Chelsea etc do. They send players out to lower levels and hope that they prosper to play in their 1st team or to give them a saleable value. How many of those players come back and have a successful career at those clubs....not many.

Of course they do, 95% never make it.

That’s not my point m, my point is Glen Williams, Dalman yet again this week and some fans make out these players are stars, let’s just be brutally honest they are not and 99% of the time they will fade away.

It’s not fair to lads themselves building them up like this and putting added pressure on them and actually bullshitting our fans

If you take Bale. Giggs and Ramsey out of the equation I struggle to think of many top class / World class footballers that have come out of our catchment area in the last 50 years. The best also tans I can think of are Gabbs , Earnie and Collins and they were at best average premier league players.
The question is do we have the talent in the area to develop

Time is up for Purse surely

Ledley, Earnshaw, Collins, Gunter, Ramsey and Jerome had either played more than 100 games for us or moved on to the Premier League by the time they were the age of these "youngsters." We have had nothing through since those days with the possible as yet unproven Colwill.

To be fair, that was our "golden generation". An established championship 21 year old is rare, and tends to get fast tracked straight to the prem.

Also, you have to look at the club when someone like Ojo was getting chance after chance over (what I would deem) better players like Colwill, Isaak etc...

Ledley, Earnshaw, Collins, Gunter, Ramsey and Jerome had either played more than 100 games for us or moved on to the Premier League by the time they were the age of these "youngsters." We have had nothing through since those days with the possible as yet unproven Colwill.

To be fair, that was our "golden generation". An established championship 21 year old is rare, and tends to get fast tracked straight to the prem.

Also, you have to look at the club when someone like Ojo was getting chance after chance over (what I would deem) better players like Colwill, Isaak etc...

How many of ours them are getting fast tracked in to the Premiership first team squads?

I would be happy if they made our Championship first team regularly.

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Is it time to completely overhaul the academy?

Maybe go in a completely different direction?

Brentford I believe scrapped their whole academy and just had a b team of players between 17-21 which mainly came from players released from premier league academy’s at 17/18 years old. Their didn’t play in a league just had friendlies against local non league sides and entered tournaments all over Europe playing against some of the best teams around academies

Most years they unearthed at least one player who went into the first team and most others who weren’t good enough released after 12/18 months

Much cheaper and possibly more efficient way of doing things??

Ledley, Earnshaw, Collins, Gunter, Ramsey and Jerome had either played more than 100 games for us or moved on to the Premier League by the time they were the age of these "youngsters." We have had nothing through since those days with the possible as yet unproven Colwill.

To be fair, that was our "golden generation". An established championship 21 year old is rare, and tends to get fast tracked straight to the prem.

Also, you have to look at the club when someone like Ojo was getting chance after chance over (what I would deem) better players like Colwill, Isaak etc...

How many of ours them are getting fast tracked in to the Premiership first team squads?

I would be happy if they made our Championship first team regularly.

None. Ultimately, it lands in Purse's head, but I don't think 21 is the age where i'd cut. I'd say 23.

Having said that, this recent crop seem to be below par, but what's more frustating is that each of them have showed glimpses of talent. I think that is an area of the club that is clearly failing.

Ledley, Earnshaw, Collins, Gunter, Ramsey and Jerome had either played more than 100 games for us or moved on to the Premier League by the time they were the age of these "youngsters." We have had nothing through since those days with the possible as yet unproven Colwill.

To be fair, that was our "golden generation". An established championship 21 year old is rare, and tends to get fast tracked straight to the prem.

Also, you have to look at the club when someone like Ojo was getting chance after chance over (what I would deem) better players like Colwill, Isaak etc...

How many of ours them are getting fast tracked in to the Premiership first team squads?

I would be happy if they made our Championship first team regularly.

None. Ultimately, it lands in Purse's head, but I don't think 21 is the age where i'd cut. I'd say 23.

Having said that, this recent crop seem to be below par, but what's more frustating is that each of them have showed glimpses of talent. I think that is an area of the club that is clearly failing.

Purse needs to go.

He’s had enough chances and we are not going forward under him.

I totally agree with this Annis

Years ago I recall having a conversation with Sam and Bobby Gould at Treforest. I remember the game as Cardiff were playing against Aston Villa and they had a young striker called Gabby Agbonlahor playing in their Under 18s against us.

At that time Sam always played 14 year olds in the Under 16 team and played the 16 year olds in the Under 18s team.

It was to build them up but also because, if they were not knocking on the first team by 18, then they were not ready to be offered a full time contract and they were shipped out. The process worked because several academy players went on to play in the first team either with us or elsewhere.

So our under 21 team. We need to be ruthless. If a player is not capable of making the first team there is no point including them in the under 21s. They go. Its as simple as that.

A team only improves by offloading your weakest player and replacing them with a better player.

There are thousands of players out there who want to play football. The lower leagues. Clubs like Bromley excel in this area. We need to be scouting these clubs and replacing our present players with those who are younger and better.

If we do this then our under 21s will improve and the step up to championship football will be better.

I totally agree with this Annis

Years ago I recall having a conversation with Sam and Bobby Gould at Treforest. I remember the game as Cardiff were playing against Aston Villa and they had a young striker called Gabby Agbonlahor playing in their Under 18s against us.

At that time Sam always played 14 year olds in the Under 16 team and played the 16 year olds in the Under 18s team.

It was to build them up but also because, if they were not knocking on the first team by 18, then they were not ready to be offered a full time contract and they were shipped out. The process worked because several academy players went on to play in the first team either with us or elsewhere.

So our under 21 team. We need to be ruthless. If a player is not capable of making the first team there is no point including them in the under 21s. They go. Its as simple as that.

A team only improves by offloading your weakest player and replacing them with a better player.

There are thousands of players out there who want to play football. The lower leagues. Clubs like Bromley excel in this area. We need to be scouting these clubs and replacing our present players with those who are younger and better.

If we do this then our under 21s will improve and the step up to championship football will be better.

Your do right Paul and Sams record of producing talent is all there and we have not since Sam left.
It’s a fact.

It’s all bullshit nowadays and cheap coaches etc

I completely agree with Annis’s introduction statement on this thread. But admittedly haven’t read the many remarks below this!

How are we meant to explain and account for yesterday’s under 21 debacle at lowly Fleetwood Town? I see very little talent coming out of Darren Purse’s squad atm.

Even with players like Joe Mason or Rhys Healey. Great youngsters leave us sadly and the club dont care enough to keep them.

By my count we've lost 5 academy
players to premier league.
System stinks.

By my count we've lost 5 academy
players to premier league.
System stinks.

Who were these “ 5 “ and where are they now??

Interesting to hear which 5?


I would be shocked if it’s even 5 we’ve lost in 14 years??

But the points I am making are the last 14 years we keep getting told like the last 3 years especially that the current crop of youngsters are future stars???


Gabriele Biancheri At 16 joined Manchester United, I really hope he makes it.

The academy went backwards after Matt Crocker left. If you have a good look Ramsey, Gunter , Matthews , Blake all were coming through during his spell .
Then the guy who seemed to get credit was Neal Ardley but he ruined the academy in my view
Crocker ended up at Southampton academy and look what came through there and now I believe heads up England’s youth set up . Geriant Twose was /is with England women as a coach as well He certainly was there for their Euro win .

I've not even bothered commenting on the result yesterday or this topic until now.

Reason for that is I've said it many times and it's glaringly obvious to almost everyone that Purse isn't fit to coach the U21 teams.

I accept the rules that mean elite clubs can just poach our best young players doesn't help. That's down to us not being Cat 1 and no signs of that changing, it's not just about money but takes a lot of effort to get to that point and stay there.

I don't even expect five players to come through every season, but maybe a few over several years - as we see with a lot of other clubs.


But the big thing is that Purse's job is to improve these players during their time working with him. That hasn't happened at all. In fact, a lot of them have gone backwards.

You will expect a few to drop off for all sorts of reasons - personal issues, attitude, mental reasons etc.

But this is nearly every player which is unacceptable.

There is not one player in the U21s who is anywhere near ready for the Championship. Joel Colwill has potential but he's still not at that level.

I didn't like Morison one but one thing he did very well was coaching the U21s.

Sadly these players will go nowhere while Purse is around. Most will be lucky to have a career in League Two if he stays too long.

The academy went backwards after Matt Crocker left. If you have a good look Ramsey, Gunter , Matthews , Blake all were coming through during his spell .
Then the guy who seemed to get credit was Neal Ardley but he ruined the academy in my view
Crocker ended up at Southampton academy and look what came through there and now I believe heads up England’s youth set up . Geriant Twose was /is with England women as a coach as well He certainly was there for their Euro win .

100%

Matt Crocker was one of our best and since then, we’ve been telling his job with cheap or not so experienced coaches .
It’s gone down hill rapidly.

Plus it does not help when the manager of the U21’s in my view is useless.
Loved Purse as a player.

I've not even bothered commenting on the result yesterday or this topic until now.

Reason for that is I've said it many times and it's glaringly obvious to almost everyone that Purse isn't fit to coach the U21 teams.

I accept the rules that mean elite clubs can just poach our best young players doesn't help. That's down to us not being Cat 1 and no signs of that changing, it's not just about money but takes a lot of effort to get to that point and stay there.

I don't even expect five players to come through every season, but maybe a few over several years - as we see with a lot of other clubs.


But the big thing is that Purse's job is to improve these players during their time working with him. That hasn't happened at all. In fact, a lot of them have gone backwards.

You will expect a few to drop off for all sorts of reasons - personal issues, attitude, mental reasons etc.

But this is nearly every player which is unacceptable.

There is not one player in the U21s who is anywhere near ready for the Championship. Joel Colwill has potential but he's still not at that level.

I didn't like Morison one but one thing he did very well was coaching the U21s.

Sadly these players will go nowhere while Purse is around. Most will be lucky to have a career in League Two if he stays too long.

Well said Ned.

So much truth.

When they finally get to the U21’s they seem to go backwards under Purse.

We sell all the best academy players or the leave for better clubs.
Even if we did produce another home grown Ramsey or earnshaw they be gone in a flash .
Loom at Ramsey we sold him on the cheap and if memory serves a shit sell on agreement.
Its frustrating my own son was involved with the ADC and honestly it was shit they didn't have a clue with young lads.
Ive seen and heard some things from the academy staff that was shocking.

My son had an ankle injury once out for six weeks..we told the academy boss gary he would be out and would get back asap.
We then saw the same guy at a cardiff game and we approached him and i said frazer will be back soon but not yet thus was about 3 weeks into the injury

His response infront of my son was well hurry up because ive others waiting to fill your position.
I was speechless didn't no what to say to my son .
I could tell you more stuff about other lads .

The way my son and others left the ADC was also a terrible way to end a kids dreams .
It was disgusting so much so my son didn't want to play football anymore.
They stripped all his confidence.

So if your all wondering why there is no home grown talent i wonder why .
Hopefully these young lads come back off the loan ready to play for us .
My boy played against issac and rubin and i wish them all the support and best of luck i can because they are local lads .

People have to realise we have been producing academy players but they turn 16 and they are being poached .the system favours the bigger clubs .

People have to realise we have been producing academy players but they turn 16 and they are being poached .the system favours the bigger clubs .

Mate over the years how many have been poached from us and become great players,