OUR ACADEMY SET UP

How good is it ?

is it producing enough talent considering the catchment area it has ?

What I was shocked to learn recently is that the academy take players of big build and speed but not those with ability alone.

To me Ability has to be the first and most important aspect.

How good is it ?

is it producing enough talent considering the catchment area it has ?

What I was shocked to learn recently is that the academy take players of big build and speed but not those with ability alone.

To me Ability has to be the first and most important aspect.

Carl, It was doing Great, but I in the last year I have heard it has started to feel a lack of investment from our Board.

Ledley, Ramsey, Gunter, Mathews and then you have the likes of Wildig coming though.. where would we be without it?

How good is it ?

is it producing enough talent considering the catchment area it has ?

What I was shocked to learn recently is that the academy take players of big build and speed but not those with ability alone.

To me Ability has to be the first and most important aspect.

Carl, It was doing Great, but I in the last year I have heard it has started to feel a lack of investment from our Board.

Do you find it amazing that they keep players on size over ability?

Ledley, Ramsey, Gunter, Mathews and then you have the likes of Wildig coming though.. where would we be without it?

Agree Owain, I am talking about what their objectives are now, with regards to size and speed over ability. and the names you mention are excellent players but should the numbers be higher ?

Ledley, Ramsey, Gunter, Mathews and then you have the likes of Wildig coming though.. where would we be without it?

Yes Owain, but most of them were produced before PR's time here.

I'm presuming you mean this is a recent change in approach? Matthews is diminutive, Blake certainly is, whilst Ramsey is not an especially supreme physical specimen which would contradict your thoughts if they were meant as a prolonged approach. Worth pointing out that this was Sam's vision and set up by Sam also, something that Peter likes to claim credit for. Not in the pro Sam camp, but it is something we can still thank him for nevertheless.

I'm presuming you mean this is a recent change in approach? Matthews is diminutive, Blake certainly is, whilst Ramsey is not an especially supreme physical specimen which would contradict your thoughts if they were meant as a prolonged approach. Worth pointing out that this was Sam's vision and set up by Sam also, something that Peter likes to claim credit for. Not in the pro Sam camp, but it is something we can still thank him for nevertheless.

yes salad it is recent and one i find completely wrong

Ledley, Ramsey, Gunter, Mathews and then you have the likes of Wildig coming though.. where would we be without it?

Yes Owain, but most of them were produced before PR's time here.

I know that, but goes to show we must have a pretty good academy set up with those players coming through.
How it's being run since Ridders took charge is another matter, but we still seem to be getting decent players through

Couldn't agree more Carl in that case. Why would they break with a policy that has served them so well previously? Isn't it still the same staff running the Academy? If so, from where does this new policy come from? I'm all for the production of football players who are fine physical specimens, pace, power, build and athleticism being critical components to the modern game, but to dismiss players because they have potential but not the physical attributes is quite astonishing and the kind of mentality that ensured British football was and in many ways still is light years away from the rest of the world in terms of technical ability.

Owain.

I agree we do produce some superb players through the accademy.

Sam use to spend a lot of time down the academy i dont think peter has my son spent 3 years in the cardiff set up but has moved over the bridge.
I think sam kept them on there toes and all the players that have come through were sams looking forward who knows

i went there 2 years ago and was quality at the time but its gone a bit down hill i think the likes of bristol and southampton are the best run academys

i went there 2 years ago and was quality at the time but its gone a bit down hill i think the likes of bristol and southampton are the best run academys

Which way has it gone downhill nathan ?

just seems they dont get enough funds and attention

My son has been playing at Bristol City for 3 years now with Cardiff making an approach in the summer.He trialed for 5 weeks but did not want to join Cardiff due to the fact that as a wing back they did not want him to get forward,were as Bristol spent 3 years teaching him to get forward(surely the way a wing back now plays).After experiencing the 2 academys i personally found Bristol an academy that teachs football were as Cardiff just hoofed the ball up to the big man.In a previous match i even heard Cardiff parents saying the same thing.Cardiff have beaten Bristol once in 3 years,says it all really.Also heard a rumour thar Cardiff could not afford to continue with there academy due to lack of funds????

Taff this does seem the way our academy is going, big and fast more the priority over talent.


Also even though I agree that we have had success' out of the academy but should'nt there be more, it seems that one player is good enough out of a squad of 16 each year.

Also why have we only got 1 team per age group ? surely the catchment area would generate enough youngsters to have 2-3 teams of each age group.

If you talk to any academy coach or manager they will tell you that they would be quite happy to produce 1 quality pro out of 16. They reckon that only 1% of academy players make it as a pro.

If you talk to any academy coach or manager they will tell you that they would be quite happy to produce 1 quality pro out of 16. They reckon that only 1% of academy players make it as a pro.

Yep, that is the generally accepted rate. You only have to look at a top team like Liverpool and ask when was the last academy player to break into the first team apart from Carling Cup. I don't know who it was but it was a long time ago

We're doing well by comparison.

I coach albeit at a younger age, and two of our kids are fantastic. They have both been seen by City scouts but ive been told they are not what they are looking for. They are looking for big, strong kids and aint bothed whether the kids are technically gifted or not. These kids are only 7 and do things alot of older kids couldnt dream of doing, but because they aint tall, they aint interested. It seems to be the way things are going down there

That seems a bit ridiculous considering kids grow at different speeds and a kid with loads of ability who is small at 7 years old may grow up to be tall.

I have faith in Neal Ardley and his men but this seems a very bizarre approach to take. That must have just been a basic summary of what they're looking for. Maybe he meant they want all but if a kid is too small they won't take him on yet?

I know of one kid for definite who i feel ashamed to say was awful, but because he was really tall he was offered a trial, whether he got in i dont know.

I'm not saying picking size of ability is right, but the general feeling amongst top end football coaches is that the modern day footballer has to be athletic and of an able upper body build.

We are not talking Neil Mellor more Steven Gerrard, although its hard to see how another Chris Burke would get a look in.

i have to admit ive seent the adacmey play on contless times and i have to stay in every team they are at least two to three very good players that you can see who will break in to the first team there coaches are very good and all no a lot to do with football and i thought th acadmey foundation was suppose to be pumping funds in acadmey

As i posted on an earlier thread.It should be not how big a player is. It should be he's "big enough". It's the ability that counts not how big or quick he is this seems to be the Academy's way at the very young ages as well. Does the Academy/Dev Centres do enough for players considering the size of area/areas they opreate in which are virtually unopposed by other pro clubs only exception down West. The Academy/Dev centres could do a lot better in producing more players and maybe could do things better?(the way they go about it considering the above)
If maybe the Academy got their act together, they got virtually no competion and have a huge area to look at. They are afraid to change some things. Many players simply don't get an opportunity and they won't change it. I would say there are lot of players out there that could play at that level. We could produce more.
The Academy just sticks with whats it got surely it's about developing them, giving them the chance and producing more. Other pro clubs may take in more players cos their Academys are different. Some pro clubs may also have 2 or 3 teams etc for example. Both Earnie and Matthews were nearly released due to their size. If they are good enough we should be taking them.
The exceptions of Ramsey, Matthews etc being the exception to the size factor.
The Spanish are a similar race to ourselves (smallish) but look at the talent their players have in regard to their statue i think a few could come to mind?

At the younger ages size does not come into it,they only really starting looking at size at 14 years of age with technique and ability being the major concerns,also academys are restricted by the laws governing the distance a player can travel to an academy I.E 8-12 years old 1 hrs travelling , 13-16 years 1.5 hrs.Also in my past experience coaches,parents can be a little bit to enthuisisatic about there player/son,thinking they are the best thing since sliced bread but when actually getting to the academy they are found not to be quite the player expected.This obviously due to the fact that these players are all of a higher standard and that the fantastic PARKS player is not quite as good as first thought,hence i think this is the reason behind so many kids (sometimes ones that aren't that good) being taken into dev centres were they can be looked at a little closer and hopefully discover an academy standard player.

I have also been told even at the younger ages pace is a prority not technical ability. The Development Centres have now increased in numbers and i think they now cover an area from Somerset, Hereford, Brecon, Newport, Cardiff, Bridgend, West Glamorgan and Carmarthen. So that would cover a sizeable area.