‘ Joe Ralls ‘

JOE RALLS

CARDIFF CITY FC


Wednesday 28th October 2020



Joe Ralls spoke of wearing the City shirt with pride as he previewed tonight's trip to Derby County.

Our last away match saw Rallsy secure his 100th victory in City colours, as the Bluebirds defeated Preston North End.

That puts him in the esteemed company of David Marshall, Kevin McNaughton, Aron Gunnarsson and Peter Whittingham – the four other Bluebirds to have reached the impressive milestone since the turn of the millennium.

Joe began by reflecting on how his decade in South Wales has seen him graduate into a senior figure in the City dressing room.




JOE RALLS:

"Before you know it, you go from a young player to one of the senior boys," he laughed.

"It's a really nice thing to be a part of because I played with all four of those players. They did amazing things for this Football Club, so I'm really proud to be a part of that group.

"It also shows that we've had a lot of wins here in my time and have been successful. Hopefully we can keep building on that this season as well."


Joe went on to set his sights on this evening's clash with the Rams.


Looking back, Pride Park has been the setting for some memorable moments for City's number eight, including a last-ditch penalty in a 4-3 win back in 2017, as he recalled: "I've had a couple of good games there and think I played left-back there a long time ago too!

"It's obviously a tough place to go, with or without fans really. Derby are normally a strong side at home but its one we're looking forward to.

"We're going into it with a lot of confidence as we've been playing really well on the road. Hopefully we can keep that going.

"We've done well, been hard to beat, but hopefully we can start picking up some more wins now. It's an exciting game."

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There’s a very real chance he could end up one of Cardiff’s record appearance holders. If he stays fit and avoids injury he will hit 300 appearances by the time he’s 30, our 10th highest appearances is Alan Harrington on 405 so if he has a good career and stays with us Ralls could surpass that by the time he’s 32. I think 9th and 8th are only on about 420-430 as well.

Players like Ralls, Morrison, Whitts, Gunnarson and Marshall who have played week in week out for years are great to have had in the team in recent years as it seems players are having shorter spells at clubs these days. There’s much more of a connection with the team when you have veteran players in the squad.

Here’s hoping tonight will be victory 1 of Ralls’ next 100

There’s a very real chance he could end up one of Cardiff’s record appearance holders. If he stays fit and avoids injury he will hit 300 appearances by the time he’s 30, our 10th highest appearances is Alan Harrington on 405 so if he has a good career and stays with us Ralls could surpass that by the time he’s 32. I think 9th and 8th are only on about 420-430 as well.

Players like Ralls, Morrison, Whitts, Gunnarson and Marshall who have played week in week out for years are great to have had in the team in recent years as it seems players are having shorter spells at clubs these days. There’s much more of a connection with the team when you have veteran players in the squad.

Here’s hoping tonight will be victory 1 of Ralls’ next 100

I rate Joe Ralls highly and never understand why so many on here criticise him.

There’s a very real chance he could end up one of Cardiff’s record appearance holders. If he stays fit and avoids injury he will hit 300 appearances by the time he’s 30, our 10th highest appearances is Alan Harrington on 405 so if he has a good career and stays with us Ralls could surpass that by the time he’s 32. I think 9th and 8th are only on about 420-430 as well.

Players like Ralls, Morrison, Whitts, Gunnarson and Marshall who have played week in week out for years are great to have had in the team in recent years as it seems players are having shorter spells at clubs these days. There’s much more of a connection with the team when you have veteran players in the squad.

Here’s hoping tonight will be victory 1 of Ralls’ next 100

I rate Joe Ralls highly and never understand why so many on here criticise him.

Playing devil's advocate I suppose you could argue he's a very unassuming player. He doesn't have all the flicks and spins that Tomlin can pull off, he doesn't score very often or score some stunners like Hoilett, Whitts, Glatzel. He doesn't usually end up with last ditch defending like Bamba or Morrison. He doesn't stop almost certain goals like Smithies or Etheridge and he doesn't have the crazy attitude of someone like Paterson.

But none of that is what he is meant to do. He controls the midfield well, he's good at getting the ball to the attack or helping get it from the defence. If our team was a flashy sports car, Ralls would be the engine. People may not notice much at first but he's damn important and without him the team/car would fail.
If he left it would be a real struggle to replace him with someone of a similar quality

There’s a very real chance he could end up one of Cardiff’s record appearance holders. If he stays fit and avoids injury he will hit 300 appearances by the time he’s 30, our 10th highest appearances is Alan Harrington on 405 so if he has a good career and stays with us Ralls could surpass that by the time he’s 32. I think 9th and 8th are only on about 420-430 as well.

Players like Ralls, Morrison, Whitts, Gunnarson and Marshall who have played week in week out for years are great to have had in the team in recent years as it seems players are having shorter spells at clubs these days. There’s much more of a connection with the team when you have veteran players in the squad.

Here’s hoping tonight will be victory 1 of Ralls’ next 100

I rate Joe Ralls highly and never understand why so many on here criticise him.

Playing devil's advocate I suppose you could argue he's a very unassuming player. He doesn't have all the flicks and spins that Tomlin can pull off, he doesn't score very often or score some stunners like Hoilett, Whitts, Glatzel. He doesn't usually end up with last ditch defending like Bamba or Morrison. He doesn't stop almost certain goals like Smithies or Etheridge and he doesn't have the crazy attitude of someone like Paterson.

But none of that is what he is meant to do. He controls the midfield well, he's good at getting the ball to the attack or helping get it from the defence. If our team was a flashy sports car, Ralls would be the engine. People may not notice much at first but he's damn important and without him the team/car would fail.
If he left it would be a real struggle to replace him with someone of a similar quality

Well said

Annis, Would you say he is Cardiff’s Jordan Henderson ?

Jordan Henderson isn’t a flair player but look at the impact he makes to their team when he plays ...stats from last season

Liverpool have a win percentage of 80% in all competitions when Henderson has been in the team this season. That drops to 61.5% when he’s not playing.

I wonder what the stats are when Ralls plays for City and doesn’t especially in Championship ?