WHEN WILL CARDIFF FIND A NEW RAMBO?

IN-DEPTH LOOK AT BLUEBIRDS’ NEXT GENERATION:

I don’t feel the Under-23s has solved the problem it was brought in for,” surmised Neil Warnock less than two months into his Cardiff City reign, writes Dominic Booth.

Not content with giving the Bluebirds’ first team a much-needed shot in the arm after his October 2016 appointment, the veteran manager had his sights set on a complete overhaul of the youth set-up.

Four days later, Under-23s manager Kevin Nicholson left the club. First team coaches Kevin Blackwell, Ronnie Jepson and James Rowberry were handed a more prominent role in youth development.

A week or so after that, Craig Bellamy rejoined the club as player development manager and Jarred Harvey took over the Under-23s setup, joined in July 2017 by former Cardiff defender Andy Legg.

In the time since December 2016, 16 players under the age of 24 have left Cardiff City, either by having their contracts terminated or by mutual consent.

So, two years on, how much has actually changed?

The exodus

NICHOLSON cited that his departure was due to an “internal restructuring exercise”.

THE former Derby and Exeter coach wasn’t the only one to leave during that turbulent time for the club’s youth structure.

Semi Ajayi, Jamie Bird, Luke O’Reilly, Deji Oshilaja, Robbie Patten, Theo Wharton, Declan John, Oliver Byrne, Macauley Southam, Ashley Baker, Tom James, Tommy O’Sullivan, Eli Phipps, David Tutonda, Rollin Menayese and Jordan Blaise – that’s the giant list of former Cardiff City Under-23 players to have departed in the past two years.

“I don’t think players get anything out of their games,” said Warnock, who wanted to reduce the average age of the Under-23s side.

He felt there were too many players aged 21, 22 or 23 taking up spots in the system when they were never going to make his first XI.

“We used to have the reserve leagues and play the pros who weren’t in the first team with the young lads and you used to have competitive games. But it’s almost like a five-a-side now - and unfortunately for these young lads they’ve been failed by the system,” said Warnock.

“It’s not a new thing from my point of view, I’ve written to the League Manager’s Association and voiced my concerns to the PFA regarding it.

“I don’t see the logic of it, and all the coaching that’s involved, if we’re not getting the players through.

“I don’t think it’s helping us and I don’t think it’s giving the younger players, the 18-year-olds, the right opportunities either.

“The lads in the 18s have to come up now, they have to have opportunities. Having so many Under-23s that aren’t going to get in the first-team, I felt it needed restructuring, for the long-term future.”

The next Ramsey

THE reason for the overhaul was simply that Warnock (and Bellamy) shared the frustrations of many Cardiff fans, who haven’t seen a homegrown player graduate through the ranks into the first team since the side of Aaron Ramsey, Joe Ledley and Chris Gunter.

You might include Adam Matthews and Declan John in that bracket, but neither made a significant mark on the first team.

And it seems Wales boss Ryan Giggs isn’t entirely comfortable with Cardiff’s production line either.

“(Graham Potter) is doing a great job... Swansea are getting their heart and soul back because I think it’s important to have local players,” said the Wales boss last month.

“We just need Cardiff to start doing that now!”

Joe Ralls and Kadeem Harris came through the Cardiff Under-23s, but were signed from Farnborough and Wycombe respectively when they were still developing.

Rhys Healey, another who was not originally produced by Cardiff’s academy but developed by them, has been the biggest recent hope but he has just turned 24 and would appear to have found his level in League One or League Two.

The next stage of the Warnock and Bellamy overhaul was to promote Under-18s such as midfielder James Waite, forward Mark Harris and right-back Cameron Coxe into the Under-23s side.

Warnock has picked Waite to travel with the first-team squad in recent weeks and he played in pre-season at Rotherham, but he’s not yet been included in the matchday 18.

Coxe is a player many still have high hopes for at Cardiff. Still just 19, he made his first team debut in last season’s League Cup defeat to Burton but hasn’t featured since and may benefit from a loan move.

Harris broke into the first-team picture at the end of the 2016/17 season when a mid-table Cardiff had little to play for, but his progress stalled.

The Welshman joined Newport County on loan in the summer but hasn’t started a league game for the Exiles since their 6-0 defeat by Yeovil in mid-September.

The reality

CARDIFF City’s Under-23s compete in the Professional Development League, which replaced the Under-21 Professional Development League 2 from 2016/17, bringing together 21 Under-23 sides from ‘Category Two’ academies.

The teams are split into two regional divisions with a national play-off deciding who is named overall champions.

The competition is one academy tier below Premier League Two where the 24 ‘Category One’ academy clubs play – including Swansea City’s successful Under-23 side – and there is no promotion or relegation.

Becoming a ‘Category One’ academy is the only way Cardiff’s youngsters could rub shoulders with Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool et al.

Not that their form has been anything to write home about – perhaps an expected by-product of the club’s long-term approach.

The Bluebirds youngsters have been competing in the south division of PDL for the past two and a half seasons, finishing third in 2016/17 and ninth in 2017/18. They currently sit seventh with just six wins since February.

“With Under-23s, you don’t get consistency in terms of being able to play the same team every week,” said boss Jarred Harvey.

“It’s not really about winning every week either, it’s about ensure boys have the opportunity to go out and play and perform at a level – and put them in the shop window as well.

“The difficulty is making sure they perform to a standard every week, but it’s about getting them playing in different ways, different environments: training grounds, stadiums.

“We’d like to think they can knock on the door of the first team. For these players, they’re having to adapt to what’s around them.”

The vision is clear. Long-term goals instead of short-term results. But what’s the next step?

The future

WHILE Warnock’s passing remarks this season have suggested he’d love to have first-team-ready players to poach from the Under-23s – as many big Premier League sides do – he is still looking to the long term.

“The Under-23s are very important,” he said in his two-year anniversary interview.

“The top clubs always have two or three to call on, on top of their 25. But I think we only have about 19 players to pick from.”

The real hope is that Cardiff’s successful Under-18s side, currently under the stewardship of Bellamy, produces first-team players for the future.

They have won 14 games from 20 since March and boast exciting stars Isaak Davies, Sion Spence and Ben Margetson.

They have also seen the likes of Waite, Coxe and Jack Bodenham push through to the 23s.

Striker Davies, 17, has been attracting rave reviews – named in The Guardian’s ‘Next Generation 2018’ which reveals the best prospect from each Premier League club – and Warnock is understood to be impressed.

The Aberdare-born striker is so driven he even phones his coaches to ask for extra sessions.

With Bellamy his current mentor, it augurs well for the coming years .