Why Ralls’ role is now so pivotal as Bluebirds look for better form
IN many ways, the fixture between Cardiff City and Fulham was the perfect way to gauge just how far Joe Ralls has come.
Last season, with the Bluebirds fighting it out in the Premier League, the midfielder at times played understudy to the likes of Harry Arter, Victor Camarasa and Aron Gunnarsson. Now, he’s the first name on the Bluebirds team sheet.
On Friday, Ralls pitted his wits against former team-mate Arter and, it’s fair to say, won the battle convincingly.
Arter was sent off after two bookable offences – the first for poleaxing Ralls and the second for simulation – while Cardiff’s midfield maestro picked up the man of the match gong.
Camarasa, meanwhile, cannot buy a game at his new club Crystal Palace and Bluebirds legend Gunnarsson, though still just 30, is starting a new journey in the relatively unknown realms of the Qatar Stars League.
But Ralls is undoubtedly in the ascendancy. Before the season, City knew that if this campaign was to be a success, their 25-yearold midfielder would need to have a big year.
After six games, that box can certainly be ticked so far. Of course, Ralls was a mainstay the year the Bluebirds were last promoted to the Premier League.
Then, just 23, he chipped in with seven goals and five assists and could be forgiven for thinking he would have a starring role to play in the top flight.
It didn’t quite work out like that, but, testament to him and yet more evidence of his love for the Welsh capital club, he yearned for that responsibility once again. And, again, he is flourishing.
Despite occupying a relatively defensive central midfield role this year, Ralls is the club’s top scorer this season, albeit with only two goals, and has often been the creator-in-chief alongside Lee Tomlin.
His work rate in defence is also an often overlooked asset, especially given the absence of Marlon Pack, and his relationship with Leandro Bacuna is just threatening to blossom.
Ralls is now the heartbeat of this Bluebirds side, a presence Cardiff simply cannot do without.
If Neil Warnock ahead of the season was seriously planning on building the team around Bobby Reid, that must now be shifted on to Ralls.
Make no bones about it, Warnock is thin on the ground when it comes to midfield options, which makes it all the more important the midfielders perform.
The industry of Ralls, the brawn of Bacuna and the guile of Tomlin, if all on song, could prove the perfect blend in the middle of the park, with Pack and Callum Paterson also pushing for places when they return to full fitness.
Football statistics website Transfermarkt values Ralls at £5million, the highest market value of his career to date, but you can bet Cardiff ’s top brass would demand a considerably higher figure should cash-rich Premier League clubs come calling – that is if they would even countenance a deal for him at all.
But just how do you put a price tag on someone who offers as much as Ralls does to a club like Cardiff City?
He was brought into the Bluebirds academy in July 2011, aged just 17, for a nominal fee – he came from Farnborough along with Jordan Carter – after Fulham had also shown a real interest, indeed he had actually agreed to play in a trial match for the Cottagers.
But now, a little over eight years later, he is showing Fulham exactly what they missed out on and Cardiff fans just why he has all the makings of a bona fide club icon.