Is Joel Bagan good enough to play for Cardiff City?
This is the sort of question that will illicit very definite answers, one way or the other, and there will be a lot that will feed into that opinion. He will be cut some slack in some quarters for being an academy graduate because people are desperate to see some of our own in the first team. Others will compare him unfavourably to Jamilu Collins, who is seven years Bagan’s senior and has been mythologised after 279 faultless minutes in a Cardiff shirt to date.
I personally think Bagan isn’t good enough, but I admit that is largely a gut instinct and I couldn’t be more keen to be proven wrong. I fear he may be a bit too timid to succeed in such a dynamic position, especially in the balls-to-the-wall Championship. The truth is that we can’t really be sure yet.
In terms of minutes played, in total, Bagan has played the equivalent of about 28 games, over the course of three seasons. That is no time at all, especially for a novice. Young players are learning on the job and mistakes are a biproduct. That is accepted wisdom, until it isn’t.
Adam Matthews, another talented, home-grown full back, was maturing nicely at Cardiff, until he came up against a prodigious, physical specimen called Connor Wickham, in his 17-year-old pomp. After being run ragged, Matthews was aired out by Dave Jones post-match. His Cardiff career never recovered and he soon departed for Celtic. Tom Sang also suffered the indignity of a rampant Wilfried Gnonto at Leeds recently and has hardly featured since.
There has never been any patience in football and its only getting worse. The reality is that a shiny new signing will often get more time and patience than a youngster because they were chosen and cost money. For a graduate to succeed, their impact and ability has to be undeniable. When Joe Ledley and Aaron Ramsey broke through, there was no going back.
I’m using Bagan as an example, but I could just as easily use Isaak Davies, Rubin Colwill or Ollie Denham. I use Bagan because his contract expires in a couple of months and a decision of some sort needs to be made. By both the club and the player because it should not be assumed that both are on the same page.
It was a surprise to hear Sabri Lamouchi talk so effusively about Bagan in his press conference this week because his actions have told a different story. “Joel is a good player,” Lamouchi stated, “but I’ve never used him. He trains with us and he adds some quality, but it’s so early for him. I like him. That’s why we asked months ago, weeks ago, to sign a contract with him because we think it’s early for him to play with the first team, but soon he will be part of the first XI. That’s why the club should offer him a contract for two or three years.”
With Cardiff in the midst of a mini left back crisis, the fact that Bagan has not even made the bench during this period is instructive. He’s nowhere near the team, yet he turns 22 in September. He’s had relatively little match experience, so remains wet behind the years, but he’s at a stage in his career development where he needs to be playing.
Were Bagan to agree new terms and stay, are his prospects any better next year, when Collins returns to fitness? He may represent an easy solution in terms of maintaining squad depth, but as long as Lamouchi remains, despite his glowing appraisal, the reality is that maybe Bagan would be better off leaving.
It makes me sad to say that, but the reality is that, in many respects, Cardiff is not a great breeding ground for young players. A team that is perpetually fighting for their Championship safety, with such high stakes every week, creates a ruthless environment, where experience is understandably favoured over promise.
Cardiff’s young players are also the greatest victims of the huge turnover of staff in recent years. During Bagan’s fledgling career, he’s played under five different managers, roughly a new one every six months. There have also been various changes in academy and development managers during that period.
At other clubs, 21 may not be viewed as too young and opportunities would not be limited, but at Cardiff, Mark Harris is still regarded as a youngster and he’s now 24. The irony is that when Cardiff have relied on their prospects, not only have they not let them down, they’ve thrived.
One of the many joys to be taken from the recent trip to Blackpool was to see Cardiff finish the game with Davies, Colwill and Harris all on the pitch together. It has been an all too rare occurrence, and in this particular instance largely down to injuries, but was a thrill all the same. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come, but with Harris also heading out of contract, it may prove to be a last hurrah of sorts.
The reality is that Bagan’s development has stalled at Cardiff in recent years and he might find greater playing time, and earning potential, elsewhere. I would love him to stay, but only if he has any chance of playing and I’m not sure that he does. I’m also not sure if he will prove to be good enough to play for Cardiff, but he may well have to leave in order to find out.