I think we probably all take Joe Ralls for granted. He’s a solid seven out of 10 every week, in a side that lacks consistency. He’s ferocious, in his performance and his attitude, without being some sort of nutcase. It’s measured ferocity and you really miss it when it’s not there.
Ralls is also now comfortably Cardiff’s longest-serving player, despite only recently turning 26. He’s been with the club for the best part of a decade now and is the closest thing we have to one of our own, although I think we all consider him one of our own by now. He’s earned that.
Ralls’ season in the Premier League last year seemed to mirror his Cardiff career to some extent. He struggled to find his feet initially, but then adapted and eventually thrived. You wouldn’t expect anything else from him. If he didn’t cut it, you know it wouldn’t be for the lack of trying. He is the type of player that seems to take his craft deathly seriously and that seems to be all too rare in football.
So when it came to deciding who should be View From the Ninian’s Player of the Decade, there were plenty to consider, but we kept returning to Ralls. Peter Whittingham was wonderful, but you could argue that his best days were in the previous decade. Aron Gunnarsson and Bruno Ecuele Manga were also strong shouts, but Ralls pipped them and here’s why.
Football is all about narrative. Gunnarsson was already very highly regarded when he joined Cardiff as a free agent and a regular for the Icelandic national side. Manga cost £5m, which was a pretty penny for the club at the time, so he needed to justify such a sizeable sum.
He proved to be a class act and more than worth it, but it could easily have gone the other way and he nearly walked away as a free agent a few years ago too, which would have totally changed his and maybe the club’s narrative.
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Ralls was playing for Farnborough when he caught the eye of then academy manager Neil Ardley, who had to convince his staff that this was a player worth signing. He soon caught the eye of Malky Mackay, who threw him in at the deep end and Ralls, as he always does, rose to the challenge. It took a while for him to breakthrough, but when he finally did, he has remained a fixture, for successive managers. A Ralls Royce.
He’s getting better too. Ralls may be Cardiff’s most influential player and he’s young enough to remain so for quite some years yet. So Ralls may not be as naturally gifted as the likes of Whittingham, Gunnarson or Manga, but he’s undoubtedly one of the decade’s real success stories. Cardiff City made and Cardiff City through and through.
You wouldn’t bet against him winning this same accolade 10 years from now either.