Cardiff City Squad Review (11/12): Joe Ralls

A brief look at the individual contributions of all the major Cardiff City players over the course of the 2011/12 season. The 'rating` as given is not purely based on performance but more the impact that player had compared to what we could realistically have expected at the start of the year and given their own standards and reputation.


52 - Joe Ralls

alls emerged as an emergency midfielder when we were desperately short of options but is known to many fans as a youngster with tremendous promise. He showed that and more when called upon in an away trip to Hull and though we lost the game - Ralls` spectacular striker will take a lot of beating as a memory for the Aldershot born prospect.

Ralls went on to make 5 starts and another 5 appearances from the bench but it was very noticeable that he failed to feature in the second half of the season and was very rarely named in the matchday 16. He did replace McPhail as a sub in the April game against Derby but that was his only outing in the last few months as he couldn`t get a look-in.

In the appearances to date, Ralls looks a classy player with excellent technique. He will need to improve on his strength and develop more as a player before being ready for central midfield but he will have gained hugely valuable experience this season and certainly didn`t look out of his depth. Macaky is a big believer in youth and we can expect to see more of Ralls over the coming seasons.

Season`s Rating: 6.5/10

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