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A decent enough player at this level and it's reasonable to extend his contract. I don't think he's ever going to set the scoreboard on fire but if he can chip in with a few more goals and help the team score more with his workrate, then he will continue to be useful.

Hard worker. Still raw but has plenty of potential due to his physical attributes. Hopefully he will come on for a run of games.

It’s great that the manager is looking to develop players and we aren’t seeing endless numbers of new players.

MJ obviously sees potential so that is good enough for me.

Quoted from Maringer

A decent enough player at this level and it's reasonable to extend his contract. I don't think he's ever going to set the scoreboard on fire but if he can chip in with a few more goals and help the team score more with his workrate, then he will continue to be useful.

We can leave that to DIY wiring by shhhh, you know who ;)

Posted my thoughts on this in the "Vernam" thread...

But what I'd also add is that it's a huge positive that we're extending contracts midway through the season rather than waiting for them to run out before trying to talk about re-signing them.

I would imagine that the next year will be make or break. If he develops further, we can offer him something longer, if he doesn't, then a 1 year deal won't break the bank. I think he has potential and a one year extension is about right.

Quoted from ginnywings

I would imagine that the next year will be make or break. If he develops further, we can offer him something longer, if he doesn't, then a 1 year deal won't break the bank. I think he has potential and a one year extension is about right.

Agree with this, also a massive boost to his confidence, hopefully he can kick on that little bit, certainly puts the effort in and with a bit of luck and a few goals he could be a big asset

Jolly sees something in him and there is a player in there somewhere. Depends if we can bring that potential out of him though. Jolly clearly has a plan to build a young,hungry side and develop them and that';s something a lot of people have been calling for after a few years of ageing journeymen so we'll see how much the development pays off. The work he puts in for the rest of the season and next season will likely make or break his career.

Don't want to end up as another player who started at a big club as a youngster who never reached his potential and then fell down the leagues into non league part time football. If he builds on his strengths and works on his weaknesses to get better at those areas of his game then I think he could be a top player for us and in the future play higher up the leagues.

Reading paid Hull £75000 for him.

Does put a lot of effort in and prepared to believe in why MJ seems in him
But needs to score a goal or two please
Else Vernam will be preferred ahead mostly
But pleased with the overall message it sends out
Come on Town, believe on Saturday

Good move by the club young and inexperienced player learning his trade and looking better month by month I think.

Quoted from 140067

Reading paid Hull £75000 for him.

Was told by someone who worked in youth acadamy set ups and scouts at that level that Cardwell was outstanding at his age during his mid teen years and was sought after by several clubs.
Doesn't always transfer to adulthood i know but then again players are also discarded quickly at 16 - 17.
Although Bignot could be condemned for alot of what he did, his stated long term vision was to target that discarded age group between youth and first team to give them time to bridge the gap. Jolley certainly appears to be supportive of a similar strategy....that is a coaches approach to the game as opposed to a managers approach i suppose and hopefully one, given time, will prove fruitful.

It's very easy to forget he has only just turned 22, some players only just starting to get involved in the professional game at that age, and he's played around 50 already...

Gives us a different type of striker to Thomas, but should definitely be playing central, rather than out wide

Quoted from moosey_club

Was told by someone who worked in youth acadamy set ups and scouts at that level that Cardwell was outstanding at his age during his mid teen years and was sought after by several clubs.

So Was Mad Gav :D

Quoted from moosey_club

Was told by someone who worked in youth acadamy set ups and scouts at that level that Cardwell was outstanding at his age during his mid teen years and was sought after by several clubs.
Doesn't always transfer to adulthood i know but then again players are also discarded quickly at 16 - 17.
Although Bignot could be condemned for alot of what he did, his stated long term vision was to target that discarded age group between youth and first team to give them time to bridge the gap. Jolley certainly appears to be supportive of a similar strategy....that is a coaches approach to the game as opposed to a managers approach i suppose and hopefully one, given time, will prove fruitful.

History is littered with young players who were the real deal in their early and mid-teens, only to find it much more difficult in the pro game.

He has got a decent touch for a big man, but I am a bit surprised he has been given a contract extension; Jolley must feel he can do a job for the squad at the moment though which is fair enough.

I love the fact we are looking to improve and bring on young pros but I'm not convinced with Cardwell, he's got no natural pace, which cannot be taught and he's fully grownn now, he cannot jump and to me should have had his first senior League goal in the bag before he was 22...
I so want to be proved wrong and have these words shoved sideways down my throat but time will tell...

Jolley must see more than I can in him. Yes he works his socks off but never really looks like a genuine goal threat. He must be cheap is the only other thing that might help. But what do I know?

I actually think he'd do alright in our current team up front.

Are people judging him and his lack of goals from when he's been playing right wing this season?

I think the only run of games he's had up top so far with us were at the end of last season, when despite our good form to keep us up, we were not a great side.

Compare our midfield last season to what we've got now, with Embleton, Vernam and Pringle supporting a front man, and I'd think Cardwell would do alright and get more chances. I only really remember him having a few proper goalscoring chances during his run up front last season but his movement is actually decent from what I've seen.

but he's never scored goals Tommy, which is my main concern. Even when he was younger and loaned out to Conference sides or played for the Scottish age group sides he never scored regularly

Quoted from forza ivano

but he's never scored goals Tommy, which is my main concern. Even when he was younger and loaned out to Conference sides or played for the Scottish age group sides he never scored regularly

This!!...afraid it does show he is not a natural born goal scorer...do think it's a risk giving him yet another 12 months to prove himself...

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

This!!...afraid it does show he is not a natural born goal scorer...do think it's a risk giving him yet another 12 months to prove himself...

A risk?! He's 22, he'll be on peanuts. He works hard for the squad and seems to have a good attitude. I have my doubts over whether he'll ever be a regular goalscorer but he has plenty of attributes that are favourable and Jolley obviously thinks he can work with him.

Forza/Northbank, you may be right, he may never be a natural born goalscorer (are many players?), but do you always need every striker to be a natural born goalscorer?

Livvo, Rees, G.Jones, Woodsy etc etc all top strikers for us that weren't prolific goalscorers. As much as it's the headline that everyone looks at first, number of goals isn't the only thing that being a striker is all about. Not for every striker anyway.

You don't have to be a regular goalscorer as a forward player, if you contribute to the team in other ways.

Remember Emile Heskey? He didn't have a bad career, considering he had a bad goal scoring record. Or closer to home, Steve Livingstone's goal scoring record was terrible, but he was a bloody good player for us.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

This!!...afraid it does show he is not a natural born goal scorer...do think it's a risk giving him yet another 12 months to prove himself...

Podge wasn't prolific at 26-27 prior to joining us, he was also played on the wing where he failed to score loads. I can't see why at 22 Cardwell can't develop to become a regular scorer.

I'll put this point out there ..

Describe to me the definition of "a striker," either I am missing the point or I've forgotten 40 years of football knowledge over night...

He may not ever be a great goal scorer or a scorer of great goals a la Alan Connell but surely at 22 he should have had more than 1 senior goal and the odd assist by now...
No one said he doesn't bring something to the squad, he's a big unit, he could and should be bullying defenders but that makes him what, a good forward rather than a good striker??...

Call me pedantic but all I'm getting at is that so far he hasn't shown to me that as a lone striker playing up top as some think he should be as another option to Thomas that he has the ability to score the goals that role requires..

But as I've said, he hope he proves me wrong....really nice lad and I want him to make it, I just, at the moment, cannot see it..

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

I'll put this point out there ..

Describe to me the definition of "a striker," either I am missing the point or I've forgotten 40 years of football knowledge over night...

He may not ever be a great goal scorer or a scorer of great goals a la Alan Connell but surely at 22 he should have had more than 1 senior goal and the odd assist by now...
No one said he doesn't bring something to the squad, he's a big unit, he could and should be bullying defenders but that makes him what, a good forward rather than a good striker??...

Call me pedantic but all I'm getting at is that so far he hasn't shown to me that as a lone striker playing up top as some think he should be as another option to Thomas that he has the ability to score the goals that role requires..

But as I've said, he hope he proves me wrong....really nice lad and I want him to make it, I just, at the moment, cannot see it..

...and there's me thinking you were called Northbank Mariner 111

He's a forward player, sure, but maybe he isn't a 'striker'.

Could Cardwell be a good example of how the elite academy system doesn’t work? Young player with obvious potential gets poached for £75k into a big academy and disappears, has the belief sucked out of him and ends up aged 21 having to rebuild his career at a club like Town . It seems to me like his career is kickstarting 2-3 years later than it should’ve done and will probably take a year or 2 to get firing on all cylinders again. He’s def got something about him and I’m confident he’ll be an asset and do well for Gtfc

I can't see what the argument is really. Jolley has shown (mostly) sound judgement so far and he thinks he's worth another year to develop. He either will or he won't develop into a more regular goalscorer, but surely he's worth another year to find out. As others have said, it's not all about scoring goals, and even at 22, he's still not had too much game time yet, and i doubt he is even fully match fit after his injury. He has a lot of good attributes and you never know, he may suddenly click in front of goal, once he gets the chance up top, instead of filling in out wide as he is now.

i hope you're right Ginny, although jolley obviously got it badly wrong with robles so he's not foolproof.
my impression is he's like a reverse image of hooper (hooper = minimal effort but has always scored goals, cardwell = loads of effort but has never scored goals) and i just think they'll both end up at the same level in a couple of years

I think his efforts at the tail end of last season contributed a good deal to us staying up. No goals, obviously, but perhaps helping to create the space for the chances and goals we did manage to get?

I wonder how many of the Cardwell doubters were among those who throught that LJL was poor as well?

Quoted from Maringer

I think his efforts at the tail end of last season contributed a good deal to us staying up. No goals, obviously, but perhaps helping to create the space for the chances and goals we did manage to get?

I wonder how many of the Cardwell doubters were among those who throught that LJL was poor as well?

not me - hugely appreciated what the shop achieved. ps as to his efforts at the back end - we scored 9 in 9 games of which 4 were penalties! mind you he did con the ref at swindon for our winner, so i will give you that as a significant contribution :)

Quoted from ginnywings

I can't see what the argument is really. Jolley has shown (mostly) sound judgement so far and he thinks he's worth another year to develop. He either will or he won't develop into a more regular goalscorer, but surely he's worth another year to find out. As others have said, it's not all about scoring goals, and even at 22, he's still not had too much game time yet, and i doubt he is even fully match fit after his injury. He has a lot of good attributes and you never know, he may suddenly click in front of goal, once he gets the chance up top, instead of filling in out wide as he is now.

In a good side you need the water carriers as well as the star turns. Jolley has signed him because he knows what he can (and cannot) do and he will do a job in a number of roles when injuries and suspensions hit the team. In the meantime, as you say, Cardwell is only young and he may just get that extra gear he needs and turn into a matchwinner. Worth a punt for not much risk in my opinion.

Just to take up Maringer's point on LJL, Cardwell is nothing like the same sort of player. The only thing they have in common is a lack of goals. If Cardwell took penalties he might have scored as many times as LJL.

Quoted from forza ivano

i hope you're right Ginny, although jolley obviously got it badly wrong with robles so he's not foolproof.
my impression is he's like a reverse image of hooper (hooper = minimal effort but has always scored goals, cardwell = loads of effort but has never scored goals) and i just think they'll both end up at the same level in a couple of years

Robles was a different situation though, this was a player he hadnt seen much of at the time of signing him but probably had low wages and saw something that made him think it was worth a gamble or something different

With cardwell he’s known him alot longer, plays him and he’s been in the starting 11 recently and theyre seeing enough improvement to give him another deal. Cliftons developing amazingly well and cardwell probably could too if he keeps his starting place