Robbie Cundy

[GrahamC]

I know there is understandably a lot of doom & gloom around at present but just wondered what other posters thought about this chap?

He’s 23, so no kid now & has had what has been by far the best 2 loan spells away from the club this season, starting off at Cambridge who were top of League Two when we recalled him to send him to Gillingham.

He’s been an automatic choice there at CB, playing in wins at Lincoln, Charlton & in midweek, at Peterborough.

Described by Tinnion as an Aden Flint type surely he is worth having in our first team squad next season?

[phantom]

Massive step up from the levels that he has been playing, I guess there is no harm in having him around in pre-season to look at

[mozo]

Yeah I reckon he'll be with 'the group' in pre-season to show his worth. 

It'll be interesting to see how Taylor Moore' future pans out by comparison. They're similar ages but with very different attributes and different paths.

[Red_Alligator]

1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

I know there is understandably a lot of doom & gloom around at present but just wondered what other posters thought about this chap?

He’s 23, so no kid now & has had what has been by far the best 2 loan spells away from the club this season, starting off at Cambridge who were top of League Two when we recalled him to send him to Gillingham.

He’s been an automatic choice there at CB, playing in wins at Lincoln, Charlton & in midweek, at Peterborough.

Described by Tinnion as an Aden Flint type surely he is worth having in our first team squad next season?

I'm not sure about doom and gloom Graham - but certainly no small measure of anxiety and uncertainty! 

From your description of this lad, it sounds like a good idea to give him a go in the first team squad. 

[LondonBristolian]

Bottom line is we could do with a dominant centre-back and I think both Vyner and Kalas would benefit from playing next  to that type of player.

I've not seen him play but, as the OP says, he so far seems to have stepped up to the challenge at each level he has been placed in. 

I see no reason at all why he should not have a chance in pre-season to try prove he is ready for this level. Then it'd be down to him whether he takes it. 

[Numero Uno]

7 minutes ago, phantom said:

Massive step up from the levels that he has been playing, I guess there is no harm in having him around in pre-season to look at

I wouldn't be confident right now if we had to go away and get a result at Gillingham...................

[GrahamC]

10 minutes ago, phantom said:

Massive step up from the levels that he has been playing, I guess there is no harm in having him around in pre-season to look at

I’d have agreed with you if he’d stayed at Cambridge, but Gillingham are 9th in League One, 4 points from a playoff spot.

As someone else has pointed out I wouldn’t exactly rate our chances if we played them at present & he has had a season where he has played in 2 winning sides.

It could be a coincidence but if he is the type that Tinnion suggests, it probably isn’t.

[JoeAman08]

5 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

Bottom line is we could do with a dominant centre-back and I think both Vyner and Kalas would benefit from playing next  to that type of player.

I've not seen him play but, as the OP says, he so far seems to have stepped up to the challenge at each level he has been placed in. 

I see no reason at all why he should not have a chance in pre-season to try prove he is ready for this level. Then it'd be down to him whether he takes it. 

Agree about having a dominant type next to Kalas or Vyner. Cundy fits the profile and has shown a good attitude to move up the leagues as quick as he has. He should be given a chance anyway. Still I would recruit a more polished CB for the next few years though. Not bad for Cundy as Vyner has positional versatility so Cundy should still be able to find minutes. 

[Numero Uno]

1 minute ago, JoeAman08 said:

Agree about having a dominant type next to Kalas or Vyner. Cundy fits the profile and has shown a good attitude to move up the leagues as quick as he has. He should be given a chance anyway. Still I would recruit a more polished CB for the next few years though. Not bad for Cundy as Vyner has positional versatility so Cundy should still be able to find minutes. 

The fact that this lad had to step down and play for Bath City after getting bombed out of professional football and then puts the work in to get back into the fold is a surefire indicator that attitude is one thing he has in spades.

[Loco Rojo]

18 minutes ago, phantom said:

Massive step up from the levels that he has been playing, I guess there is no harm in having him around in pre-season to look at

Could say the same about a lot of the U23s we've played this season.  I agree - no harm in giving him a chance. Could turn in to something positive from this seasons mess right?

[BCFCGav]

He was a non league find wasn’t he?

[LondonBristolian]

11 minutes ago, JoeAman08 said:

Agree about having a dominant type next to Kalas or Vyner. Cundy fits the profile and has shown a good attitude to move up the leagues as quick as he has. He should be given a chance anyway. Still I would recruit a more polished CB for the next few years though. Not bad for Cundy as Vyner has positional versatility so Cundy should still be able to find minutes. 

I'd agree with that. Mariappa and Baker are out of contract so I think we need two more centre-backs to come into the squad. Cundy might or might not be one of those, and it would be great if he was, but I certainly agree we would still need another centre-back to come in.

[E.G.Red]

18 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

I’d have agreed with you if he’d stayed at Cambridge, but Gillingham are 9th in League One, 4 points from a playoff spot.

As someone else has pointed out I wouldn’t exactly rate our chances if we played them at present & he has had a season where he has played in 2 winning sides.

It could be a coincidence but if he is the type that Tinnion suggests, it probably isn’t.

Agree  with this. Glowing tribute from Steve Evans  as to the effect he has on the team having missed 3 games with a knee injury

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/sport/gillingham-boss-keen-to-see-bristol-city-loan-man-return-245201/

 

[The Coach]

At 23, should really be pushing now.

I understand some players have a spurt in their later careers. But we can’t keep waiting for every player at 24-25 to see if they’re Championship quality. 
 

You’re either around the first team at 22-23 or you’re simple not good enough. We need to be more cutthroat. Still waiting for people to say “COD is still a young player.” 

[E.G.Red]

1 minute ago, Redpool said:

At 23, should really be pushing now.

I understand some players have a spurt in their later careers. But we can’t keep waiting for every player at 24-25 to see if they’re Championship quality. 
 

You’re either around the first team at 22-23 or you’re simple not good enough. We need to be more cutthroat. Still waiting for people to say “COD is still a young player.” 

But have we given him a chance. Also whilst there might not be too many examples you only have to look at Ian Wright and Jamie Vardy to see you can make it at 23+

[Harry]

Bath loved him. 
Cambridge fans loved him. 
Gillingham fans are loving him. 
 

Clearly on an upward trajectory. 
On my recent ‘recruitment’ thread, I mentioned Jack Tucker, who’s been Cundy’s CB partner at Gills, as someone we should be looking at. I suppose I totally disregarded the fact that if Cundy wasn’t already one of ours, he’d likely have been someone to consider for the ‘long list’ on that recruitment thread too. 
 

I still think we need to bring in 2 new CB’s to go with Kalas & Vyner and then good to have Cundy as the 5th option, and see if he can force his way up that depth chart. 

[awbb]

1 minute ago, Redpool said:

At 23, should really be pushing now.

I understand some players have a spurt in their later careers. But we can’t keep waiting for every player at 24-25 to see if they’re Championship quality. 
 

You’re either around the first team at 22-23 or you’re simple not good enough. We need to be more cutthroat. Still waiting for people to say “COD is still a young player.” 

In Robbie's case, I disagree. He got released from Oxford United when he was 19 and spent a couple of years playing in non-league. We got him from Bath 2 years ago when he was 21. It's not like he's been on a pro deal at City since he was 17 or something.

Not only that, he's a doddle to loan out (Tin's has clearly had a load of clubs knocking on his door). Gillingham might not be paying us a loan fee, but they will almost certainly be covering his wages. There is a chance that for a piddling investment on our part that we have a Championship calibre ball winning centre back ready to go next season (I NEED optimism, right now).

I would say, in City's defence we have been pretty aggressive with our youth players being released this season. Some of them were highly rated, Harper and Edwards, especially.

[Bristol Rob]

I think Taylor Moore has probably had sufficient chances to impress and whilst I'm sure he'll go on to have a good career, I'm not convinced he is of a quality that would see him slot in to a Championship back 4 on a regular basis.

That said, wasn't his preferred position midfield?

As for Cundy, I'd not be too hung up on his age, wasn't Bobby Reid about 25 when he found his position and form?

Can't imagine these kids are being paid a great deal of money at the moment, and surely it's better for them (and us) that they learn their craft playing for someone else, rather than being 'given a chance' as some like to put it, and then their development comes under really close scrutiny with 1000s of home fans watching them, when they could benefit from making these mistakes for someone else, safe in the knowledge they will only be playing for that team for a matter of months. 

[phantom]

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

I’d have agreed with you if he’d stayed at Cambridge, but Gillingham are 9th in League One, 4 points from a playoff spot.

As someone else has pointed out I wouldn’t exactly rate our chances if we played them at present & he has had a season where he has played in 2 winning sides.

It could be a coincidence but if he is the type that Tinnion suggests, it probably isn’t.

True, but we know how big the step up is from league 1 to Championship. Even a top 10 L1 side is a long way from our level

Ideally we need players that will improve us, will he be that player, there is only one way to find out

[LondonBristolian]

1 hour ago, Bristol Rob said:

I think Taylor Moore has probably had sufficient chances to impress and whilst I'm sure he'll go on to have a good career, I'm not convinced he is of a quality that would see him slot in to a Championship back 4 on a regular basis.

That said, wasn't his preferred position midfield?

As for Cundy, I'd not be too hung up on his age, wasn't Bobby Reid about 25 when he found his position and form?

Can't imagine these kids are being paid a great deal of money at the moment, and surely it's better for them (and us) that they learn their craft playing for someone else, rather than being 'given a chance' as some like to put it, and then their development comes under really close scrutiny with 1000s of home fans watching them, when they could benefit from making these mistakes for someone else, safe in the knowledge they will only be playing for that team for a matter of months. 

Taylor Moore is a frustrating one. I honestly think that, if he learned how to concentrate for 90 minutes week-in week-out and avoid casual mistakes, he's got all the attributes needed to be a Premier League centre-back. However, unless he learns how to concentrate for 90 minutes week-in week-out and avoid casual mistakes, he's too much of liability to ever make it into the Championship.

I really hope it clicks for him but fear, if it does, it will be elsewhere. Shame as I struggle to think of a player I've wanted to succeed more. 

[Roger Red Hat]

5 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

Taylor Moore is a frustrating one. I honestly think that, if he learned how to concentrate for 90 minutes week-in week-out and avoid casual mistakes, he's got all the attributes needed to be a Premier League centre-back. However, unless he learns how to concentrate for 90 minutes week-in week-out and avoid casual mistakes, he's too much of liability to ever make it into the Championship.

I really hope it clicks for him but fear, if it does, it will be elsewhere. Shame as I struggle to think of a player I've wanted to succeed more. 

So its learning how to concentrate for 90 minutes week in week out and avoiding casual mistakes then...............

[Davefevs]

37 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

Yeah Tinnion recommended him apparently from seeing him play for Bath. Didn't seem to do all that well for Torquay after that. But seems to have improved a lot to now being a very consistent league one centre back for Gillingham.

I think Cundy back would mean we only need one other centre back in the summer. Well, ideally that would be the case.

He went to Exeter first, probably to benefit from playing alongside experienced new signing Gary Warren (@Harry and @redcherryberry) but he got injured and Cundy didn’t really get a look-in.

Did well to start with at Torquay.

Who're you CBS? Kalas, Vyner, Moore, Cundy plus 1 signing?

[David Brent]

If he wasn’t already our player then people would be suggesting him as a potential transfer. I’d like to see him in our first team squad. 

[Taz]

Seems to have "fast tracked" himself through the divisions fairly quickly whilst on loan. All reviews have been positive, both from clubs/managers and supporters.

Think a pre-season with a higher calibre of players (not the wasters we have at the moment) will do him the world of good. If he's not quite ready but still has the potential to get there, higher placed League 1 side on loan until January, then see how he does from there. 

If however after pre season it looks like he has reached his ceiling but doesn't look good enough, then we should get a decent fee for him from a League 1 club.

He does sound promising, and as we know Flint didn't get into the game until quite late, so if he is anything like him, then we have a decent defender on our hands.

As mentioned above, has dropped down the leagues to build himself back up, so has the sort of attitude where he will run through a brick wall to get as high up the league standings as possible. Something a lot of our squad have had little or none of recently.

[Davefevs]

23 minutes ago, JonDolman said:

Yep didn't work out at Exeter. And then surprisingly didn't seem to go all that well at Torquay according to fans. Some said he was okay but didn't seem like he was really impressing. Must have improved a lot since then.

Yes I'd have those 4 if Cundy is good enough, and add one more. I think 5 centre backs is about right, as only having 4 means we are only 2 injuries away from thinking of bringing in a Mariappa or Williams on a free.

Sometimes playing with better players helps.

I played my highest standard of football aged 25-27.  The step-up in terms of leagues was vast, but wasn’t too bad an adjustment because I had good players, good talkers around me, plus it was drilled into me to concentrate on doing the basics well.  That’s all they wanted from me as a CH....win you aerials, keep your man goal side, if the ball ends up at your feet, give it to someone that can play.  We got promoted first season, the next level was a shock for first few games, but then settled into it, left for a club at that same level.  Then I suffered injury after injury.

[Red Army 75]

Get him back and involved for next season. Fed up watching these cretins bumping into each other . 

[Bristol Rob]

42 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

He went to Exeter first, probably to benefit from playing alongside experienced new signing Gary Warren (@Harry and @redcherryberry) but he got injured and Cundy didn’t really get a look-in.

Did well to start with at Torquay.

Who're you CBS? Kalas, Vyner, Moore, Cundy plus 1 signing?

I'm more interested in when @Harry played in defence for Exeter.

He kept that quiet! 

[Davefevs]

Just now, Bristol Rob said:

I'm more interested in when @Harry played in defence for Exeter.

He kept that quiet! 

Exeter Utd....Suburban League

[Mr Popodopolous]

Out of contract, year option isn't it?

23, still has time on his side- year option would at least ensure us a fee if we thought not quite good enough for this level. I remember he was doing quite well at Cambridge for a time, not really followed him at Gillingham.

[Davefevs]

33 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Out of contract, year option isn't it?

23, still has time on his side- year option would at least ensure us a fee if we thought not quite good enough for this level. I remember he was doing quite well at Cambridge for a time, not really followed him at Gillingham.

Option already exercised.