One thing Cardiff City are hoping to get right this term is their loans and transfers for players in the academy.
Many at Cardiff believe the best chance of their young players getting into that first team is by sending them out and getting valuable experience in a senior environment on loan. The majority of fans also subscribe to that school of thought.
While many believe all of the under-21s should be getting loans in Leagues One and Two, it's of course not as simple as that, with lots of Championship and Premier League clubs offering up their best youngsters to teams in those divisions.
It means Cardiff will have to get creative again this summer, opting for players' first loans to be in non-League or in the Cymru Premier, while players heading out on their second or third loans will be more attractive to teams in the EFL. That's the thought process, anyway.
And what about incomings? Well, under-21s boss Darren Purse thinks they will need a decent handful of players in before their campaign gets under way again.
"We've released six players, which I would say is quite a lot, but a lot of them are second-year or third-year pros going into it," Purse said.
"We have got a really good crop of second-year scholars this year who will be pushing to play. So it will be quite a busy summer, probably similar to last summer for me, trying to bring in players with (head of recruitment) Kevin Beadell, trying to get as good a quality of players as we can.
"I think you need to involve a little bit as an under-21s, same as the first-team squad, if you have an average squad and recruit average players then you remain an average squad. Sometimes you need to up the bar a little bit.
"I think we did that a bit last summer when we brought in Xav (Xavier Benjamin), Raheem Conte, Cameron Antwi, Seb Kristansen, when you bring players like that, you up the quality a bit.
"We need to do that again this summer and up the attitude and desire to work within the group."
So, what about plans for individual players? We picked out a few of the players in the under-21s and asked Purse what the plan for each might be moving forward to next season. This is what he said...
Cameron Antwi
One of the standout players all season with the under-21s, having come in from Blackpool last summer.
He began the season as a deep-lying midfielder before advancing further up the pitch as the season went on, chipping in with goals and assists and really catching the eye.
At 21, Cardiff would ideally be wanting Antwi to be pushing for the first team or to go out and enjoy a good loan somewhere. But, unfortunately, just before the season ended he suffered a nasty injury.
"Cam filled a gap for us. We didn't have anyone in that deep-lying No.4 or No.6 position. A third-year pro who got released by Blackpool," Purse said of Antwi.
"He came in and he has done really well. He is one of the senior members of the group and tries to bring some of the professionalism he's got. He is a very professional young man.
"In January, the plan was to get him out on loan but it had to be the right loan. Nothing really that we felt was right for him came up, so we decided to keep him in the building.
"He had an option at the end of this year which we have taken up. But, obviously, the injury he has sustained has knocked him back six months, because pre-season we were looking to send him out on loan. I think he would have got a really good one, but the injury has set him back and the plan of action for him is to go out on loan in the second half of the season once he is back fit and see where he is.
"If he does well, he earns himself another contract with us. If he doesn't, then the brutal reality of football is that you don't get your contract renewed. You need to produce performances week in, week out. But he has been excellent since coming in.
"The Barnsley game at home, he went up for a header, got knocked unconscious and because his body was limp he landed on both knees. One is OK, the other one doesn't need surgery, but he'll be out for a few months. It's gutting for him, because he can't do anything about it, it's just a random accident and bad luck.
"But it's disappointing for him because he was playing well. At the start of the season he was playing in a deeper position, as a No.4, did that well, but then when we put him higher up, as a No.8, he started bringing goals into his game. So I'm a little bit gutted for him.
"But I'm sure he will come back fitter and stronger and ready to go and prove himself."
Tom Davies
Tom Davies was given his first-team debut by Mick McCarthy, but hasn't been seen in that first-team environment too much since.
The 19-year-old Wales youth international has been a regular fixture for the under-21s, though, and has a lovely left foot. Cardiff sought to loan him out back in January, utilising the Cymru Premier as he joined Pontypridd United.
He shone, truth be told, and Purse believes he was streets above anyone else on the pitch. But in explaining the decision to send him to the Cymru Premier, Purse revealed that it now means the youngster will be looking for a loan higher in the pyramid this time around.
"The next step for him is to probably go out on loan again next year," the under-21s boss said of left-back Davies.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but we need to use the Welsh Prem as a stepping stone. Teams like National League clubs, maybe National League North and South clubs, or even League Two clubs, look at a first loan and they don't like taking someone on a first loan because they are not proven.
"What we have done with Tom Davies at Ponty, letting him play as many games as he did at Ponty, I watched probably half a dozen of them and he was probably the best player on the pitch in every one of them. Which he should be.
"Now he has done that, can we go and get him a really good loan for next year? Where he can start pre-season or halfway through pre-season, go into a club and pit his wits at a better level. Clubs will be more open to taking him on loan because he has now had that first experience of playing men's football and has done really well.
"We tried that with Jai Semenyo, but that never came to fruition and he had a stagnant six months in the second half of the season, because him and his agent weren't open to going to play Welsh Premier League football. Now, he is at a position where we will look to try and get him out on loan next season.
"But Tom is one we look at and he is someone who has a future and a pathway at the football club."
James Crole
One of the more exciting players coming through at Cardiff, striker James Crole has had a prolific couple of campaigns in front of goal.
The club felt it was the right time for him to be sent out on loan in January and joined up with Kieron Evans at Torquay United. However, injury forced him to return to Cardiff just days later, which is no doubt a huge frustration to the club but particularly the player.
There is no doubt Crole, 19, is thought of incredibly highly by academy staff and next season will represent a real opportunity for him to go out on loan and bag some goals in senior football with a view to coming back and getting on Erol Bulut's radar.
"Croley has had a really tough season. He has struggled with injuries," Purse said of the forward. "It's about trying to get him back pre-season and trying to get him as fit as we can so he can hit the ground running.
"If you look at his pre-season last season with the first team, he did well. Whether that is going to be the plan with him this season or not we will have to see.
"He has undoubted ability as a young footballer. I don't see there is anyone who can run as quickly as him, the change of pace that he has got and his finishing ability is exceptional around the 18-yard box.
"So, he has got to work hard. That's the thing he lacks at times, just that work ethic – that hard work when he is playing up as a No.9 on his own.
"But he needs to have a better season than what he has had this year and maybe a bit of luck with the injuries that he's had, which scuppered his season a little."
Xavier Benjamin
Xavier Benjamin has been a real find for Cardiff.
He joined from Fulham last year and was given the captain's armband for the season. The centre-back, 19, was a solid performer throughout the campaign and was even called up to the first-team squad by Sabri Lamouchi when the club were light on centre-backs.
For Benjamin, it appears that he might be someone who benefits from sticking around the club next season and being in eye-view of first-team manager Bulut, in case he is needed should injuries hit City's senior centre-backs.
"He's very driven as a young man. We brought him in from Fulham and it's the first thing you notice about him, he tries to drive and lead by example," Purse said.
"He is a footballer who, ability-wise, wants to improve every day, but as a character and a leader I think he's been exceptional this year.
"He is probably the sort of character we want to embody and embrace in the under-21s. He has had a really good season and is hoping to have a better one this season.
"Sometimes it's not always about how good you are as a footballer. Sometimes it's about having the right attitude and mentality and that's what Xav did when he got called up to the first team. It was pretty much the first week the gaffer was in the building and you looked over at the first-team boys warming up and Xav was at the front in the warm-up, even when he moved up to the first team, he still had the same character and his attitude always stands out compared to other people and that's what got him his appearance on the substitutes' bench, because of his persona and the way he carried himself.
"He has been an excellent example to the boys in the under-21s."
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