Joel Ndala



Didn’t play any games for PSV (he was with their reserve team) and can’t see him playing much for Forest either. Surely we should have sent him somewhere where he’ll actually get gametime?
 
simmo said:
An exciting player whenever I saw him play. Hope he gets a look in.

Borges was similar but he has not done anything at Wolves.
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Same with Mebude. Couldn’t get a game in Belgium, couldn’t get a game with Bristol City last season and is now on loan in the German second division.
 
He was one of the standouts at the age of 16. There is talent there and it will be interesting to watch him progress. I thought he was a bigger talent than Carlos Borges, but it shows the gap between youth levels and the professional game as Borges has 16 appearances for Wolves, but zero goals and zero assists. In our youth team, he was prolific.
 
LongsightM13 said:
Another example of how the young lads who make it are very often not the ones you might expect, and vice versa
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Yep looked amazing for a while but I believe he got too big headed buying into his own hype believing he's the next big thing, now his career is in big danger of stalling he needs to pull his finger out and actually knuckle down.

I liked him he looked class at times and if he works hard then he definitely has a good chance making something of himself, if not though then he might just drift away into obscurity and become the new Brandon Barker.

Barker was someone who had very good talent and should've been good enough to make it in the top two divisions easy but for whatever couldn't make it, whether that's big headedness thinking he's made it a piss poor attitude or even mental health issues plaguing him it just never come off for the lad.

I was convinced Barker had enough technical quality and aggression in his play to be at least be a good championship player, he sadly never kicked on and is now a free agent his career might be over at just 28 years of age, this is despite clearly being our very best youth player at just 16 and by a long way.

He was also at 17 seen as the most exciting reserve team player not just for us but in the country, being an aggressive runner taking much older fullbacks on.
This is when some reserves would play much older players, Barker at times embarrassed proper professional footballers.
He had very quick feet seemed determined and though predominantly left footed scoring with both, he even looked good on set pieces people forget how well Brandon played while in the academy.

He's a perfect example of why kids shouldn't buy into their own hype because Brandon Barker was more than impressive for our youths, he pretty much skipped the u18s and became the first name on the team sheet for our EDS side at just 16/17, except for FA Youth Cup games the EDS games always took priority he was being fast tracked here and maybe it was even this that harmed his career.

There's a very fine line between making it as a good player in football and dropping off a cliff down the Football League or even out of it entirely, personally I think that Joel Ndala will probably be okay but he still needs to make sure he doesn't think he's already made it.

There's obviously a reason PSV haven't taken him despite his obvious talent and this should be a serious wake up call to focus and work harder, to make something of himself or maybe just like Brandon Barker he'll find professional football is harder than a player of his talent should.
 
It is so difficult. There is a gap between youth levels and the pro game. Agents are keen for their clients to make a big move. The client believes they deserve to play first-team football, so they buy into their agent's words. Very, very few make it in the way they hope to. On here, we push for academy players to be given the chance. We call on academy players who have left and rubbish our own club with their success. Most times, if they are successful, it is years after they have left us. Most, of course, never go on to reach PL heights, never mind champion level heights.

I saw a post earlier about Tosin. I see many about Palmer. They are two fine talents, for sure, but would you accept 6th place, 28 points behind the champions? This season may be different, we will see, but even those top talents that left our club years ago are not competing for titles.
 
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Just noticed Joel made his u21 Forest debut, seems very strange he’s recalled then loaned to another PL2 team (assuming he doesn’t step up to first team which looks unlikely). Looks like a broken relationship between Joel and the club but can’t help thinking he would be better with our EDS and playing in UYL
 
90s blue brother said:
Just noticed Joel made his u21 Forest debut, seems very strange he’s recalled then loaned to another PL2 team (assuming he doesn’t step up to first team which looks unlikely). Looks like a broken relationship between Joel and the club but can’t help thinking he would be better with our EDS and playing in UYL
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He is a very young man. I suspect his head has been turned, which is a shame because he was playing for the EDS at 16, and is still just 18. He is due to return to us at the end of May, though I suspect he won't.
 
He needs to have a chat with Morgan Rogers. He was going nowhere with his move to Middlesbrough and struggled there for starts and all of a sudden, Villa take a punt.
There have been so many wingers/attacking fullbacks over the years that have gone away and sunk and some who have gone away and changed their futures. It is possible.
 
Asa's left peg said:
He needs to have a chat with Morgan Rogers. He was going nowhere with his move to Middlesbrough and struggled there for starts and all of a sudden, Villa take a punt.
There have been so many wingers/attacking fullbacks over the years that have gone away and sunk and some who have gone away and changed their futures. It is possible.
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Statistically I'd say more have sunk than not, sadly.
 
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