Cardiff City will always be grateful to Steve Morison for resisting Rubin Colwill axe | OneFootball

Steve Morison chose to retain Rubin Colwill at the expense of Sion Spence at Cardiff City, which turned out to be an inspired judgement call

Four years ago, Steve Morison elected to retain Rubin Colwill as opposed to axing him during his time as Cardiff City U23's manager - and what an inspired judgement call it eventually turned out to be.

Now 22, Colwill has fought his way through various trials and tribulations to establish himself as arguably the main man at Cardiff, transitioning into the dynamic creative center-piece that his most ardent backers have tipped him to become for many years.

It has been anything but a smooth ride for Colwill, who has had to contend with reduced playing time, myriad injury setbacks and an unprecedented growth spurt during his three years in the Bluebirds' first-team frame. His natural talent, however, had never been in any real doubt and it is now beginning to shine through on a consistent basis, with Colwill emerging as perhaps the most notable benefactor of the collective liberation brought on by the interim appointment of Omer Riza.

The Welshman is an integral component at Cardiff and will likely find himself at the heart of any positive forthcoming fortunes this term, having enjoyed a real acceleration in his trajectory over the last few months in particular.

For Colwill, the sky is the limit - but his career could've turned out so very differently had Morison opted to make a different decision on his future.

Steve Morison's Rubin Colwill, Sion Spence call at Cardiff City

Before becoming Cardiff's first-team manager for just shy of twelve months, Morison had coached the club's under-23 side and worked closely with Colwill.

He had long been tipped for a bright future but he was not always nailed-on to unlock it at Cardiff, and Morison was left with a huge decision to make in 2020. The former Welsh international later revealed that there was deliberation about whom to retain out of Colwill and Sion Spence.

Spence had been the star of the Bluebirds' youth set-up but was released in order for his compatriot to make his mark, in a decision which left supporters in shock at the time.

In 2021, Morison told BBC Radio Wales Sport: "A year ago we were discussing who's going to be retained and released for the upcoming season and Rubin was a discussion.

"There was a conversation about Sion Spence, a bit of comparison between the two - who are we going to keep? We decided to keep Rubin and let Sion go and find his way elsewhere."

"This is the reason we do it, because you allow people like Rubin who has got everything you need to be a professional football player at the highest level in his armoury, he just needs to fine-tune it and work like he's done all season.

"We've gone from that conversation in the first lockdown to watching him come on against France, an all-star team, and he's lining up with people like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.

"What a story and I spoke to him yesterday (Thursday) and he just needs to make sure he doesn't forget what's got him there and how he needs to keep on learning and keep on progressing, because this is just the start for him now."

Steve Morison's Rubin Colwill, Sion Spence call was spot-on for Cardiff City

It was certainly a contentious call to make at the time, but Morison's faith in Colwill has been vindicated exponentially ever since. In the above, Morison lauded Colwill following his breakthrough season under Mick McCarthy, where he displayed enough raw excitement and promise in six Championship appearances to earn a stunning call-up to Wales' EURO 2020 squad.

Colwill truly announced himself the following year under Morison himself, who replaced McCarthy that October. Aged just 19 at the time, he finished as Cardiff's joint-top scorer with six strikes across all competitions, a catalogue which included a memorable free-kick against QPR and a goal at Anfield.

Admittedly, the playmaker's trajectory had been stunted somewhat before the current campaign, as he endured tough luck with a range of injury problems along with simply not being fancied by the likes of Sabri Lamouchi and Erol Bulut in 2022/23 and 2023/24 respectively. The previous season nonetheless yielded signs of extreme potential, though, which Colwill is now well on course to reaching.

The same simply cannot be said for Spence, who is not enjoying the sort of career that many had once touted him for. After being released by Cardiff, Spence joined Crystal Palace and initially earned rave reviews during his first season in south London, where he made a strong impression at academy level.

But a loan move to Bristol Rovers the following term just never worked out, and the former Welsh youth international was released by the Eagles at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

Spence has since bounced around the non-league game, undertaking stints with Gloucester City, Kings Lynn Town, Havant, and Waterlooville before joining seventh-tier outfit Hednesford Town in June.

With Colwill continuing to thrive at Championship level while Spence is gritting it out in the Northern Premier League Divison One West, Morison's call has been justified tenfold and Cardiff owe him a token of appreciation for that.