" WHICH CARDIFF CITY STRIKER WILL RESCUE CARDIFF AND SCORE THE GOALS? "
24th Nov 2015
Media Wales
Kenwyne Jones
He is really the pick of the Bluebirds’ front-men, the man Cardiff should build their team around, according to many observers.
Jones remains vastly experienced and a danger to even the most stubborn Championship defence.
Good in the air, his hold-up play is easiest the best by far at the club.
But this campaign has been extremely stop-start for the 31-year-old.
His season started slowly as he worked towards match fitness and he sustained an injury while on international duty with Trinidad & Tobago.
Last season’s top-scorer with 14, this season Jones has three goals for the Bluebirds so far.
But for most supporters he remains the main man and it would seem the only decision for boss Slade is who to play with him.
JOE MASON
Slade has shown incredible faith and belief in the baby-faced 24-year-old.
Mason was recalled from a loan spell by the current Cardiff boss and after being blooded at the end of the last campaign, he was installed as first choice up front at the start of this.
Mason, an intelligent player in and around the box, seemed to have responded.
He has five Championship goals, all scored in a blistering run of eight games earlier in the campaign.
But Mason is without a goal in his last seven games and not even getting many opportunities to find the net in a Cardiff side not providing enough service really.
It was hoped he would form a profitable partnership with Jones, but the pairing remains very much a work in progress at this point.
TONY WATT
The new boy on the block as he arrived on loan until January from Charlton this week.
On first perusal the arrival of Watt seems a disappointment, with supporters excepting a more experienced and bigger name than the 21-year-old.
But there is promise to this one you just cannot help feel.
There maybe questions about his temperament, but with the right handling the Bluebirds might have a surprise package on their hands.
Read more: Who is Cardiff City signing Tony Watt - the talented Celtic hero who toppled Barcelona but is no stranger to controversy?
Direct, positive and with a good eye for goal, Watt seems the kind of player the Bluebirds have needed been lacking.
Is there a partnership to be struck up with Jones perhaps?
Maybe that little bit of magic all strike duos need will suddenly spark into life.
Fans will be hoping so, and the Bluebirds do need a bit of good fortune to finally visit their forward department that much is for certain.
FEDERICO MACHEDA
His arrival from Manchester United in May 2014 was seen as something of a coup for the Bluebirds and early on Macheda showed glimpses that he might be the man to cement a place in the Cardiff attack.
But dips in form and injuries seem to have conspired to halt the 24-year-old’s progress in the Welsh capital.
He’s had a back injury this season, but, after surgery, he made his return this week in a Bluebirds development game and found the net too in that 2-1 victory over West Brom.
Macheda has class, this has been known for years, but it seems to be about harnessing that and guiding the striker in the right direction.
A starting place might just elude for a while as he returns to full fitness, but he adds a very good option for Slade on the Cardiff bench.
SAMMY AMEOBI
When the Bluebirds won the race to take Ameobi on loan from Newcastle this summer, it was assumed the 23-year-old would play a massive part in the forthcoming Championship campaign.
Things have not panned out that way though, so far at least.
Three Championship starts have brought rather mixed reviews and, after establishing himself as an impact player, even that quality seems to have dimmed in Ameobi recently.
He has suffered in a way due to the fact that it seems it cannot be decided where his best position is.
Should he be out-wide or up-front in the middle?
At the moment there is no conclusive proof either way and Ameobi is in danger of becoming a new name on Cardiff’s long list of apparent quality loans that never quite made the grade at the club.
IDRISS SAADI
If there is any player that sums up the bad fortune and frustration that seems to haunt the Bluebirds at times Saadi is it.
Brought in from French Second Division club, Clermont, this summer he was scoring for fun over there until a serious knee injury put a stop to things back in January.
He seems over that, but a series of other niggly injuries have intervened.
Having made his debut off the bench against Reading recently, where he showed a lot of promise indeed, it was then announced he had a hamstring problem and would be out until January at the earliest.
Saadi remains an unknown quantity at Cardiff, much to everyone’s frustration.