' CARDIFF CITY IN FOR RELEASED DEFENDER.... '

Am I the only one who doesn't think we urgently need another defender? We have Turner, Cala, Connolly and Hudson as centre backs, plus Oshilaja who impressed for Newport and had Championship experience with Sheffield Wednesday last season, plus Ben Nugent. We have John for left back, Catherine and Brayford for right back and then Fabio and McNaughton who can play both left back and right back.

Being greedy, I would love an excellent centre back who's a commanding leader who can organise, but if not, I am still more than happy with our defensive options and I don't think this is an area that needs strengthening unless we can attract someone even better than what we currently have for a decent price.

This.

Mark Hudson's absence last year has made people forget the season he gave us the year before. Connolly makes for great back up at this level. If Turner can gain confidence, improve and as importantly, quicken his decision making, he will be an excellent CB for the level we are playing at. These are improvements that can be coached.

Our priority should be down-sizing the squad before we bloat it even more. Its not just about compounding financial issues its about avoiding morale issues for decent players having they careers plummet from not playing. Have faith in what we have already.

Hudson is injury prone. He couldn't complete our promotion season and couldn't complete last season. He is slow and has more than likely suffered hugely with it. Add to the fact he has had a lack of game time in the last 12 months.

I like Hudson but there is no way we should start next season with those 4 as CB's. Connolly hasn't played since August and Hudson suffers with injuries. Selling Connolly and bringing in a young, experienced CB who can play out from the back is the best way to go.

Spot on, huds is falling apart to slow and connollys just shit. Cala is the only CB we got who can actually play.

Am I the only one who doesn't think we urgently need another defender? We have Turner, Cala, Connolly and Hudson as centre backs, plus Oshilaja who impressed for Newport and had Championship experience with Sheffield Wednesday last season, plus Ben Nugent. We have John for left back, Catherine and Brayford for right back and then Fabio and McNaughton who can play both left back and right back.

Being greedy, I would love an excellent centre back who's a commanding leader who can organise, but if not, I am still more than happy with our defensive options and I don't think this is an area that needs strengthening unless we can attract someone even better than what we currently have for a decent price.

the issue, at least for me, is that while Cala nad Turner are going to be fine the rest is a bit of an unknown. Im not a massive fan of connelly, and if we have to rely on him for a long period of time i would worry, while hudson isnt getting any younger and has barely kicked a football for a year.

The youngsters.... i agree oshilaja deserves a look in, but nugent is just terrible.

I think he is past it, with no sell on value maybe he can assist developing our young center back, and we can all chant Hagneland hangeland hangleand

Points taken on Hudson's injury proneness. But can I ask about this drop off that people talk about? Which games during last season they felt they saw this? As far as I'm concerned, last year Hudson didn't get a fair run in the team and therefore was never 100% sharp. Along with Marshall, Huds was our best player in our promotion year. But as pointed out his injury proneness may be an issue though I'm not in the know of ongoing injury issues he may or may not have.

Paulh makes a good point on Ohilaja. Should be given a sniff of playing time next year! So we need to know bodies are leaving before recruiting any more.

Hangeland is not the answer though for me. As mentioned, someone younger who can play out from the back. Promotion is our aim this year of course. I think the way to break into the Premiership is with a pool of players who are improving as a unit. The likes of Fabio, Mats, Declan, Macheda you would hope are yet to see their best days. These are the bracket of players we should add to this squad.

If we sign him I would be disgusted at the. Club, granted he is a top defender when playing in the right team, but this is a guy United wanted a few seasons back, and I feel Fulham rated him still, but I'm sure he was over £50k a week there, so he will want those sort of wages again, and European clubs will offer that, but if we sign him I think we will end up paying a crap load on his wages

Look, when you look at a lad as tall as B. Hangeland (6’7”), you are not going to mistake him for a Maradona or a Messi. When he moved from Norway to FC Copenhagen, and again when Roy Hodgson brought him from FCC to Fulham, people were questioning and even ridiculing his skill level. Comparisons to Bambi on Ice (Disney) has been made more than once, but the fact of the matter is that Hangeland not only took the level, but excelled after each move.

He had a bad season last year. I think there is a good chance that he will not fully return to the level he had 3, 4, 5 years ago. On the other hand, I think a full pre-season and thoughtful matching provides a good chance that he will play better than last year (and if he plays in the Championship the opposition will not be as sharp).

Keep in mind that with Hangeland, you not only get a player that have 200+ matches in the Prem., you get a leader into the locker room that has been the captain both for Fulham in the Prem and for Norway at the international stage His experience, calm manner, and leadership qualities could be quite an asset to a young defense. Hengeland does not represent “the future" for City, but if OGS can convince him to come, I don’t think we run a big risk by signing him for a one, or even two, year contract provided the wages are not off the chart.