McPhail's contract ends this summer,but McPhail is keen to

Cardiff City star Stephen McPhail keen to prove worth in FA Cup


McPhail's contract ends this summer, but McPhail is keen to stay with the Bluebirds.

Jan 4 2013

STEPHEN McPhail is ready to start the new year in style by playing for Cardiff City in tomorrow’s FA Cup tie at Macclesfield Town.

Irishman McPhail has faced a long, hard road back to full fitness, but is ready to return at first team level after playing in a series of development matches for the Bluebirds.

He is in the City squad leaving for the match at lunchtime today keen to show he can still play a role in Cardiff’s promotion push to the Premier League.

His contract ends this summer, but McPhail is keen to stay with the Bluebirds.

He battled back after being diagnosed with stage one malt lymphoma three years ago 2009 and then auto-immune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome last season.

McPhail was forced off by a hamstring injury after only 19 minutes of the first match this season, a League Cup tie at Northampton, and admits he can’t be sure what the future holds.

“I’ll keep playing as long as I can, but if I feel it’s the end of the road I’ll hang my boots up and hopefully have some part to play at the football club,” he says.

“I honestly can’t be certain about my football future. I’ve felt good in development matches and right now great in training, but I’ll know at the back end of this season how my body is feeling.

“It’s at that stage when I’ll make decisions about the future, but I’ve talked to the manager (Malky Mackay) about it and hopefully in some sense I’m going to stay involved with the club.

“I love this city and I love living here. I love the club.

“The club, the Bluebirds fans have been unbelievable for me and have helped me through so much.”


McPhail has been taking his coaching badges, but right now the 33-year-old calm and cultured midfield player is focused on tomorrow’s cup tie at Macclesfield. He has made more than 200 first team appearances for the Bluebirds since making a free transfer move from Barnsley six years ago.

McPhail will be the elder statesman in a youthful Cardiff City squad which could well include wing Kadeem Harris for his debut, while full-back Luke Coulson and former Spurs midfield player Ronnie Hawkins are set to be included for the first time.

City’s attack will include Slovenian international striker Etien Velikonja and Nat Jarvis, who is back from a loan spell with Forest Green Rovers. Jarvis played against Macclesfield for Rovers only a few weeks ago.

Former NK Maribor player Velikonja, who celebrated his 24th birthday on Boxing Day, has had to be patient for his Championship chances this season, having made only two substitute appearances, and will be keen to start at Macclesfield.

Velikonja has been in the gymnasium working on his body strength and gave notice of the progress he is making by firing a hat-trick for the Bluebirds development team in a 4-0 win against Millwall at Cardiff City Stadium and playing 90 minutes in a 2-1 win against Swansea City.

Mackay has made it clear Velikonja, who is on a four-year contract, is a player he believes will make the breakthrough.

He scored 20 goals in Slovenian League football last season and Mackay says: “Etien is a striker who will always play off the shoulder of defenders, cause problems and be dangerous around goal. His attitude is excellent and he is working hard in training.”

Mackay and his backroom team have prepared for this match just as they do for all Championship matches and chief scout Martin Hodge has written full reports on Macclesfield.

He made the trip to the postponed Barrow v Macclesfield first attempt, returned when the match was played, ending 1-1, and was at the Moss Rose Stadium replay.

City also have a full report on Macclesfield’s 2-2 draw against Southport on New Year’s Day, while a couple of friends are helping out.

Newport County manager Justin Edinburgh is a former Spurs team-mate and friend of City assistant manager David Kerslake, while Forest Green’s David Hockaday is close to Mackay.

“Their teams have both played against Macclesfield this season and we’ve had a chat to them which means we can add a little extra to our knowledge,” says Mackay.

“We have been thorough, as always, and we know the Macclesfield pitch is a good passing surface which will help us settle.”

Each winner of third round ties this weekend will earn £67,500 in prize money, while the fourth round draw will take place live on ITV on Sunday at around 3.30pm.

First, though, Mackay and his coaching must guide his youthful squad through what will be a tough test against a home team who were relegated to the Blue Square Conference last season after 15 years playing at Football League level.

Love Mcphail as a player but we have moved on now.

Maybe as a coach if MM wants him but registered as a player and keep training but its hard to see a place now.

I love the guy and his commitment to still get involved, give him a new contract

Fair play to McPhail, he doesn't give up. Sadly he's not good enough for us now.

He wants to play for us and wants a contract better than most players who haggle over contracts.

He wants to play for us and wants a contract better than most players who haggle over contracts.

There's no point giving a new contract to someone who isn't going to play though, especially if we're in the Premier League next season.

I think maybe give him a one year contract if he's up to it at the end of the season, great that he's doing his coaching badges though, plus Malky will definitely want him around when he retires.

Imagine how many appearances he would have made without the illnesses and injuries that came with it, he'd easily have made 300 by now.

Actually a few games this season we needed mcphail to calm things down in the middle
Maybe just not good enough these days but he loves cardiff and loves the fans unlike some shithead egotistic players we have wasted money and contracts on.
Give him a years contract and a job at the club at the end of it..

Give him a year. He can play in the cup then to rest our player in the league if we go up.

We could get 3-4 youngsters on 2k a week rather than pay mcphail 8k a week for sitting in the stands every week, good back in the day but past it now

not even that good back in the day

not even that good back in the day

You're right, he was crap. Thats why he was playing for Leeds in their Champions League run when they played the likes of Barca and Lazio. I swear some of our fans are meth addicts. Jesus Christ.

not even that good back in the day

You're right, he was crap. Thats why he was playing for Leeds in their Champions League run when they played the likes of Barca and Lazio. I swear some of our fans are meth addicts. Jesus Christ.

couldnt care less about what anyone did for other teams.

he was average here, a few good games and went missing the majority of the time, people seem to have forgotten about this due to his illness

Just cos hes not a show pony doesnt mean hes shit.......he always kept the ball moving and set the tempo in the games he played.

Just cos hes not a show pony doesnt mean hes shit.......he always kept the ball moving and set the tempo in the games he played.

thankyou, but fortunately, as im not an idiot, im quite aware of different footballing abilities.

He is, or rather was, championship level, not good enough for a side aiming for promotion imo and goes missing far too easily.

Last Season home at Barnsely is a prime example
Our midfield looked so settled as we were hammering them 5-1
Mcphail came off around the 70th minute and it all went to pot and they scored two sloppy goals

Sorry but McPhail was an absolute shite player who cost us promotion season after season. Strangely though history has shown that shite players make the best coaches, so may be he could have a future there.

not even that good back in the day

You're right, he was crap. Thats why he was playing for Leeds in their Champions League run when they played the likes of Barca and Lazio. I swear some of our fans are meth addicts. Jesus Christ.

couldnt care less about what anyone did for other teams.

he was average here, a few good games and went missing the majority of the time, people seem to have forgotten about this due to his illness

Nonsense. He kept things moving, kept things going and the team in possession. Look at his ball retention stats and passing stats throughout his whole career. As well as that he is also good from free kicks. He would be brilliant to us in cup games next year for set pieces alone to deliver when Whittingham has a rest.

IMO McPhail was quality and can still do a job for us, agree 1 year contract and then backroom somewhere, loyalty should be repaid there is still room for sentiment in the game

Bump.

McPhail has done brilliant today and almost scored then with a beautiful strike.

Bump.

McPhail has done brilliant today and almost scored then with a beautiful strike.

sorry, i thought we were playing a mid table non league side

Bump.

McPhail has done brilliant today and almost scored then with a beautiful strike.

sorry, i thought we were playing a mid table non league side

Means nothing considering how long he has been out for. He has performed impeccably for a player whos been out for so long.

Also, Newcastle just got done over in fashion by Brighton. Its all about on the day mate.

Bump.

McPhail has done brilliant today and almost scored then with a beautiful strike.

sorry, i thought we were playing a mid table non league side

Means nothing considering how long he has been out for. He has performed impeccably for a player whos been out for so long.

Also, Newcastle just got done over in fashion by Brighton. Its all about on the day mate.

yes true, hoever there isnt much difference between a full strength brinton team and newcastle reserves, also mcphail has been playing development games for months, and this game is of a similar pace.

agree hes doing well, but then i would expect him too really.