CITY'S BEST PLAYER TO HELP TEAM BOUNCE STRAIGHT BACK UP

Walesonline

Mon May 5th 2014


Cardiff City keeper David Marshall hints he will stay with Bluebirds to fight back to Premier League next season


Cardiff City goalkeeper David Marshall has given his clearest indication yet he might stay with the Bluebirds and help them fight their way back to the Premier League.

City’s relegation from the top-flight was confirmed on the weekend as they slumped 3-0 at Newcastle and relegation rivals Sunderland pulled off a shock win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

In the aftermath of defeat at St James’ Park, Bluebirds boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already confirmed he is ready to lead Cardiff in the second-tier, but the future of some of City’s current players looks a lot more doubtful.

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Record signing Gary Medel and skipper Steven Caulker are both understood to have release clauses in their contracts if certain valuations are met and there is sure to be no shortage of interest in the pair.

Marshall, City’s player of the season, will also be a wanted man with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur both believed to be monitoring the goalkeeper who has made the most saves in the Premier League this season.

The 6ft 3ins former Celtic and Norwich ‘keeper was signed by Dave Jones back in May 2009 for a bargain £500,000 fee from the Canaries – but ther 29-year-old’s valuation is now around the £6m mark.

Whether the Bluebirds are prepared to cash in remains to be seen, but Marshall – who is fighting for the Scotland No.1 jersey with Hull’s Allan McGregor – has obviously proved that he is top-class level.

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6 stunning David Marshall saves

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But following confirmation of the Bluebirds’ relegation, Marshall insists the main priority for him right now was to stick with Cardiff and try to help get City back among English football’s elite next season.

“It is very disappointing, the boys are absolutely gutted to be relegated,” he said.

“It’s not been enough in the end to keep us up. We expected more from the season and we’ve obviously been left very disappointed by this.

“There was not a lot we could say in the dressing room afterwards. Everybody has just been left devastated.

“It’s going to be a hard couple of weeks now and we’re just trying to get out heads around it all. The manager has asked us to do that.

“We’ve got a squad in there that won the Championship quite comfortably last season.

“We’ve got to get our heads right and start again.

“We had fighting spirit in abundance last season.

“We added players to it which is difficult, but we managed to keep that.

“There’s been a lot going on around the club, but the players have stayed focussed.

“But we’ve come up short. We’ve not been good enough in games and there’s no complaints about that.

“We just need to stick together and go again next season.

“We definitely believe we can bounce back.

“We’ve got better players now than we had last season, but the attitude will need to be right.

“We will need to start the season well.

“We’ll go away in the summer.

“We’ll be disappointed, but we need to pick ourselves up.”

At Newcastle, as has been the case too often this season, the Bluebirds created plenty of chances, but could not put the ball in the net.

Fraizer Campbell, Wilfried Zaha, Kenwyne Jones and Aron Gunnarsson all came close to scoring as City were left scrapping for their Premier League lives.

But goals from Shola Ameobi, Loic Remy and substitute Steven Taylor did the damage, although Marshall insisted the scoreline flattered the home side.

There is now one game left to play with Chelsea due in the Welsh capital on Sunday, a contest that promised so much now holding so little with Jose Mourinho’s title dream dashed in recent weeks.

But Cardiff need to win to at least give themselves of escaping bottom spot at Fulham’s expense.

Marshall himself will be doing his best to make sure the season ends on a high and he insisted despite the disappointment of defeat at Newcastle and the subsequent relegation, the players would be taking on Chelsea in front of their own supporters aiming to upset the odds.

“We were left very disappointed that we couldn’t score because we had a lot of chances against Newcastle,” added Marshall.

“The thing was that they took their chances. The 3-0 scoreline flattered them really with the two late goals.

“It’s a big game for us against Chelsea now and it will be a big game for them as well.

“We’ll do as we’ve done all season.

“We’ll prepare right and go out there and try and win the game.”

I hope he (Marshall) does stay,,,but every player has his price,,,& if the rumours are true, then there will be a "fire sale" of players & assets this summer at CCFC.

I hope he (Marshall) does stay,,,but every player has his price,,,& if the rumours are true, then there will be a "fire sale" of players & assets this summer at CCFC.

Agree - There are a few players of late who should go,along with Mr Tan wanting to get some of his money back .

i honestly believe Marshall will be long gone....deserves to be in a top 6 side in the premier league. I would have plenty of confidence in Lewis and Moore.

I hope he goes he deserves to play @ the highest level.

I hope he goes he deserves to play @ the highest level.

Award for the best Cardiff City fan goes to..

what people are forgetting is that most top half clubs have good players so would they be after ours? so would players want to go to relegation candidates in lower half of premier next season just to move on again? coulker ,medal, marshal being exceptions, dont think it will be as bad as people make out!