It's the Wolff! To Shine this season??

Friday 18th July 2014.

By Scott Johnson's

As a sixteen-year-old at Manchester United Solskjaer was reserve team manager, before he returned to Norway at 21 where they enjoyed a successful spell at Molde. He headed to South Wales as a 24-year-old after six months at Heerenveen and Solskjaer outlined his intention to make Eikrem integral in his Cardiff side.

“I’ve known him for many years, having worked with him at Manchester United and then signing him for Molde,” said Solskjaer at the time.

“While I was there I had to sell him as he was our best player and now I feel lucky to get to sign him again for Cardiff City for a reasonable price.

“I see this as money well spent. He’s a playmaker, a quarterback if you will, someone who likes to get on the ball and can see a pass. He’s technically very good, including set pieces and has great vision.”


When he made his debut, as a second half substitute in a 2-0 home defeat against West Ham, first impressions were very positive.

Amongst demoralised team mates, he was bright and positive, always available to receive possession and use it wisely. In a side adept at giving the ball away, he maintained control of the ball and exhibited a keen eye for an incisive pass. He was in and out of the side and made a limited impact before a catastrophic team performance in a 4-0 hammering against Hull effectively ended his season.

Seemingly tarnished by Cardiff’s worst performance of the season, Solskjaer’s tinkering saw a number of different combinations used in the weeks that followed, none of which utilised Eikrem. From that game, he only played a further 15 minutes as Peter Whittingham was brought in from the cold to occupy a comparable role, without any subsequent upturn in fortunes.


Looking forward, it is virtually impossible to predict how Cardiff’s midfield will look when the season kicks off. With Mutch, Noone, Whittingham, Daehli, Kim Bo-Kyung, Aron Gunnarsson, Kagisho Dikgacoi and Guido Burgstaller to choose from, the variables are endless. There is a good chance that it may come down to Eikrem versus Whittingham once again. If the Norwegian international is afforded a decent run in the side, I think he will prove to be an instrumental figure.

Players with a comparable skillset historically tend to thrive in the Championship, where a cool head amidst the chaos can prove decisive. The likes of Jimmy Bullard, Danny Drinkwater, Liam Bridcutt and Ben Watson have all been instrumental and indispensable at their respective clubs.

My hope is that Solskjaer has a better idea of how his side will line up than I do at present. With games coming thick and fast, he will need to optimise his entire squad, but there is a big difference between tinkering and rotation. Cardiff are in need of an ethos and a style of play that is consistent, regardless of the personnel involved. That was sadly lacking last year, but I feel that should he entrust Eikrem with the keys to his midfield, he may well prove to be Cardiff’s secret weapon.


http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/foot ... ff-7447885?

I'd like to see him involved this season, he looks like a tidy footballer, seems to have good passing range and good vision, hopefully he can flourish in the Championship after a full pre-season with us. Going to be difficult to break into the first team though, central midfield is an area where we're spoilt for choice.

Lets hope so.

I'd like to see him involved this season, he looks like a tidy footballer, seems to have good passing range and good vision, hopefully he can flourish in the Championship after a full pre-season with us. Going to be difficult to break into the first team though, central midfield is an area where we're spoilt for choice.

Very true. I would like to see him involved as well. The little I saw of him last year he looked a very neat & tidy player with a good passing ability.
He needs to wait & grab his chance when it comes but with OGS constantly tinkering you never know what's going to happen!

If Eikrem wants to feature, he needs to play a lot better than he did at Bath last Saturday!

I doubt he will be the star performer. But I think he will feature, he can certainly do better than he did last season. His form was so bad he lost his place in the Norway squad too.
He has a lot of the same qualities that whitts has. Whitts has the edge right now but let's hope eikrem can challenge him, competition is good for the squad

If Eikrem wants to feature, he needs to play a lot better than he did at Bath last Saturday!

Did any of you even watch the game? He was one of the stand out players with fabio and daehli, shouldve scored in the first half but tried to pass it to guerra. He did a damn lot better than mutch.

If Eikrem wants to feature, he needs to play a lot better than he did at Bath last Saturday!

Did any of you even watch the game? He was one of the stand out players with fabio and daehli, shouldve scored in the first half but tried to pass it to guerra. He did a damn lot better than mutch.

Did you watch the game? The only reason he stood out was because he kept losing the ball! Granted, he was out of position played on the right, but you would think he would still have the ability against Bath to retain possession!

I think he has potential to have a good season, last season in patches he looked good, but then also got lost during games.

He needs to impose himself more but to be fair to him we will be expected to have a lot more of the ball. I like the way he was positive on the ball but he was prone to the odd mistake.

If Eikrem wants to feature, he needs to play a lot better than he did at Bath last Saturday!

Did any of you even watch the game? He was one of the stand out players with fabio and daehli, shouldve scored in the first half but tried to pass it to guerra. He did a damn lot better than mutch.

Did you watch the game? The only reason he stood out was because he kept losing the ball! Granted, he was out of position played on the right, but you would think he would still have the ability against Bath to retain possession!

I didn't watch the game but would read virtually nothing into a glorified training session.

Dark horse, what is his best position? CM? CDM?

Dark horse, what is his best position? CM? CDM?

Id say deep lying playmaker In a 4--2--3-1.