14 underwhelming signings who turned out to be quite good

Wednesday 7th January 2015

By Gareth Rogers

" 14 underwhelming Cardiff City signings who actually turned out to be quite good "

Are you disappointed with Cardiff City's transfer dealings so far this January? Fear not, we've found 14 examples of Bluebirds who defied the initial doubters

Scott Malone has signed for £100,000, unknown Islam Feruz is set for a loan move, while 31-year-old Rotherham striker Alex Revell is on his way despite what appears a lacklustre goal-scoring record.

Welcome to Cardiff City's transfer policy in January 2014.

The days of big money transfer fees that saw Gary Medel, Steven Caulker and co join the Bluebirds on their way to the Premier League all seem rather distant now as Vincent Tan tightens the purse strings as part of a new approach.

So are you feeling underwhelmed with Russell Slade's transfer business?

If the answer is yes, fear not. We've found 14 Cardiff City players who signed with little fanfare but went on to become terrace favourites despite many of them being written off by other clubs and some fans.


Kevin Bartlett: Joined on a free from Fareham Town in 1986

He might have been plucked from the Southern League but speedster Bartlett scored the goals to fire the Bluebirds to promotion in 1998 before being sold to West Brom a year later in a deal that effectively kept the club afloat.


Jimmy Gilligan: Signed from Lincoln for £17,500 in 1987

Gilligan finished top scorer as the Bluebirds won promotion and the Welsh Cup and formed a lethal partnership with Bartlett in the late 1980s. He was sold to Portsmouth for £215,000 in 1989, where he linked up with former Bluebirds boss Frank Burrows.


Jay Bothroyd: Signed from Wolves for £350,000 in 2008

When Bothroyd first joined Cardiff he was seen by many as damaged goods having struggled to settle at so many clubs. But Dave Jones got the best out of him and he left an England international and a terrace hero.


Aron Gunnarsson: Signed on a free from Coventry in 2011

The Iceland captain was one of Malky Mackay's first signings and had most people asking Aron who? But he has been a regular starter under three different managers.


Andy Legg: Signed on a free transfer from Reading in 1998

When former Swansea City star Legg first joined Cardiff, he was unpopular among fans but his efforts and consistent performances won him the player-of-the year award for two straight seasons in 2000 and 2001. He left in 2003 after the glorious play-off final win against QPR at the Millennium Stadium.


Nathan Blake: Signed from Chelsea for free in 1990

Few people remember that Blakey was released from Chelsea before joining Cardiff. He played in several positions, including centre back, before Eddie May played him further forward and brought the best out of him before selling him to Premier League Sheffield United for £300,000.


Cohen Griffith: Signed from Kettering for £60,000 in 1989

Griffith was signed as a striker but made his name as a hard working winger and spent six years at the club before moving on to Barry Town and Merthyr Tydfil after enjoying the 1993 promotion and Welsh cup winning season, the FA Cup win over Man City and two European Cup Winner's Cup campaigns.


David Marshall: Signed for £500,000 from Norwich in 2009

When Norwich City were relegated in 2009, Cardiff nipped in to sign him in a deal that wasn't greeted with much fanfare. Bluebirds fans developed a love hate relationship with him until the Championship winning season. In the Premier League he was quite sensational and could now leave for £10m or more.


Kevin McNaughton: Signed on a free from Aberdeen in 2006

When McNaughton arrived at Cardiff at the start of Dave Jones' time as manger he was largely unknown. But 250 appearances later, he is a Cardiff City legend and technically a Bluebirds player, even though he's on loan at Bolton.


Kevin Nugent: Signed from Bristol City for £65,000 in 1997

When Nugent joined the Bluebirds from rivals Bristol City in 1997 he had only scored 14 goals in 69 games at the Robins but he scored 29 goals iat Cardiff, won a player-of-the-year award and was made club captain.


Danny Gabbidon: Signed from West Brom for £500,000 in 2000

Gabbidon joined from West Brom in 2000 after being frozen out by Gary Megson and was seen as one for the future. But as soon as most Cardiff fans saw him play they knew they had a star on their hands. He played 193 games in his first spell as a player and left for the Premier League as West Ham signed him and James Collins.


Cameron Jerome: Signed on a free from Middlesbrough in 2004

The 6ft 1in striker was recommended by youth coach Paul Wilkinson, who had first worked with him at Grimsby. He burst onto the scene and scored seven goals in the 2004/05 season and was top scorer the following year. He left for Premier League Birmingham City in 2006 for £3m.


Peter Whittingham: Signed for £350,000 from Villa in 2007
It feels as though Whitts has been at Cardiff City forever but when he arrived in 2007 he was surplus to requirements at Villa Park and was heading to the end of his contract. But he's played 314 games in seven seasons so far and when he does leave, will be considered a legend.


Neil Alexander: Signed for £200,000 from Livingston in 2001

The Scottish keeper won the hearts of the Bluebirds faithful in his six years in South Wales after signing from Scottish First Division outfit Livingston.

He played 213 times for the Bluebirds before going on to play for Ipswich, Rangers and his current club Heats.

Over half of those were not underwhelming signings.

I couldn't believe our luck when we signed the likes of Gunnarsson, McNaughton, Bothroyd, Alexander, Marshall, Legg, and Whittingham.

Over half of those were not underwhelming signings.

I couldn't believe our luck when we signed the likes of Gunnarsson, McNaughton, Bothroyd, Alexander, Marshall, Legg, and Whittingham.

Agree!

I bet the majority were not 31 years of age.

Over half of those were not underwhelming signings.

I couldn't believe our luck when we signed the likes of Gunnarsson, McNaughton, Bothroyd, Alexander, Marshall, Legg, and Whittingham.

Marshall was shit for Norwich.

Hudson? Johnson? Parry? Conway? Mcphail? These are more recent examples

Delaney?

A lot of our better players from the last few years have been signed by Dave Jones on a low budget. He deserves a lot more credit then he gets.

Underwhelming? Why? Because some of them were young and their careers hadn't started up properly?

Revell is an underwhelming signing because his goal scoring record is terrible for a striker who's going to retire in a few years.

underwhelming signings, on the whole, are underwhelming because the players aren't very good. of course you'll get some who surprise you, but on the whole they are the exception and not the rule.

there's alot of poor examples in that list anyway. when we were on a tight budget a player like whitts for £350k was not an underwhelming signing by any means, it was a decent chunk of money.

the club has moved on and we have better individual players and have been spending more money than ever before in the past few transfer windows. thus the expectation levels of what players we should be aiming for is higher than a run of the mill league one player.

turned out to be quite good?

How can you put some of these under the category quite good, they were excellent or bloody good depending on the period they played.

Fancy calling Jimmy Gilligan quite good!

Gunnarrson - yes 2-3 years ago, now he's quite bad!

What an incredibly bad article. There is a world of difference in those players mentioned and the striker we are attempting to sign at the moment. Age and this seasons scoring ability being a couple of them.

Yeh but still prefer him to Macheda

If the article was about underwhelming signings who turned out to be shit it would take up a whole edition of the Echo.

You missed the best one and am not sure how - Mark Delaney 35 k and some footballs from Carmarthen.

Perhaps not a stand out but perhaps I could add Collins onto the list. I believe we signed this striker from Newport County on a free and turned him into a Defender.

What a ridiculous article!