" I am utterly baffled "
Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:17 pm
Some of Cardiff City's transfer dealings have left me utterly baffled - the Scott Johnson column
link
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=150707
Thurs 29th January 2015
By Scott Johnson
Why so much was spent on players in the summer, and why so many are leaving for nothing?
Cast your mind back to the summer, when the debate was whether or not Cardiff City had the best squad in Championship history?
That was a mere five months ago. So much has happened on the playing side since.
The dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, appointment of Russell Slade, return to blue. A pretty chaotic period, even by Cardiff’s standards.
But what is currently taking place at the club in my view beggars belief and in some cases even appears to defy football logic.
The big and baggy squad, a product of three different managers and unprecedented spending, certainly required trimming, but the club are currently hemorrhaging players on a daily basis ... and no one really knows for certain why.
' Bloated squad '
The obvious question I ask is: why at this stage of the season?
Are they culling because they have given up on promotion to the Premier League? I ask, because surely it has not only just occurred to Cardiff that the club was not sustainable in the second tier with significantly less income and attendances, coupled with massive running costs?
Having done so well to recoup most of their Premier League investment, by holding out for huge fees for Gary Medel, Steven Caulker and Jordon Mutch, Cardiff then gave Solskjaer almost a reported £15m to reinvest.
What resulted was a spending spree and a bloated squad.
' Cardiff City's unwanted stars '
Three strikers arrived, Adam Le Fondre, Federico Macheda and Javi Guerra. Tom Adeyemi and Anthony Pilkington were smart signings, each around the £1m mark, with free agent Kagisho Dikgacoi acquired to solidify midfield.
A decent collection, everything considered. Factoring in Guido Burgstaller and Danny Gabbidon, the spend at this stage was about £5m, a perfectly reasonable amount for a relegated Premier League side with parachute payments.
The squad looked well stocked, with plenty of competition for places. They looked particularly strong in central defence, with captain Mark Hudson, Matthew Connolly, Ben Turner and Juan Cala to choose from.
So I was baffled they went on to spend a huge sum on acquiring Sean Morrison and Bruno Ecuele Manga, while shipping out Hudson.
' Extravagant purchases '
It looked unnecessary at the time and looks ridiculous in light of recent events.
Why was Solskjaer indulged for such extravagant purchases?
Slade, seemingly brought in with the dual role of manager and auditor, has been recently cutting sizeable chunks out of his oversized squad, but would that have been necessary had this final transfer market splurge not taken place?
Football fans are not unreasonable. If you tell them the truth and explain your decisions, like it or not, they will accept measures that need to be taken for the greater good of the club. What they do not take kindly to is being kept in the dark over decisions that appear baffling.
How can you justify signing Le Fondre in the summer, Slade playing him every week, then shipping him out on loan to a rival club? There is no suitable explanation for this.
Why were Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Kim Bo-Kyung and Guido Burgstaller released when there was surely the chance to recoup some money on them during the transfer window?
Why not release them back in September, or wait until the transfer window closes in February?
Why loan out Javi Guerra, who has a proven scoring record in Spain, but release Juan Cala?
There may be perfectly reasonable explanations for every single one of these cases. But without any sort of explanation the only thing we can do is speculate and people will naturally assume the worst.
Did Slade not rate Mats Moller Daehli, a gifted player so highly thought of by the fans?
We were told that he would only leave for a huge sum, but he slipped away with the club seemingly accepting the loss of one of their brightest prospects.
Ravel Morrison was another who hardly featured.
' Sympathy for Slade '
Where this leaves Cardiff is anyone’s guess. In the short term, they need to ready themselves in for a relegation battle. After one win in 10 games, the club cannot have picked a worse time to start dismantling the squad.
Chances are that most fans won’t forgive Slade for being the man in charge when this has taken place and the football he has produced has also been turgid. But I’ve sympathy for him.
Good luck to the club in trying selling those season tickets.
I attended the meeting that preceded the return to blue and it may have been great theatre, with the wheels of change already in motion, but it was also inspiring stuff.
This needs to be a regular occurrence and a bit more of this type of openness will help going forward.
We fans deserve better than we’ve had in recent weeks. Better football and a better explanation over the transfer dealings, in my view.
link
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=150707
Thurs 29th January 2015
By Scott Johnson
Why so much was spent on players in the summer, and why so many are leaving for nothing?
Cast your mind back to the summer, when the debate was whether or not Cardiff City had the best squad in Championship history?
That was a mere five months ago. So much has happened on the playing side since.
The dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, appointment of Russell Slade, return to blue. A pretty chaotic period, even by Cardiff’s standards.
But what is currently taking place at the club in my view beggars belief and in some cases even appears to defy football logic.
The big and baggy squad, a product of three different managers and unprecedented spending, certainly required trimming, but the club are currently hemorrhaging players on a daily basis ... and no one really knows for certain why.
' Bloated squad ' The obvious question I ask is: why at this stage of the season?
Are they culling because they have given up on promotion to the Premier League? I ask, because surely it has not only just occurred to Cardiff that the club was not sustainable in the second tier with significantly less income and attendances, coupled with massive running costs?
Having done so well to recoup most of their Premier League investment, by holding out for huge fees for Gary Medel, Steven Caulker and Jordon Mutch, Cardiff then gave Solskjaer almost a reported £15m to reinvest.
What resulted was a spending spree and a bloated squad.
' Cardiff City's unwanted stars ' Three strikers arrived, Adam Le Fondre, Federico Macheda and Javi Guerra. Tom Adeyemi and Anthony Pilkington were smart signings, each around the £1m mark, with free agent Kagisho Dikgacoi acquired to solidify midfield.
A decent collection, everything considered. Factoring in Guido Burgstaller and Danny Gabbidon, the spend at this stage was about £5m, a perfectly reasonable amount for a relegated Premier League side with parachute payments.
The squad looked well stocked, with plenty of competition for places. They looked particularly strong in central defence, with captain Mark Hudson, Matthew Connolly, Ben Turner and Juan Cala to choose from.
So I was baffled they went on to spend a huge sum on acquiring Sean Morrison and Bruno Ecuele Manga, while shipping out Hudson.
' Extravagant purchases ' It looked unnecessary at the time and looks ridiculous in light of recent events.
Why was Solskjaer indulged for such extravagant purchases?
Slade, seemingly brought in with the dual role of manager and auditor, has been recently cutting sizeable chunks out of his oversized squad, but would that have been necessary had this final transfer market splurge not taken place?
Football fans are not unreasonable. If you tell them the truth and explain your decisions, like it or not, they will accept measures that need to be taken for the greater good of the club. What they do not take kindly to is being kept in the dark over decisions that appear baffling.
How can you justify signing Le Fondre in the summer, Slade playing him every week, then shipping him out on loan to a rival club? There is no suitable explanation for this.
Why were Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Kim Bo-Kyung and Guido Burgstaller released when there was surely the chance to recoup some money on them during the transfer window?
Why not release them back in September, or wait until the transfer window closes in February?
Why loan out Javi Guerra, who has a proven scoring record in Spain, but release Juan Cala?
There may be perfectly reasonable explanations for every single one of these cases. But without any sort of explanation the only thing we can do is speculate and people will naturally assume the worst.
Did Slade not rate Mats Moller Daehli, a gifted player so highly thought of by the fans?
We were told that he would only leave for a huge sum, but he slipped away with the club seemingly accepting the loss of one of their brightest prospects.
Ravel Morrison was another who hardly featured.
' Sympathy for Slade ' Where this leaves Cardiff is anyone’s guess. In the short term, they need to ready themselves in for a relegation battle. After one win in 10 games, the club cannot have picked a worse time to start dismantling the squad.
Chances are that most fans won’t forgive Slade for being the man in charge when this has taken place and the football he has produced has also been turgid. But I’ve sympathy for him.
Good luck to the club in trying selling those season tickets.
I attended the meeting that preceded the return to blue and it may have been great theatre, with the wheels of change already in motion, but it was also inspiring stuff.
This needs to be a regular occurrence and a bit more of this type of openness will help going forward.
We fans deserve better than we’ve had in recent weeks. Better football and a better explanation over the transfer dealings, in my view.
Re: " I am utterly baffled "
Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:29 pm
it's what I said in my post the other day, there's obviously a reason why it's just happened practically over night beyond making us sustainable.
Re: " I am utterly baffled "
Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:55 am
Never easy supporting cardiff if you no what I mean .
Strange things going on again utterly bizarre who knows where we'll be come the end of the season may be league one who knows.
Under malky he would say no point in bringing in players unless they are better than what we've got.
Under slade I feel we've gone backwards so far back the playing style is like dave jones but not as good I feel we've gone back 10 years we are way off looking down not up especially with our current form.
Always something at city thats not right and this current situation is not right.
Slade has his signings its his team now but I have no confidence in him even keeping us in this league.
The club is bereft of any direction or leadership on and of the field with no philosophy of how to playffootball hence so many players in and out all the time.
Again the fans have worked it out do we have to protest again for the club to listen be ause unless they come out and explain a few things my conclusion is we are going nowhere only down playing football with no passion pace of direction.
Answers please ccfc ?
Strange things going on again utterly bizarre who knows where we'll be come the end of the season may be league one who knows.
Under malky he would say no point in bringing in players unless they are better than what we've got.
Under slade I feel we've gone backwards so far back the playing style is like dave jones but not as good I feel we've gone back 10 years we are way off looking down not up especially with our current form.
Always something at city thats not right and this current situation is not right.
Slade has his signings its his team now but I have no confidence in him even keeping us in this league.
The club is bereft of any direction or leadership on and of the field with no philosophy of how to playffootball hence so many players in and out all the time.
Again the fans have worked it out do we have to protest again for the club to listen be ause unless they come out and explain a few things my conclusion is we are going nowhere only down playing football with no passion pace of direction.
Answers please ccfc ?
Re: " I am utterly baffled "
Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:07 am
brickyblue wrote:Never easy supporting cardiff if you no what I mean .
Strange things going on again utterly bizarre who knows where we'll be come the end of the season may be league one who knows.
Under malky he would say no point in bringing in players unless they are better than what we've got.
Under slade I feel we've gone backwards so far back the playing style is like dave jones but not as good I feel we've gone back 10 years we are way off looking down not up especially with our current form.
Always something at city thats not right and this current situation is not right.
Slade has his signings its his team now but I have no confidence in him even keeping us in this league.
The club is bereft of any direction or leadership on and of the field with no philosophy of how to playffootball hence so many players in and out all the time.
Again the fans have worked it out do we have to protest again for the club to listen be ause unless they come out and explain a few things my conclusion is we are going nowhere only down playing football with no passion pace of direction.
Answers please ccfc ?
How can you compare the football under Dave Jones as being similar to what we play under Slade ???
Re: " I am utterly baffled "
Fri Jan 30, 2015 2:35 pm
Cardiff dyskinesia wrote:brickyblue wrote:Never easy supporting cardiff if you no what I mean .
Strange things going on again utterly bizarre who knows where we'll be come the end of the season may be league one who knows.
Under malky he would say no point in bringing in players unless they are better than what we've got.
Under slade I feel we've gone backwards so far back the playing style is like dave jones but not as good I feel we've gone back 10 years we are way off looking down not up especially with our current form.
Always something at city thats not right and this current situation is not right.
Slade has his signings its his team now but I have no confidence in him even keeping us in this league.
The club is bereft of any direction or leadership on and of the field with no philosophy of how to playffootball hence so many players in and out all the time.
Again the fans have worked it out do we have to protest again for the club to listen be ause unless they come out and explain a few things my conclusion is we are going nowhere only down playing football with no passion pace of direction.
Answers please ccfc ?
How can you compare the football under Dave Jones as being similar to what we play under Slade ???
What have fans worked out?
Re: " I am utterly baffled "
Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:29 pm
Cardiff dyskinesia wrote:brickyblue wrote:Never easy supporting cardiff if you no what I mean .
Strange things going on again utterly bizarre who knows where we'll be come the end of the season may be league one who knows.
Under malky he would say no point in bringing in players unless they are better than what we've got.
Under slade I feel we've gone backwards so far back the playing style is like dave jones but not as good I feel we've gone back 10 years we are way off looking down not up especially with our current form.
Always something at city thats not right and this current situation is not right.
Slade has his signings its his team now but I have no confidence in him even keeping us in this league.
The club is bereft of any direction or leadership on and of the field with no philosophy of how to playffootball hence so many players in and out all the time.
Again the fans have worked it out do we have to protest again for the club to listen be ause unless they come out and explain a few things my conclusion is we are going nowhere only down playing football with no passion pace of direction.
Answers please ccfc ?
How can you compare the football under Dave Jones as being similar to what we play under Slade ???
442 system is similar to dj
Re: " I am utterly baffled "
Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:33 pm
pembroke allan wrote:Cardiff dyskinesia wrote:brickyblue wrote:Never easy supporting cardiff if you no what I mean .
Strange things going on again utterly bizarre who knows where we'll be come the end of the season may be league one who knows.
Under malky he would say no point in bringing in players unless they are better than what we've got.
Under slade I feel we've gone backwards so far back the playing style is like dave jones but not as good I feel we've gone back 10 years we are way off looking down not up especially with our current form.
Always something at city thats not right and this current situation is not right.
Slade has his signings its his team now but I have no confidence in him even keeping us in this league.
The club is bereft of any direction or leadership on and of the field with no philosophy of how to playffootball hence so many players in and out all the time.
Again the fans have worked it out do we have to protest again for the club to listen be ause unless they come out and explain a few things my conclusion is we are going nowhere only down playing football with no passion pace of direction.
Answers please ccfc ?
How can you compare the football under Dave Jones as being similar to what we play under Slade ???
What have fans worked out?
Read what I have said it might give you a clue