" CARDIFF CITY ISSUE HANDS OFF "

Cardiff City issue 'hands off' warning as rivals make Peter Whittingham and Joe Mason enquiries

Monday 18 MAY 2015


BY TERRY PHILLIPS

We can reveal the Bluebirds have had contact from Championship rivals over the pair but do not intend to let them go


Cardiff City have issued a firm ‘hands off’ warning to rival clubs keen on Peter Whittingham and Joe Mason.

The Bluebirds have had enquiries for both players, but have made it clear the two are part of manager Russell Slade’s plans for next season.

It would take a major bid to prise either away from the Bluebirds as Slade aims to build a team capable of challenging for a top-six finish.

Wolves have been linked with a £3m move for Mason, but have not yet made their interest official and have not talked about a fee anywhere near that figure.

The biggest fee Wolves manager Kenny Jackett has spent in his two years at the club is £2m for Benik Afobe from MK Dons.

Action Images / Peter CziborraCardiff City manager Russell Slade
Mason, the striker recalled by Slade from his loan spell at Bolton, is under contract with Cardiff until 2018.

He impressed during the last seven matches of the season, playing mainly alongside Eoin Doyle, and scored during a 3-2 win against Blackpool.

Plymouth-born Mason, aged 24 and signed from Argyle four years ago, is highly-rated by Slade.

He has scored 16 goals in 74 league games for Cardiff, while Mason fired the Bluebirds ahead in their League Cup final against Liverpool in 2012 and netted six goals when manager Malky Mackay’s men were promoted to the Premier League.

Whittingham, 30, has often been linked with interest from other clubs during his eight years with Cardiff, but he remains a crucial player in central midfield.


Fulham, Wigan and West Brom are among the clubs who have pursued Whittingham over the last few seasons, while there has been interest, although no official bids, since the season ended.

City are adamant they are not planning to sell one of their prize assets. Whittingham is under contract until 2017 and looks likely to be Cardiff’s main playmaker in midfield again next season.

Slade is keen to keep both players in his squad and has made it clear the focus now is on building for the future.


He sliced £12m off the wage bill after taking over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last October, but he is adamant City will be hanging on to their key players and adding three or four quality new signings.

The key areas are wide midfield, where pace is a priority, plus central midfield and centre-forward. The Bluebirds boss is still hoping Kenwyne Jones could stay, but he is on the hunt for a powerful striker with physical presence to help bring the best out of Mason and Doyle.

Slade is flying to Malaysia early next month for face-to-face talks with Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan on potential targets and the transfer budget he has available.

Tan has already given the green light to press ahead on the early stages of two possible signings and it looks certain Slade will have money to spend this summer.


Bluebirds officials have denied speculation that Slade is keen on 29-year-old Bosnian international midfield player Senijad Ibricic, who is on loan at Macedoninan side FK Vardar from Turkish outfit Kayseri Erciyesspor.

He has one year left on his current contract at Erciyesspor, but with the Turkish club experiencing severe financial problems he has been told he can leave for free as part of a clear-out.

Ibricic, an aggressive, attacking midfield player, has 42 caps for Bosnia, but called time on his international career last summer.

It looks highly unlikely City are keen on Ibricic, while talk of a bid for 23-year-old Wigan Athletic defender Rob Kiernan also looks off the mark.

Senijad IbricicSenijad Ibricic

The former Republic of Ireland Under-21 defender is under contract at Wigan until 2017 and manager Gary Caldwell has made it clear he has a part to play next season.

Slade also has a full contingent in defence with Ben Turner now fit and ready to challenge Bruno Manga and Sean Morrison at centre-back in front of goalkeeper David Marshall.

Matt Connolly is also back with the Bluebirds after finishing the season on loan at Watford.

Lee Peltier, Scott Malone, Fabio and Declan John are the main contenders for two full-back roles.

Cardiff captain Marshall is joined by Celtic’s Craig Gordon and Dundee’s Scott Bain in the Scotland squad for June’s friendly with Qatar and the Euro 2016 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.

Bain is in Gordon Strachan’s 26-man squad for the first time.

Scotland play Qatar at Easter Road on Friday, June 5 before travelling to Dublin for the match against Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland side on Saturday, June 13.

You beat me to it Annis, I've just put it out

You beat me to it Annis, I've just put it out

Sorry Mason by 2 mins

You beat me to it Annis, I've just put it out

Sorry Mason by 2 mins

Not sure if this is legit from the club or just them saying we want big bids.

Can only be a good thing.

Not sure if this is legit from the club or just them saying we want big bids.

Wayne, I believe your right.

Hmmm?

I dont think there has been a bid for Joe Mason?

Im praying whittingham is replaced in the side for next season

I'm praying he'made captain and starts every game because he's quality

Yep!

If we are to have any chance at all next season we need both . Especially Peter whittingham , a player of his quality at this level would cost us in the region of 3/5 million . Thats if you can afford the wages and persuade them to come to a circus of a club like this with no more than an outside chance of the playoffs next season . He will be vital next season , played in the correct position and given the right role in the team he could be the difference between a good season and a bad one .
Given his loyalty to the club over the years and the effort he has put in ( albeit does have his bad patches ) he deserves the respect of every Cardiff fan .

Mason also can and will be a big player for us next season , put him in just behind Doyle and we will have a very dangerous front two

Which means come back with a better offer and we will sell. Or if you stall we will sell for original amount

If we are to have any chance at all next season we need both . Especially Peter whittingham , a player of his quality at this level would cost us in the region of 3/5 million . Thats if you can afford the wages and persuade them to come to a circus of a club like this with no more than an outside chance of the playoffs next season . He will be vital next season , played in the correct position and given the right role in the team he could be the difference between a good season and a bad one .
Given his loyalty to the club over the years and the effort he has put in ( albeit does have his bad patches ) he deserves the respect of every Cardiff fan .

Mason also can and will be a big player for us next season , put him in just behind Doyle and we will have a very dangerous front two

Aint you realised yet that slade will never play him in the right role or position

If we are to have any chance at all next season we need both . Especially Peter whittingham , a player of his quality at this level would cost us in the region of 3/5 million . Thats if you can afford the wages and persuade them to come to a circus of a club like this with no more than an outside chance of the playoffs next season . He will be vital next season , played in the correct position and given the right role in the team he could be the difference between a good season and a bad one .
Given his loyalty to the club over the years and the effort he has put in ( albeit does have his bad patches ) he deserves the respect of every Cardiff fan .

Mason also can and will be a big player for us next season , put him in just behind Doyle and we will have a very dangerous front two

Aint you realised yet that slade will never play him in the right role or position

Ain't you realised yet that if that's true it should be slade leaving not whittingham . A decent manager would look at the strengths within his squad and utilise them to the full Potential . Whittingham is pure class at this level and would be sorely missed when he's gone .

a 'hands off warning' at cardiff city as about as believable as the tooth fairy. it means anything but.

they will go if we get good enough offers. lower offers will be accepted than last year as the budget is being cut down to a more realistic level. the problem is that we will be mid table at best next year.

I thought the club wanted to get rid of all the high earners?

If so then surely Whitts comes into that category?

So unless this is a way of trying to increase the bids that come in it can only mean that the club is being selective with regards to the high earners it wants to get rid of.

gotto be honest Im happy for Whitts to go on this seasons form. Liability offers us nothing going forward anymore

Anything over 1m for Mason is great business.

Whitts I love but he will never fit into a 4-4-2 at this stage of his career.

If we are to have any chance at all next season we need both . Especially Peter whittingham , a player of his quality at this level would cost us in the region of 3/5 million . Thats if you can afford the wages and persuade them to come to a circus of a club like this with no more than an outside chance of the playoffs next season . He will be vital next season , played in the correct position and given the right role in the team he could be the difference between a good season and a bad one .
Given his loyalty to the club over the years and the effort he has put in ( albeit does have his bad patches ) he deserves the respect of every Cardiff fan .

Mason also can and will be a big player for us next season , put him in just behind Doyle and we will have a very dangerous front two

Aint you realised yet that slade will never play him in the right role or position

Ain't you realised yet that if that's true it should be slade leaving not whittingham . A decent manager would look at the strengths within his squad and utilise them to the full Potential . Whittingham is pure class at this level and would be sorely missed when he's gone .

I agree with what you just said. Im not saying whittingham hasent got class, played in a different position/role he can be an asset to the team, but slade chooses otherwise and if slade insists on keeping to 442 imo its better for the team if whittingham is replaced with someone who can play that centre midfield role in a 442 better than he does.

Slade.....Ole......even Malky - Whitts has been too deep for years so where as its easy to point the finger at Slade, Whitts hasnt performed for years.