Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:54 pm
The verdict on what happened next to every player who joined or left Cardiff City in January.
WalesOnline
Weds March 23rd
Kenneth Zohore and Tom Lawrence signed on Deadline Day.
The general consensus as the January transfer window slammed shut was that the Bluebirds had done remarkably well to end up with a squad at least as good as the one that entered it.
Rumoured moves for key players like David Marshall and Matthew Connolly never materialised, while offloading the likes of Kenwyne Jones helped to make the wage bill a touch more managable.
Added to that was a dash of genuine excitement, thanks to the unexpected additions of Welsh youngster Tom Lawrence and Feyernoord's Lex Immers.
Some even wondered whether the transfer embargo had worked to Cardiff's advantage.
So ten games on from the Dutchman's debut, have the club been vindicated? The form has been good since then, even if that has arguably owed as much to the improved form of regulars like Peter Whittingham and Bruno Manga.
We cast our eye over the key incomings and outgoings to deliver our verdict....
THE SIGNINGS....
Lex Immers
Four goals in eight games is an excellent return in itself for an attacking midfielder, but Immers has also played a key role in lifting morale on and off the field.
Few expected the transfer embargo to be followed by a genuine marquee signing, but that is what Lex has proven to be.
He is good in the air, brings others into play well, makes good runs and, most importantly of all, scores goals.
That he has settled so quickly tells you everything you need to know about his willingness to learn and adapt, with many at the club impressed with his attitude.
He will be a key player in the play-off run in.
Bluebirds will rightly be desperately hoping that they can can find a way to keep him after that.
VERDICT: A brilliant, unqualified success.
Tom Lawrence
It has been refreshing and exciting for all to see a talented young Welshman turning out in blue week in, week out.
There have been flashes of the flair that underpin his reputation, regularly ghosting past players and drawing fouls in dangerous areas. When you have a set-piece taker of Peter Whittingham's quality in your thanks, that is a priceless asset.
Arguably Lawrence's best showing was the 4-1 demolition of Brighton at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Particularly in the first half, he looked liberated by moving out to the wing, where he had more time and space to drive towards goal with the ball at his feet.
Both he and his partner Anthony Pilkington had endured bitterly frustrating afternoons when he had played through the middle in the preceding fixtures against Charlton Atheltic and MK Dons.
A player still improving and learning, it isn't obvious what his best position is just yet.
Like Craig Noone and Sammy Ameobi, probably the two players most similar to him in the squad, he can drift out of games as easily as he can turn them in one move.
The end product isn't quite there yet, even if Stuart O'Keefe's key goal in the Severnside derby would not have happened without him.
VERDICT: Has comfortably justified Slade's faith in bringing him back to Wales, but will know he has more to give.
Kenneth Zohore
This was a signing that took all by surprise, a young Dane who had burst onto the Champions League scene a few years ago but never lived up to the promise.
The club went to considerable lengths to rush the deal through before the window shut, with the striker moving to Vincent Tan's Belgium side, KV Kortrijt, before a hasty loan deal was sealed with the Bluebirds.
Since then there have been five substitute appearances, but with just 32 minutes on the pitch, little time to make an impact.
As such, we are left with a few runs into the channels and the odd shot (coming close against Leeds United when he ought to have scored a rare example) to try and assess his potential.
If it was to make an instant impact then he has not managed to do that. If it was to mould him for the Belgian top division, then is he really benefiting from the current arrangement?
VERDICT: It is hard not to sympathise with Zohore, but there are more questions than answers when it comes to this deal.
AND THOSE WHO LEFT.....
Kenwyne Jones
The target man's departure had an impact on many levels.
It was the departure of the club's top earner, saving £35,000 a week.
That was recognition and a statement from the club that previous levels of spending were unsustainable.
It has forced Slade to rethink his model for the Bluebirds, with the transfer embargo removing the possibility of replacing Jones with a striker in the same mould.
Regardless of Kenwyne's notable qualities, the quality of Cardiff's football has unquestionably improved since the change in shape and the better balance in midfield.
The Trinidad and Tobago man has fared well enough since, bagging a couple of trademark headers and leading his team to victory over Xavi's Al Saad.
VERDICT: A very good player for the second tier, but a necessary sacrifice to help get Cardiff's house in order
Joe Mason
Few would have predicted that Mason would be another to be ushered out of the door, particularly after he appeared to make himself key to Slade's plans in the 3-1 win over Wolves.
How Joe Mason's Wolves move hasn't worked out so far
Still, with the embargo looming, the club felt the £3 million fee was too much to turn down for a player who had probably no fulfilled his potential.
Has endured a frustrating time at Wolves, but is already popular with the fans after scoring seconds into his debut.
We're trying to work out whether or not that was Joe Mason's first professional touch for Wolves. One touch, one goal..?
— Wolves (@OfficialWolves) February 2, 2016
VERDICT: Has not justified the money at his new club, but it still feels like he was rushed out the door. Could have made a difference.
Alex Revell
"It was a chance I had to take because it was a club that everyone would want to play for. It was a massive opportunity, and even scoring on my debut wasn’t enough. I knew from then it was going to be a losing battle."
Revell left Cardiff bitterly frustrated at how things had panned out, but the truth is he simply wasn't good enough to spearhead a push for the play-offs.
The fee that brought him to South Wales wasn't particularly substantial at his level, but his departure on a free just a year later was a damning indictment of all involved.
Two goals in nine games for MK Dons since seems about right for a decent but unspectacular striker.
VERDICT: Never going to be a long-term solution up front. Needed to try and rebuild career elsewhere.
Matthew Kennedy
"For somebody so young on his debut to look after the ball so well was good to see, there was real quality when he was putting in crosses. Matty is a bit of a project right now."
So said Russell Slade after Kennedy's Man on the Match debut against Blackburn Rovers, but after that promising started he completely faded from the first team picture.
Though he is yet to score, the Scottish winger has featured regularly since making the loan switch to Port Vale, currently sitting 10th in League One.
He was well behind Craig Noone, Sammy Ameobi and Tom Lawrence in the pecking order, with the chances of first team football even slimmer after Peter Whittingham was reinvented playing off the left.
VERDICT: Makes sense that he is getting first-team football rather than kicking heels, particularly as there is little chance of him overtaking Noone and Lawrence.
Gabriel Tamas
One of the more bizarre transfers in recent history came last summer, when Tamas arrived on a one year deal despite a seemingly unimpressive trial.
He made only one appearance, before leaving to rejoin Steaua Bucharest.
That the owner there would only take him on if he agree to cut the alcohol and go to church every week probably tells you everything you need to know.
VERDICT: For the best, its fair to say.
Declan John
A brave move from the young left-back, joining a club like Chesterfield scrapping for their lives towards the bottom of League One.
It has been a mighty fall from grace for a player who was a regular in the Premier League a couple of years ago.
Slade clearly does not have much faith in the Cardiff academy graduate, giving him just one appearance this season and six last.
John will be desperately disappointed to see Ben Davies pull so far away from him with Euro 2016 just months away.
Cardiff fans will be hoping that his call-up to the under-21's squad, announced today, can be the start of a long-term rebirth.
VERDICT: It seems a real waste that he has not had the chance to properly push Scott Malone
OVERALL VERDICT
It is impossible to argue that Cardiff are stronger without Joe Mason and Kenwyne Jones, but the reality is, in Kewnyne's case at least, it made little financial sense.
The club certainly did impressively to maintain a squad capable of pushing for the play-offs, but they have also been immensely fortunate that Anthony Pilkington's excellence has spared them criticism for failing to replace the two main men up front.
Lex Immers has been a revelation, and all will be hoping he can be tied to a permanent deal in the summer.
Whether that will be to play in the top division may depend on how the players who joined with him perform over the next couple of months.