FIVE BIG NAMES TO LEAVE / TOUGH DECISIONS NEEDED!

With Neil Warnock already admitting he needs to sell players to fund transfers in January, we look at those who could be in danger of being offloaded

Who should go??????

BYJACK VITTLES

Tuesday 15th Nov 2016

Anthony Pilkington and Lex Immers could be sold in January

Neil Warnock has already admitted he is willing to offload some players to help him finance the signings he wants to make in the January transfer window.

With the restrictions of financial fair play, the Cardiff City boss has said he is willing to let fringe players leave the club - and even cash-in on stars - to balance the books. He has also suggested that he may have to let go of some players he doesn't want to see go, so could there be a surprise sale or two?

With that in mind, we take a look at the players who could be playing for their Cardiff City futures in the next few weeks.


The Dutchman settled in well for Cardiff at the start of the year having joined on loan from Feyenoord but has found himself frozen out at Cardiff City Stadium since Neil Warnock took over. The forward signed a two-year contract only a few months ago, but has started just seven games this season and hasn't scored since April.


Immers has struggled this season
While he has admitted he is happy at Cardiff for now, he has also revealed that he would like to return to his former side ADO Den Haag in his native Netherlands at some point in the future. Immers has not exactly taken the Championship by storm, but he has a good record in the Dutch league, scoring more than 50 times for Feyenoord and ADO Den Haag in the Eredivisie. Could Warnock cash in on Immers' reputation in his homeland?

Anthony Pilkington

Not someone who would immediately leap to mind when thinking about players Cardiff City could do without.

But with Warnock stating his willingness to generate some income by cashing in on some star players, could Pilkington's days be numbered? He has been playing since Warnock took over, but with strikers looking likely to come in, Pilkington could be the one to make way.


Pilkington may attract substantial bids from other Championship clubs
His three goals in 13 appearances this season are not a bad return from a player used mostly in a midfield role, but with Warnock bringing in two wide players in the form of free agents Kieran Richardson and Junior Hoilett, Pilkington may struggle to nail down a spot in the side. Used as a striker when Lambert went off injured against Nottingham Forest, Pilkington showed the pace to get in behind defences but his finishing let him down, as he missed two or three gilt edged scoring opportunities.

He has proven top level form however, including more than 50 Premier League appearances. So he may attract some interest from other Championship sides despite signing a new contract at Cardiff City Stadium in September.

Bruno Manga

Manga's contract is up in the summer, and Cardiff would rather cash in on the defender now than let him go for free in the summer. He hasn't played a single minute for the Bluebirds since Warnock's arrival, as new signing Sol Bamba and skipper Sean Morrison formed a strong central defensive partnership.

With Matthew Connolly also in reserve, Warnock may well feel he can let a defender go in order to finance any deals he has planned

It may be the right time to cash in and sell defender Bruno Ecuele Manga (centre)
The Gabon international has never quite managed to make the centre-back position his own during his two and a half seasons in South Wales, and it seems as though he won't get much of a chance to prove his worth before being shipped off in January. Whether any clubs consider it good business to sign the player in January remains to be seen. Many possible suiters will probably be happy to bide their time and snap him up for free in the summer.

Emyr Huws

It's a bit of a shock to be talking about Emyr Huws when it comes to possible departures, but there are some sound reasons that could see the youngster depart. The Wales international has started only once for the Bluebirds this season - in a 3-0 defeat to Preston. And in that match he was taken off by Paul Trollope at half time. He hasn't been seen in a Cardiff City shirt since.


Huws has featured for Wales but has struggled to break into the Cardiff starting XI

The Cardiff City international report card: How did the Bluebirds fare with their countries?
Huws has been widely tipped as one of the next big Welsh talents. A product of the Manchester City academy and already with 10 international caps to his name, it is easy to see why Cardiff were tempted to bring him in during the summer. But things simply haven't worked out for Huws, and while his absence continues to frustrate Bluebirds and Wales fans alike, it is hard to see him forcing his way into Neil Warnock's midfield anytime soon.

His credentials could see a number of Championship clubs come in for him in January, and perhaps even a few from the lower reaches of the Premier League. The money they may offer could make a huge difference in Cardiff securing the players that Warnock wants to help keep the Bluebirds away the relegation zone.

Craig Noone

Another player that could fall into the category of potential money-maker as opposed to surplus to requirements. Noone has played in 14 of Cardiff's 16 league games this season. But the midfielder has failed to score and has been overshadowed by new signings Junior Hoilett and the reinvigorated due of Peter Whittingham and Aron Gunnarssson since Warnock took over.


Could Craig Noone be sold to finance a dip into the transfer market in January?
Noone has played well in patches for the Bluebirds, notching up six goals in 40 appearances lasts season in the type of form that interested a number of Championship clubs. With increasing their firepower in front of goal Warnock's key aim this January, he may be willing to let Noone go for a good price to finance any transfers.

With eight more matches until the window opens in the new year, there is still time for Noone to convince Warnock that he is indispensible. In truth, it is not Noone's form that would see him let go, it is his potential value.

As we are selling to buy - Manga would get us a fee ( if interest from France ).

Will need to be a bit of a Fire Sale, if the club are serous about supporting Neil Warnock!

I personally think they are; otherwise why employ him in the first place?

Non-playing high earners and strikers not producing must be the priority but I'm happy to go with whatever the manager thinks and have confidence in his ability to turn things around over the next 18 months rather than 6 months!

As we are selling to buy - Manga would get us a fee ( if interest from France ).

I don't think we would get a fee for Manga. He will be away for the whole of January at the African Cup of Nations and his contract expires in June. I think we would be happy just to get him off the payroll and let him go for nothing.

Will need to be a bit of a Fire Sale, if the club are serous about supporting Neil Warnock!

I personally think they are; otherwise why employ him in the first place?

Non-playing high earners and strikers not producing must be the priority but I'm happy to go with whatever the manager thinks and have confidence in his ability to turn things around over the next 18 months rather than 6 months!

Fire sale it is I'm afraid. The club nor NW have a choice on who is leaving it simply comes down to whether another club is willing to bid for any of our players, if they do then they are off.

Personally I wouldn't be too unhappy to see Pilkington, Noone or Magna leave. Trouble is anyone who watched AP's howling misses against Nottingham F on Sky would be reluctant to pay too much for him.

Would be sorry if Immers went. Everywhere I read it says he has struggled this season, but I disagree. He has either been played out of position when he has started, up front or when he has come on it has he has come on he has had little time to make an impact. The only time he has started a game in his best position - behind two strikers - was at Birmingham, and he was outstanding. Hit the bar twice and was all over the place.

Agree with getting rid of Manga if we can. If we can get a million or so for him in January that will be good business.

For me Noone and Manga would be criminal letting go.

Immers has been nowhere near his loan standard. Potential there we seen it last year but his head doesn't seem in it. And I rate Pilks, but seems to cant hit a barn door at moment

Cannot see Pilks leaving, he's only just signed a new deal within the last 6 weeks.

The club obviously want to keep hold of him otherwise why give him a new deal.

I'd be very surprised to see him leave, Warnock seems to like Pilks also.

Please bare in mind that jack vittles is a pathetic excuse for a journalist.
last week within two sentences he claimed that both trollope and warnock signed lambert.
the guy is a pubic are

Are they being sold on Black Friday ?

If we can sell players for any money it will be Good Friday most are not worth much after the last two seasons there value has hit bottom prices.

I agree with Bluebird drop most of our players are fairly average anyway . I am surprised at immers his loss of form is very disappointing but as for most of the others we can replace them with somebody else

Hey yeah some Black Friday deals for somebody

For me Noone and Manga would be criminal letting go.

Immers has been nowhere near his loan standard. Potential there we seen it last year but his head doesn't seem in it. And I rate Pilks, but seems to cant hit a barn door at moment

Perhaps there is no smoke without fire! He says hes happy but he has his darts tournament and has talked about going back to his old club. I get the feeling he is not 100% happy with being in Cardiff, I could be wrong but its a possibility.

If I made sugestions to my boss about wanting to go back to previous employment and disapeared to organise a running event whilst others were perhaps training im sure alarm bells would be going off in his head. Just saying