Fri Dec 02, 2016 9:24 am
Why Cardiff City may struggle to attract players in January
By Scott Johnson
Friday 2nd December 2016
If Cardiff remain near the bottom three in the New Year then it will be far harder to attract players
Coming off the back of their third defeat in four games at Aston Villa on the weekend, Neil Warnock was quick to praise his beaten Cardiff side, but also offered the damning prognosis that: "I can't see a lot changing until January if I'm honest.”
Having had time to assess his options, Warnock is clearly pinning all his hopes on an injection of quality in the new year, but may find that it will be far easier said than done.
It was a strange statement in many respects. It is safe to assume that it was intended as a stark warning to the powers that be, those that control the purse strings. Essentially, this is Warnock stating publically that he didn’t get Cardiff in to this mess and he can’t get them out of it without reinforcements.
Sol Bamba has been impressive since joining the club
He also added: "Look at Hoilett and Bamba, I don't know where we'd be without them." This serves as a reminder of his transfer market prowess, but is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the players he inherited. Such statements are unlikely to inspire ahead of a pivotal run of fixtures that precede the reopening of the transfer window.
These games are massively important, not just for Cardiff’s league position, but also for their pulling power. If Cardiff are still in and around the bottom three next month, it will be far harder to attract players than if they are making a surge towards mid-table. As much as Warnock and the club may be a draw, the spectre of relegation is likely to undermine the appeal.
There is also the issue Warnock’s future at the club, which Nathan Blake touched upon earlier this week. “The problem they will have trying to attract players is longevity,” Blake explained, with regards to the potentially short-term nature of his time in charge. “If I'm representing a player, I'm thinking, OK we can sign for you in January but you could be gone in the summer, and my player is going to be on a three or four year contract. I know the kind of turmoil that's gone at the club prior so if you leave, what plans are in place?”
Should you find a way to navigate those particular issues, you then encounter the single greatest obstacle: the inflated transfer market.
Transfers like Jonathan Kodija's £14m move to Aston Villa have inflated the Championship transfer market
Aston Villa have a lot to answer for. The gob-smacking, Financial Fair Play-baiting sums they spent in the summer has set a new precedent for what is an acceptable amount to expect for a superior Championship player.
Warnock touched upon this issue in the same statement, stating: "Today we were unlucky, I can't really fault them, they've given everything, we probably just didn't have that bit of quality that Villa have got. But when you pay £14 million quid you expect a bit more don't you?” He was referring to Jonathan Kodjia, who was brought in from Bristol City in the summer and terrorised Cardiff, scoring Villa’s second goal.
His fee has become a rule of thumb, so when Huddersfield Town’s Nahki Wells rejected a new deal with the club recently, he was immediately slapped with a prohibitive £8m price tag. This is a player they signed for £1.5m a couple of years ago and despite 18 goals last year, has not done enough to justify that degree of mark up.
Similarly, Brentford’s Scott Hogan has started this season in fine form, having ended the last campaign in a prolific manner. He was recently linked with a £8m move to Norwich, who are desperate for more attacking threat, having missed out on a marquee striker in the summer. Hogan cost Brentford just shy of £1m two years ago and has also since suffered two serious knee injuries.
Warnock’s budget is unknown, but the likelihood is that Cardiff will not be parting with huge sums of money and understandably so, when you consider their recent financial difficulties and uncertain second tier status. That leaves them hunting around for bargains and it will be hard to uncover players that will come in and have a significant impact in such a shallow pool of talent.
Maybe Warnock has a few tricks up his sleeve, but chances are that they will be in a similar situation to the summer, where they are waiting for bigger fish to makes their moves first. So if Norwich do land Hogan, maybe Kyle Lafferty will be allowed to leave. If not, Cardiff may be resigned to looking at more players in the mould of Marouane Chamakh: available for good reason and ill-equipped to inspire a struggling side.
Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:03 am
I think this was covered by Nathan Blake in the Echo! Keep up there Scotty boy!
Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:55 am
Amazing how Huddersfield and Brentford can find gem strikers for around £1m and we can't? Whatever happened to the days when we found a young Michael Chopra?