' Gary Madine the Marmite man '

' Gary Madine the Marmite man '

July 2018

By Paul Gronow

It’s around 21:35 on April 6th 2018 in the Cardiff City Stadium and a 27 year old man dressed in blue cuts a lonely figure in front of a broiling Canton Stand. That man is Gary Madine and the occasion is a top of the table clash between Cardiff City and Wolverhampton Wanderers in what could have been a potential title decider.

He has just missed a 94th minute penalty to draw the teams level after an imperious Ruben Neves free kick had given the first placed side an invaluable lead against the Bluebirds and the stadium rings out to a chorus of sighs and boos, in that moment many Cardiff City supporters decided that Gary Madine was definitely not for them.

However, this bleak tale doesn’t fairly represent the whole story, Gary Madine can be and one might even say will be, the main man to lead the line this season for Cardiff City.

Gary Madine arrived at Cardiff City on another frantic transfer deadline day for a sizeable 5 million pounds and it would be fair to say his departure from Bolton Wanderers caused a bigger stir than his arrival at the bluebirds did. Many supporters were shocked that the South Wales club would spend such an amount on what was, in truth, a striker who had a patchy record at best.

Fast forward 13 games and Madine is yet to score for his new club, many chances have come and gone but he is yet to bulge the net for the bluebirds and this has given many supporters cause for concern.

To write him off solely due to his poor form in front of goal is indicative of modern day football whereby a striker is judged almost solely on his goal scoring record; whilst this may be fair to an extent it most certainly fails to look at the bigger picture.


Neil Warnock has consistently sung Madine’s praise from the moment he signed describing him as recently as last night as “the best player in training”. Of course what really matters is what happens ON the pitch but Warnock sees something a lot of supporters miss.

Whilst it is undoubtedly true that Madine needs to start scoring and quickly it would be remiss to not note his astonishing work ethic in what is often a lonely role up front for the Bluebirds. Watch any game he is involved in and he’s often the focus for most throw in’s and free kicks and wins more than his fair share of aerial duels with centre backs from all sides.

He tirelessly runs for the side and has assisted in at least two vital goals last season (see Ipswich and Sheffield United away) which turned out to be invaluable points at the end of the season.

Whilst Madine’s reputation off the pitch (for being, shall we say, a ladies man among other things) may precede him it would be fair to say that the Cardiff City hierarchy have been nothing but delighted with his conduct.

Madine leads the line both on and off the pitch and is seen as one of many leaders in the dressing room, his experience and combative style wins many plaudits from his team mates and management and Warnock is delighted with his contribution to the squad as a whole.



This coming season will see Cardiff City face some serious challenges to its solid defence and rapid attack and having a solid front man to lead the line and win the aerial battle is paramount to the Bluebirds staying up.

There could be a fearsome partnership forged with Bobby Reid and it will only take one goal to get the run going, many defences will not enjoy playing against such a physical presence and an argument could be made that Madine is superior to Zohore in the battle of the skies.

In summary, Madine needs a break and not just in front of goal, given the service and time he can lead the Cardiff City line with guile and force and will take some stopping.

Over to you big man.

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I really hope he proves me wrong, but I just don't think he's good enough

I really hope he proves me wrong, but I just don't think he's good enough

Gary Madine - "Goal Machine"

Johnny Evans says hello, and he will be over next year

As Shakespeare put it "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear".

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

He hasnt been given a fair chance , some strikers take longer to bed in than others ,very few hit the ground running .

I certainly have not written him off. Hopefully he can help us out a bit this season.

If we sign a striker he won't even get in the matchday squad. Zohore also needs to start scoring on a regular basis.

I think most people would agree he had a dissappointing start to his time here. I wouldn't write him off though and think he will have a part to play here.

In my view he simply does not have the quality to be a Premiership striker and if Warnock surprises everyone by bringing in a quality striker I can even see him either going out on loan or being sold

He is not good enough for PL.

I really hope he proves me wrong, but I just don't think he's good enough

Gary Madine - "Goal Machine"

he is never going to be that with his back to goal 20 yards out recieving balls launched from 60 yards away..

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

I wouldn't say I love him but I do think he's better than some clueless idiots make out

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

I wouldn't say I love him but I do think he's better than some clueless idiots make out

same here..won more than his fair share in the air and opponents were clearly bothered by him.
has to be a good option off the bench if we continue playing as we did last year...

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

I wouldn't say I love him but I do think he's better than some clueless idiots make out

is a clueless idiot anyone with a different opinion to yourself?

i cant honestly say im a fan but he did get undeserved criticism last season, especially after the wolves match.

fingers crossed he does ok but it would be a shock

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

I wouldn't say I love him but I do think he's better than some clueless idiots make out

is a clueless idiot anyone with a different opinion to yourself?

i cant honestly say im a fan but he did get undeserved criticism last season, especially after the wolves match.

fingers crossed he does ok but it would be a shock

I just mean the people who are saying he's shit without giving any reasoning.
You're usually a sensible poster Paul so it isn't aimed at anyone in particular.

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

I wouldn't say I love him but I do think he's better than some clueless idiots make out

is a clueless idiot anyone with a different opinion to yourself?

i cant honestly say im a fan but he did get undeserved criticism last season, especially after the wolves match.

fingers crossed he does ok but it would be a shock

I just mean the people who are saying he's shit without giving any reasoning.
You're usually a sensible poster Paul so it isn't aimed at anyone in particular.

think the price tag put people off, not the players fault of course. but it was a bad start that got worse.

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

I wouldn't say I love him but I do think he's better than some clueless idiots make out

is a clueless idiot anyone with a different opinion to yourself?

i cant honestly say im a fan but he did get undeserved criticism last season, especially after the wolves match.

fingers crossed he does ok but it would be a shock

I just mean the people who are saying he's shit without giving any reasoning.
You're usually a sensible poster Paul so it isn't aimed at anyone in particular.

think the price tag put people off, not the players fault of course. but it was a bad start that got worse.

He made mistakes but won a few important headers. Its not all about goals especially from a big man who's having the ball hoofed at him. Wasn't it him who put the head on it for the Pilkington goal late on?

The opening post puts it very well.
I get the feeling that there's some small problem blocking Gary at the moment and if we could identify it he's got good potential. Whenever a striker hits a goal less patch there's a psychological block which tends to get worse and worse. It can go on for a long time but it can also be dissolved instantly when a few things happen to go right - maybe a lucky bounce one day which leads to a goal or a long range effort which gets deflected all over the place like a snooker ball but ends up beating the goalkeeper.
The cumulative willpower of the crowd, which IS a factor, suddenly shifts off his shoulders and starts pushing him on in the right direction . It becomes a massive boost instead of an unbearable weight, and the player starts to believe in himself again.

We know he can do it, ( have a look on YouTube), so we're really waiting for that lucky bounce one day which may or may not ever happen and in the mean time all we can do is continue to show confidence in the player and hope it happens for his sake and ours. Sir Neil knows this and that's what he's doing - he's done it before with players like Sol Bamba and Junior Hiolet , who were also having difficulty translating their abilities to the pitch and I've said here before that I've got a feeling he'll eventually get Gary going and that if and when he does he'll be a revelation to his critics .

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

I wouldn't say I love him but I do think he's better than some clueless idiots make out

is a clueless idiot anyone with a different opinion to yourself?

i cant honestly say im a fan but he did get undeserved criticism last season, especially after the wolves match.

fingers crossed he does ok but it would be a shock

I just mean the people who are saying he's shit without giving any reasoning.
You're usually a sensible poster Paul so it isn't aimed at anyone in particular.

think the price tag put people off, not the players fault of course. but it was a bad start that got worse.

yes it was a lot of money..
but taking into account how we played last season { everything long and rushed } with Madine ,when he played as the target {back to goal 20/25 yards out }
and add Madines record at this level...21 goals in 127 games...roughly 1 in 6.
i dont think it reasonable to think he was brought in to be a goal machine.
so many fans dont seem to get that...or the fact that he was doing what he was being asked to do by the manager..
last time i tried saying this the reply was..im 6ft 4.used to play up front and know how strikers are supposed to play..
which implies { A }Madine DOESNT and is not listening to the coaching staff ..{ B } he is doing as told only Warnock DOESNT KNOW } or {C} the poster was a clueless idiot ..?

"marmite" would suggest that some people love him...

I wouldn't say I love him but I do think he's better than some clueless idiots make out

is a clueless idiot anyone with a different opinion to yourself?

i cant honestly say im a fan but he did get undeserved criticism last season, especially after the wolves match.

fingers crossed he does ok but it would be a shock

I just mean the people who are saying he's shit without giving any reasoning.
You're usually a sensible poster Paul so it isn't aimed at anyone in particular.

think the price tag put people off, not the players fault of course. but it was a bad start that got worse.

He made mistakes but won a few important headers. Its not all about goals especially from a big man who's having the ball hoofed at him. Wasn't it him who put the head on it for the Pilkington goal late on?

it was indeed.

I think firstly the penalty turned a lot of fans against him which was harsh as he had the bottle to step up and take it and we all know players miss pens.

I think the nail in the coffin was the miss against Derby.

I still think he will have his uses next season.

I think firstly the penalty turned a lot of fans against him which was harsh as he had the bottle to step up and take it and we all know players miss pens.

I think the nail in the coffin was the miss against Derby.

I still think he will have his uses next season.

i blame Gunner..he played the ball in for the 1st pen and got fouled for the 2nd pen, take him out the equation and no pens no shit for Madine..

I still think he will have his uses next season.

Yes like keeping the bench warm.

The opening post puts it very well.
I get the feeling that there's some small problem blocking Gary at the moment and if we could identify it he's got good potential. Whenever a striker hits a goal less patch there's a psychological block which tends to get worse and worse. It can go on for a long time but it can also be dissolved instantly when a few things happen to go right - maybe a lucky bounce one day which leads to a goal or a long range effort which gets deflected all over the place like a snooker ball but ends up beating the goalkeeper.
The cumulative willpower of the crowd, which IS a factor, suddenly shifts off his shoulders and starts pushing him on in the right direction . It becomes a massive boost instead of an unbearable weight, and the player starts to believe in himself again.

We know he can do it, ( have a look on YouTube), so we're really waiting for that lucky bounce one day which may or may not ever happen and in the mean time all we can do is continue to show confidence in the player and hope it happens for his sake and ours. Sir Neil knows this and that's what he's doing - he's done it before with players like Sol Bamba and Junior Hiolet , who were also having difficulty translating their abilities to the pitch and I've said here before that I've got a feeling he'll eventually get Gary going and that if and when he does he'll be a revelation to his critics .

Great post he needs a bit of love from the fans

I love an underdog, and he is up against it right now, but |I think he will prove a few wrong this season, he will try that's for sure, he needs just that little bit of luck and our support, get behind him, he will definitely ruffle a few feathers in the prem

The opening post puts it very well.
I get the feeling that there's some small problem blocking Gary at the moment and if we could identify it he's got good potential. Whenever a striker hits a goal less patch there's a psychological block which tends to get worse and worse. It can go on for a long time but it can also be dissolved instantly when a few things happen to go right - maybe a lucky bounce one day which leads to a goal or a long range effort which gets deflected all over the place like a snooker ball but ends up beating the goalkeeper.
The cumulative willpower of the crowd, which IS a factor, suddenly shifts off his shoulders and starts pushing him on in the right direction . It becomes a massive boost instead of an unbearable weight, and the player starts to believe in himself again.

We know he can do it, ( have a look on YouTube), so we're really waiting for that lucky bounce one day which may or may not ever happen and in the mean time all we can do is continue to show confidence in the player and hope it happens for his sake and ours. Sir Neil knows this and that's what he's doing - he's done it before with players like Sol Bamba and Junior Hiolet , who were also having difficulty translating their abilities to the pitch and I've said here before that I've got a feeling he'll eventually get Gary going and that if and when he does he'll be a revelation to his critics .

Great post he needs a bit of love from the fans

I love an underdog, and he is up against it right now, but |I think he will prove a few wrong this season, he will try that's for sure, he needs just that little bit of luck and our support, get behind him, he will definitely ruffle a few feathers in the prem

the small problem is he doesnt score many has never scored many and is less likely to score playing in this set up..
expect normal but excellent service to resume shortly..
and those that think he should be Aguerro to cointinue moaning.