City boss Neil Warnock frustrated by transfer 'knock-backs'

Cardiff boss Neil Warnock frustrated by transfer 'knock-backs'

BBC

Monday 6th August 2018

Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock says his attempts to strengthen his squad ahead of their return to the Premier League have been frustrating.

The Bluebirds failed to sign long-time target Marko Grujic, after the Liverpool midfielder turned down the chance to rejoin them on loan.

Warnock says the four players they have signed so far may have to be enough.

"We've had knock-back after knock-back at the moment and if it's not possible we'll go with what we've got," he said.

The window for incoming transfers closes on 9 August, with Bristol City forward Bobby Reid, Norwich City winger Josh Murphy, Preston North End defender Greg Cunningham and Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper Alex Smithies having joined so far.

"Yes, we're a bit thin for injuries but I've got one or two ideas we might just supplement the squad," Warnock added.

"They might not get in the team but I've got to bring a couple of bodies in to supplement the squad itself."

Warnock's side played their final pre-season game on Saturday, losing 2-1 at home to La Liga side Real Betis and the manager was pleased with their final preparations ahead of their Premier League opener at Bournemouth on Saturday, 11 August..

"I think it's been a great work-out," he said.

"You've got to be patient and you've got to not make silly mistakes and when you get the ball you have to treasure the ball a bit more.

"We had some great chances and I think if they'd had our chances they would have beaten us by five!

"But I was pleased we created what we did and we defended well when we had to."

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Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

the original remark was of course common sense....the second is what happens when your constantly being told no and your thin on the ground...not sure he should be saying it though.

Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

the original remark was of course common sense....the second is what happens when your constantly being told no and your thin on the ground...not sure he should be saying it though.

Those comments worry me. Screams of us resigning Halford.

We are never going to compete with the midfield we’ve got. Surprised Warnock wasted so much time on Grujic, should have moved on weeks ago.

Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

the original remark was of course common sense....the second is what happens when your constantly being told no and your thin on the ground...not sure he should be saying it though.

Those comments worry me. Screams of us resigning Halford.

We are never going to compete with the midfield we’ve got. Surprised Warnock wasted so much time on Grujic, should have moved on weeks ago.

the bigger issue for me is that we need two midfielders, so i dont mind him waiting for Grujic but we should have been looking for the other one while we waited.

the time to really judge will be 5:01 on thursday though, i hold out hope till then

Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

the original remark was of course common sense....the second is what happens when your constantly being told no and your thin on the ground...not sure he should be saying it though.

Those comments worry me. Screams of us resigning Halford.

We are never going to compete with the midfield we’ve got. Surprised Warnock wasted so much time on Grujic, should have moved on weeks ago.

the bigger issue for me is that we need two midfielders, so i dont mind him waiting for Grujic but we should have been looking for the other one while we waited.

the time to really judge will be 5:01 on thursday though, i hold out hope till then

I hope Warnocks comments were him just bluffing a bit because what’s the point signing players that are no better just to supplement the squad.

It’s just wasting money. I hope that he pulls a couple of great signings out of the bag otherwise we’re in trouble. The midfield is not good enough for the PL.

Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

the original remark was of course common sense....the second is what happens when your constantly being told no and your thin on the ground...not sure he should be saying it though.

Those comments worry me. Screams of us resigning Halford.

We are never going to compete with the midfield we’ve got. Surprised Warnock wasted so much time on Grujic, should have moved on weeks ago.

yes we are thin on the ground but im not in the compete in midfield camp, we will be doing what we did last year and whoever he signs will be converted to do what last years midfield players were doing...to sign 2 quality midfielders and try to win some midfield battles also entails changing the whole ethos of how we play. and requiring even more players to complement this new quality midfield....just read the post of Saturdays stats, same as last season ..less of the ball but more attacks...
im in a minority here but i honestly think working off such a limited budget our best chance is to continue to do what we do well and not become a 7th rate version of the other teams.

I wonder why we are getting so many knock backs?

Is it because of the price we are willing to pay?

Is it because of the wage package we are offering?

Is it because we are so likely to spend the season fighting relegation?

Are we spreading our net a little too narrowly?

I suppose in truth it's probably a bit of all of these reasons and more.

I wonder why we are getting so many knock backs?

Is it because of the price we are willing to pay?

Is it because of the wage package we are offering?

Is it because we are so likely to spend the season fighting relegation?

Are we spreading our net a little too narrowly?

I suppose in truth it's probably a bit of all of these reasons and more.

yes all of these

we are a premier league club not paying premier league wages

I wonder why we are getting so many knock backs?

Is it because of the price we are willing to pay?

Is it because of the wage package we are offering?

Is it because we are so likely to spend the season fighting relegation?

Are we spreading our net a little too narrowly?

I suppose in truth it's probably a bit of all of these reasons and more.

What we have also got to Remember is that we would be nowhere near 1st choice club to join for the vast majority of players looking to play in the premier league

Let’s be honest if you were a young an up and coming midfielder looking to establish himself in the premier league would you want to join Cardiff.. a team that virtually by passes the midfield and in truth will probably be relegated??

We will probably end up with our 3rd maybe 4th choice target

It can’t be easy for Warnock getting in quality players

I wonder why we are getting so many knock backs?

Is it because of the price we are willing to pay?

Is it because of the wage package we are offering?

Is it because we are so likely to spend the season fighting relegation?

Are we spreading our net a little too narrowly?

I suppose in truth it's probably a bit of all of these reasons and more.

yes all of these

we are a premier league club not paying premier league wages

That's true but this is the way we are going and not mounting up debt. We all want to compete but would it be so bad if we went down and went debt free

I wonder why we are getting so many knock backs?

Is it because of the price we are willing to pay?

Is it because of the wage package we are offering?

Is it because we are so likely to spend the season fighting relegation?

Are we spreading our net a little too narrowly?

I suppose in truth it's probably a bit of all of these reasons and more.

yes all of these

we are a premier league club not paying premier league wages

That's true but this is the way we are going and not mounting up debt. We all want to compete but would it be so bad if we went down and went debt free

yeah i dont want the club to get relegated.


understand fully not spending an obscene amount of money, but i expected a little more than what we currently have, and i think we will buy one more and loan 2 before thursday

I wonder why we are getting so many knock backs?

Is it because of the price we are willing to pay?

Is it because of the wage package we are offering?

Is it because we are so likely to spend the season fighting relegation?

Are we spreading our net a little too narrowly?

I suppose in truth it's probably a bit of all of these reasons and more.

yes all of these

we are a premier league club not paying premier league wages

That's true but this is the way we are going and not mounting up debt. We all want to compete but would it be so bad if we went down and went debt free

yeah i dont want the club to get relegated.


understand fully not spending an obscene amount of money, but i expected a little more than what we currently have, and i think we will buy one more and loan 2 before thursday

I am sure we will see more signings but will they be up to the quality we need in the PL.
Whatever happens, I will enjoy the season and I think this side will give it all to ensure safety.

I have heard these kind of comments from Warnock in the past when he was manager of other clubs,he had all these irons in the fire and nothing came of them,he really must be the most unlucky manager in the football league when it comes to transfers

Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

Or resigning Bryson,oh God what a thought


the original remark was of course common sense....the second is what happens when your constantly being told no and your thin on the ground...not sure he should be saying it though.

Those comments worry me. Screams of us resigning Halford.

We are never going to compete with the midfield we’ve got. Surprised Warnock wasted so much time on Grujic, should have moved on weeks ago.

Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

the original remark was of course common sense....the second is what happens when your constantly being told no and your thin on the ground...not sure he should be saying it though.

Those comments worry me. Screams of us resigning Halford.

We are never going to compete with the midfield we’ve got. Surprised Warnock wasted so much time on Grujic, should have moved on weeks ago.

yes we are thin on the ground but im not in the compete in midfield camp, we will be doing what we did last year and whoever he signs will be converted to do what last years midfield players were doing...to sign 2 quality midfielders and try to win some midfield battles also entails changing the whole ethos of how we play. and requiring even more players to complement this new quality midfield....just read the post of Saturdays stats, same as last season ..less of the ball but more attacks...
im in a minority here but i honestly think working off such a limited budget our best chance is to continue to do what we do well and not become a 7th rate version of the other teams.

So because we don't play keep ball we can afford to have sub standard players in the midfield and if we bought quality we'd have to chabge our whole style of play?... right ok.

Warnock has said that he wouldn’t sign anyone that’s no better than we already have.

Now he’s saying he might have to sign bodies that won’t be good enough to get into the team.

Very worried by these comments if I’m honest, doesn’t fill me with confidence for the season ahead.

the original remark was of course common sense....the second is what happens when your constantly being told no and your thin on the ground...not sure he should be saying it though.

Those comments worry me. Screams of us resigning Halford.

We are never going to compete with the midfield we’ve got. Surprised Warnock wasted so much time on Grujic, should have moved on weeks ago.

yes we are thin on the ground but im not in the compete in midfield camp, we will be doing what we did last year and whoever he signs will be converted to do what last years midfield players were doing...to sign 2 quality midfielders and try to win some midfield battles also entails changing the whole ethos of how we play. and requiring even more players to complement this new quality midfield....just read the post of Saturdays stats, same as last season ..less of the ball but more attacks...
im in a minority here but i honestly think working off such a limited budget our best chance is to continue to do what we do well and not become a 7th rate version of the other teams.

So because we don't play keep ball we can afford to have sub standard players in the midfield and if we bought quality we'd have to chabge our whole style of play?... right ok.

last year Etheridge kicked long every single time as did our defenders unless they were facing our goal in which case option A was always back to Etheridge to kick long....our midfield players chased harried tackled and played first time balls forward...Ralls whose pass completion stats for a few years have been very high saw them dip considerably last season due to this...sub standard is your words ..but i keep reading play maker..keeping the ball more..in a nutshell we by pass our midfield...thats what i watched ,thats what most pundits saw...and yes if you suddenly decide your going to play from the back and through midfield more has to change than just buying a play maker.

The thing about playing long balls, the most important thing is to win second balls. That means you have to have a midfield both capable of being in the final third and doing their defensive duties. If we don’t have that, our midfield will leave our defense open and allowing the opponent to much space. Our defense don’t have the legs to cover that at this level. The other ting, people talk about pace. But overall our tempo on the ball is very poor, and at the end of last season we bearly could string more than four passes together, and that’s why we reverted to long ball tactics. So, both for fast brakedowns and longballs we need a different level in midfield. Both passrate and work rate - sorry.. Ability to cover ground needs to be at another level. Then maybe the rest of the lads can play to their strengths and make a step up. Without it we are fucked.

The thing about playing long balls, the most important thing is to win second balls. That means you have to have a midfield both capable of being in the final third and doing their defensive duties. If we don’t have that, our midfield will leave our defense open and allowing the opponent to much space. Our defense don’t have the legs to cover that at this level. The other ting, people talk about pace. But overall our tempo on the ball is very poor, and at the end of last season we bearly could string more than four passes together, and that’s why we reverted to long ball tactics. So, both for fast brakedowns and longballs we need a different level in midfield. Both passrate and work rate - sorry.. Ability to cover ground needs to be at another level. Then maybe the rest of the lads can play to their strengths and make a step up. Without it we are fucked.

played long ball all season mate..and even in the early games the sitting midfield are not encouraged in anyway to get forward from the bench..
and yes less than 4 passes its a percentages game ol neil plays as 90% of goals are scored from 2 passes or less..
our manager won promotion playing that way.

Last edited by dogfound on Mon Aug 06, 2018 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

A lot of people on the forum say if we go down we will have a good championship team to come straight back up why assume that all the players would stay and would prefer the championship to the the best league in the world i would rather us spend a bit more now rather than gamble the other way thinking we will bounce straight back up. And this transfer window has been open for months we really should' nt be in this situation rummaging around around in the bottom of the basket to see whats left after everybody else has had there pick but it is what it is and as neil says we will have to go with what we have.

The thing about playing long balls, the most important thing is to win second balls. That means you have to have a midfield both capable of being in the final third and doing their defensive duties. If we don’t have that, our midfield will leave our defense open and allowing the opponent to much space. Our defense don’t have the legs to cover that at this level. The other ting, people talk about pace. But overall our tempo on the ball is very poor, and at the end of last season we bearly could string more than four passes together, and that’s why we reverted to long ball tactics. So, both for fast brakedowns and longballs we need a different level in midfield. Both passrate and work rate - sorry.. Ability to cover ground needs to be at another level. Then maybe the rest of the lads can play to their strengths and make a step up. Without it we are fucked.

played long ball all season mate..and even in the early games the sitting midfield are not encouraged in anyway to get forward from the bench..
and yes less than 4 passes its a percentages game ol neil plays as 90% of goals are scored from 2 passes or less..

You would know that better than me, as I mostly read articles and stats from our matches. But the consensus was we where looking for fast brakedowns in the first half of the season, but reverted to almost strictly longball second half. The games I watched second half was terrible fotballvise. Lucky us we got some set peices in us. But at this level we will get murdered chasing shadows (or the ball).

A lot of people on the forum say if we go down we will have a good championship team to come straight back up why assume that all the players would stay and would prefer the championship to the the best league in the world i would rather us spend a bit more now rather than gamble the other way thinking we will bounce straight back up. And this transfer window has been open for months we really should' nt be in this situation rummaging around around in the bottom of the basket to see whats left after everybody else has had there pick but it is what it is and as neil says we will have to go with what we have.

id love us spend loads mate and play less direct but at the end of the day we have what we have..
not sure about the bottom of the basket thing sometimes you can get what you want because a club is now willing to leave a player go that they were not in a position to until they brought in someone themselves...eg Bryson last season.

Can see plusses and negatives both sides of this debate.Can we survive playing with last seasons direct route?I think we can BUT as Scandinavian bluebird points out we have to up our rate collecting 2nd ball , its all about reading or anticipating free ball Its not rocket science , its having the aggression and confidence of being first to that ball. Once having the ball in opposition half we can give anyone a problem.Do we need a playmaker leading the midfield? I would like to see one, Whittingham had pin point accuracy,, some of those balls could be devastating. I cant see us getting a player of that mould ,not now. Leaves us with what we got. I thought Bamba played a fantastic defensive mid field role against Real Betis this could free Ralls forward Im not suggesting we play this everytime its what Ive said before HORSES FOR COURSES. just my humble opinion . NOW LETS SUPPORT THE BOYS