‘ Isaac Vassell to return? ‘

Isaac Vassell is set to play for Cardiff DVP next Monday, but will need a few DVP games to get his fitness back.

It’s been over five months since Vassell last played for the Bluebirds, he arrived at Cardiff after over a year of injuries at Birmingham City.


By Tom Coleman


Saturday 29th February 2020


It has been a long road to recovery for Isaac Vassell, but, thankfully, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

Back in September, the striker, who had been brought in for £2m from Birmingham in the summer, was staring at the face of a couple of months on the sidelines following a torn quad.

Two months was the initial assessment. Five months later, we are still waiting.

If it is frustrating from a fan's standpoint, just imagine the player's agony. The mountain of rehab work. Having to watch your team from the sidelines, experiencing all the highs and lows but being able to do nothing about it.



Cardiff can't say they were not warned, of course.

Vassell has something of a checkered injury record but Neil Warnock just had a gut feeling about him.

He was a player Warnock had scouted for some time, since the striker's days playing for Truro City five years ago, and was desperate to afford him another chance.

He was ravaged with injury at Birmingham City, spending over a year out owing to an ACL tear. When he returned, Lukas Jutkiewicz had already nailed down that starting spot ahead of him.

So the deadline-day signing came with more than his fair share naysayers back in August, but he soon set about winning them over.

Just five minutes into his first Bluebirds outing, he sealed a dream debut by flicking home the winner against his former club Luton Town.

He made a beeline straight for the Canton Stand, stood to attention and furiously tapped his head in a frenzied Ayatollah.

It was bedlam. In those few split seconds, we appeared to have all the hallmarks of a cult Cardiff City hero on our hands.

The detractors were soon retreating.


What followed, however, were two rather indifferent performances, one in the league against Reading and the other in the 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat by Luton.

With five strikers on the Bluebirds' books at that time, opportunities were few and far between and if you didn't take your shot, someone was biting at your heels for theirs.

But Gary Madine and Omar Bogle are gone now. So, too, are Vassell's injury troubles, it would seem.

Vassell could well make his return to the playing arena this Monday afternoon, when the Bluebirds' under-23s take on Watford at home.

Neil Harris admits it is nigh-on impossible not to like the 26-year-old forward, who, despite months of rehabilitation, beams with positive energy around the club's training complex every day.

He has not played a competitive game of senior football since August 27. Less than a month later, following an under-23s game, he sustained the injury which would curtail his season.

But the club are hopeful he will be back in the first-team reckoning within the next month and that is positive for both the player and the Bluebirds as a whole.

While, yes, there is the likes of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing currently sidelined and City fans will be desperate to see him back, perhaps Vassell is the sprightly dark horse that might just inject that little bit of something different.

Cardiff don't really have another Vassell, a livewire, a fox-in-the-box running off the shoulder of the last man, coming into his own as the game breaks up late on.


Callum Paterson offers a battering-ram option, while Danny Ward is a more classical striker. Robert Glatzel is perhaps a little mix of them both.

In Vassell, we have seen just what impact he can make as a substitute, the Luton defenders will attest to that.

Late on in the season, potentially with some ageing defenders' legs having already racked up 30-plus Championship games this season, Vassell might just be the perfect option from the bench.

If the Bluebirds can keep themselves in the play-off mix until then, well, Vassell has a golden opportunity to pick up where he left off on his debut and rubber stamp that cult hero status.

And there is no doubting he will be desperate to do just that.

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Where's he returning to? The treatment room? Birmingham City?

Seriously though I do feel very sorry for the player. It must be terribly frustrating spending what should be the best years of your career being injured and it's not his fault that our esteemed "transfer committee" chose to pay millions of pounds for him and give him a contract despite his poor injury record.

Some players are just terribly unlucky with injuries during their careers. Look at Jack Wilshire and closer to home who remembers Chris Riggott who having signed for us whilst injured (what a surprise!) struggled to get back on the pitch, played one full game I think and then got injured away at Bristol City and had to retire!

Hope we get to see a bit more of the lad on the pitch. It must be very lonely for him in the "forever injured" room now that Jazz has left and there's just him and Connolly remaining.

What as, a one hit wonder.

Where's he returning to? The treatment room? Birmingham City?

Seriously though I do feel very sorry for the player. It must be terribly frustrating spending what should be the best years of your career being injured and it's not his fault that our esteemed "transfer committee" chose to pay millions of pounds for him and give him a contract despite his poor injury record.

Some players are just terribly unlucky with injuries during their careers. Look at Jack Wilshire and closer to home who remembers Chris Riggott who having signed for us whilst injured (what a surprise!) struggled to get back on the pitch, played one full game I think and then got injured away at Bristol City and had to retire!

Hope we get to see a bit more of the lad on the pitch. It must be very lonely for him in the "forever injured" room now that Jazz has left and there's just him and Connolly remaining.

people talk about this fella as if he has been like jazz. plays 3 games then out for 3 months repeat.. truth is prior to coming here he was out for a length of time once.... its one of those things that suits certain agendas and gets repeated often enough for it to become fact in peoples minds...
2014/15.....40apps
2015/16......39 apps
2016/17 .....40 apps
2017/18.....11 apps prior to injury....
2018 /19.....14 apps after recovery...

NEIL HARRIS:

"More good news is that Isaac Vassell has been back on the training pitch in the past two weeks and we’re hoping he’ll play some minutes in an U23 game at Leckwith on Monday. "

Get rid ASAP

Get rid ASAP

or maybe give him a chance..

If there was an option to get rid easily I’d let him become another physios problem. Was a risky signing that hasn’t paid off

If there was an option to get rid easily I’d let him become another physios problem. Was a risky signing that hasn’t paid off

its too early to make that judgement.. hasn't paid off so far because he got injured almost straight away...

Looked decent in glimpses and with a run who knows he could be decent. Risky transfer that hasn't paid off thus far.

His goals record is the best in the team,ten minutes 1 goal! but after getting him back to fitness,he has to be given a chance,god knows we need a predator type striker,who knows,he could turn out just fine?

Scored more goals than madine and 5 million cheaper. He's got pace to burn and can find the net give him a chance he's still young

Scored more goals than madine and 5 million cheaper. He's got pace to burn and can find the net give him a chance he's still young

d
No one is arguing that he is not a potentially good player if fit. The point is it was ludicrous to pay two million for him when he has had such a bad injury record.Someone on the transfer committee should have said we will take him on loan from Birmingham with an agreement that we sign him for £2million in the next transfer window if he proves his fitness otherwise it was a potentially disastrous signing which it has proved to be.

My prediction is if he does get fit enough to play for us he won't last more then two or three games before being injured again. Much as I admire Neil Warnock this was a really stupid signing.

Scored more goals than madine and 5 million cheaper. He's got pace to burn and can find the net give him a chance he's still young

d
No one is arguing that he is not a potentially good player if fit. The point is it was ludicrous to pay two million for him when he has had such a bad injury record.Someone on the transfer committee should have said we will take him on loan from Birmingham with an agreement that we sign him for £2million in the next transfer window if he proves his fitness otherwise it was a potentially disastrous signing which it has proved to be.

My prediction is if he does get fit enough to play for us he won't last more then two or three games before being injured again. Much as I admire Neil Warnock this was a really stupid signing.

should have...its not fantasy football. there is a negotiation. and maybe Birmingham were prepared to sell but did not want to loan him.. or maybe Vassell wasn't interested in a short term loan and was only willing to disrupt his life if there was the security of a decent length contract. truth is we paid a small fee for a striker that other clubs were interested in .

Scored more goals than madine and 5 million cheaper. He's got pace to burn and can find the net give him a chance he's still young

d
No one is arguing that he is not a potentially good player if fit. The point is it was ludicrous to pay two million for him when he has had such a bad injury record.Someone on the transfer committee should have said we will take him on loan from Birmingham with an agreement that we sign him for £2million in the next transfer window if he proves his fitness otherwise it was a potentially disastrous signing which it has proved to be.

My prediction is if he does get fit enough to play for us he won't last more then two or three games before being injured again. Much as I admire Neil Warnock this was a really stupid signing.

should have...its not fantasy football. there is a negotiation. and maybe Birmingham were prepared to sell but did not want to loan him.. or maybe Vassell wasn't interested in a short term loan and was only willing to disrupt his life if there was the

security of a decent length contract. truth is we paid a small fee for a striker that other clubs were interested in .

If Birmingham were not prepared to loan him to us first or the player was not prepared to come to us we should not have gone ahead with the signing. Warnock took a £2 million bet that the player would be fit when the evidence was he was injury prone. I don't know about the player but I suspect Birmingham would have been prepared to loan him to us as that would have got him off the wage bill and they would have thought there would be every chance that he would be quickly injured again and we would have been lumbered with paying the wages of an unfit player as we have been.

Scored more goals than madine and 5 million cheaper. He's got pace to burn and can find the net give him a chance he's still young

d
No one is arguing that he is not a potentially good player if fit. The point is it was ludicrous to pay two million for him when he has had such a bad injury record.Someone on the transfer committee should have said we will take him on loan from Birmingham with an agreement that we sign him for £2million in the next transfer window if he proves his fitness otherwise it was a potentially disastrous signing which it has proved to be.

My prediction is if he does get fit enough to play for us he won't last more then two or three games before being injured again. Much as I admire Neil Warnock this was a really stupid signing.

should have...its not fantasy football. there is a negotiation. and maybe Birmingham were prepared to sell but did not want to loan him.. or maybe Vassell wasn't interested in a short term loan and was only willing to disrupt his life if there was the

security of a decent length contract. truth is we paid a small fee for a striker that other clubs were interested in .

If Birmingham were not prepared to loan him to us first or the player was not prepared to come to us we should not have gone ahead with the signing. Warnock took a £2 million bet that the player would be fit when the evidence was he was injury prone. I don't know about the player but I suspect Birmingham would have been prepared to loan him to us as that would have got him off the wage bill and they would have thought there would be every chance that he would be quickly injured again and we would have been lumbered with paying the wages of an unfit player as we have been.

not sure where the quickly injured again thing comes from tbh..he was fit enough to be included in Birminghams first team squad for 6 months before coming here.. had 3 very full seasons prior to going there. .and obviously passed a medical.yes he did have a nasty injury and has been unfortunate here. tbh I think if this time next year his record is like Jazz Richards youll have a point but jumping on him now is a bit unfair.. the assumption that brum would loan him ? when Luton were also interested in buying him.. nah..
ideal world yes it would be nice to sign players on a try out with a pre arranged fee that we can get out of but the player and selling club are stuck with.. but that works both ways...would you really want saadi, huws, damour, etc etc etc or any of the raft of players on get rid of lists dumped back on us after they got injured or didn't perform up to expectations ? and no idea where that fee comes from either.? certainly not from either club.

If there was an option to get rid easily I’d let him become another physios problem. Was a risky signing that hasn’t paid off

its too early to make that judgement.. hasn't paid off so far because he got injured almost straight away...

Never too early for that specific poster to make that judgement; he has written his (apparent) own club off after 4 minutes of a game they went on to win before now!

Scored more goals than madine and 5 million cheaper. He's got pace to burn and can find the net give him a chance he's still young

Agree with the above as we really have not seen enough of the guy .

Scored more goals than madine and 5 million cheaper. He's got pace to burn and can find the net give him a chance he's still young

Agree with the above as we really have not seen enough of the guy .

Scored more goals than madine and 5 million cheaper. He's got pace to burn and can find the net give him a chance he's still young

Agree with the above as we really have not seen enough of the guy .

Unfortunately it looks like we won't be seeing much of him for a while longer.

As mentioned previously the only return for him is back to the treatment room.

Feel sorry for the lad but what a poor signing and huge waste of resources.

The transfer committee sanctioned an injury prone player and cost us £millions and top wages

The transfer committee sanctioned an injury prone player and cost us £millions and top wages

he passed a medical mate. and hadn't been injured in the previous 6 months..so how far do you want to go with that ? turn Rambo down because he has had injuries..?

If there was an option to get rid easily I’d let him become another physios problem. Was a risky signing that hasn’t paid off

its too early to make that judgement.. hasn't paid off so far because he got injured almost straight away...

Never too early for that specific poster to make that judgement; he has written his (apparent) own club off after 4 minutes of a game they went on to win before now!

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