CARDIFF CHAIRMAN SPEAKS OUT: “MADINE/ZOHORE & REID”

Mehmet Dalman, Vincent Tan and Ken Choo were part of the committee they themselves set up to decide everything to do with transfers after blaming Malky for previous transfers.

They stated they would take total control and responsibility.

So they have to also take full responsibility for successful and failed transfers

Over all an honest assessment by Dalman









Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman reasons behind three of Bluebirds' most controversial recent transfers




Wednesday 3rd June 2020


Bluebirds chairman Mehmet Dalman has opened up on the club's thought process behind three significant transfer deals from recent seasons which each got the fans talking


Cardiff City admit they paid over the odds for Gary Madine in January 2018

Mehmet Dalman has opened up the reasons behind three of Cardiff City's most high-profile transfer decisions.




The Bluebirds' decisions to buy Gary Madine for £6m proved to be a disaster, the striker not even managing a single goal in his spell in the Welsh capital.

And two other deals that had the fans talking were the decisions to offload Bobby Decordova-Reid and Kenneth Zohore with the Championship season barely underway.

The two star strikers had each shone brightly in Cardiff's final Premier League match, a 2-0 win at Manchester United, but despite those stellar displays clearly didn't figure in Neil Warnock's plans any more.

He feels the £8m Cardiff received from West Brom for Zohore was excellent value for money and explained Reid left because he didn't fit in with the style of play Warnock wanted to adopt.

Madine joined the Bluebirds from Championship rivals Bolton in January 2018, with Neil Warnock's men strongly placed for a promotion push at the time.

He left South Wales in January, without a Cardiff goal to his name.

Despite Madine's barren spell, Dalman believes the Bluebirds were right to recruit the forward, but concedes they paid over the odds for the man now at Blackpool.










Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman:


Gary Madine

"If you remember at the time, we were competing for promotion, and it was the January transfer window," he told ACE Podcast Nation.

"Gary Madine was a favourite of the manager, he wanted him on board because he thought he could make the difference in giving us a chance of promotion.

"In my view, Gary Madine was valued at around £3m but we ended up paying £5m and a bit for him.

"We took an educated decision that we were paying around £2m more than we should have for a player that could just make that difference for promotion.

"Did he really make that difference for us or not? I don't know. But we did get promoted, and he did play his part.

"The fact that he came off from there onwards is a whole different discussion.

"We tried to sell him, but quite frankly there were no takers. Even loaning him out was difficult.

"I think Gary needed to move on and we let him go.

"We will not get everybody right, but I still think Gary Madine was the right decision for us in that promotion push."


Warnock had some tremendous success in the transfer market during his time as Cardiff boss, with the likes of Sol Bamba and Junior Hoilett joining on free transfers while Neil Etheridge and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing were recruited on Bosman deals.


Kenneth Zohore


But one of his biggest triumphs in terms of personnel on the pitch was the transformation of Zohore.

The Danish forward netted just twice in his 17 appearances for Cardiff prior to Warnock's move to South Wales, but suddenly hit the ground running with 12 times in a 23-game spell during the 2016/17 campaign.

He went on to bag nine Championship goals in Cardiff's promotion-winning season, although he failed to deliver the goods in the Premier League, scoring just once in 19 appearances.

That poor top-flight campaign didn't deter West Brom from parting with £8m to take Zohore to the Midlands last summer.

And Dalman says the profit made on Zohore serves as proof that the club were right to stick by him during his struggles.

"Look at Kenneth Zohore. Kenneth did nothing for us until Warnock came on board," he said.

"We went into a game, we were 2-0 down at half-time, went into the dressing room and he put Kenneth Zohore on the field.

"He came on, scored one and made one and we drew that day. I went to see Neil after the game and said 'What on earth did you say to him?'.

"He created a player that suddenly had belief and confidence and he gave us a very good season for the rest of that time.

"The fact he went off the boil again and we sold him for £8m, we paid £700,000 for him thanks to Ken Choo, he was peaky-eyed and picked him up in the first place.

"It's easy to look at the mistakes we've made, and we will make mistakes, but you tell me a club that buys every player and it works out."





Bobby Reid



As for Decordova-Reid, his transfer to Championship rivals Fulham caused a real stir among the Cardiff fans at the start of the season when he departed just one game in.

And Dalman admits the attacker didn't suit Warnock's playing style, with Fulham's permanent offer in January proving too good to turn down.

When asked why Decordova-Reid was sold to a major promotion rival, Dalman responded: "Because they gave us a very good offer.

"I think at the end of the day, the football Neil Warnock was playing didn't suit Reid, and Reid didn't feel terribly comfortable with the style of football that was being played.

"We tried to adjust to that and we were not getting there.

"When Fulham came with the offer that they did, we took it.

"It was the right thing for us to do because you can't force a player to play in a certain style, but you are not going to change the team."

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

A good and truthful read that.

Personally I think all the fact in all 3 stories are spot on. Everyone knew we paid too much for Madine but not many complained as everyone thought he was a great catch at the time. Just what we wanted to push for promotion. Although we got promoted it didn't work out for him and we struggled to get rid due to his contract with us. I always thought he would go on a free if he did not start showing the potential once we were back in the Championship.

As for the other 2 well neither one fitted in and although they both showed glimpes of their talent it was clear it was not going ot happen here. Zohore transfer money was excellent business, on the same level as Mason. Reid without doubt was the right thing to do and hopefully we will recoup most of the money back from him.

Reply FB:


Chris Walters:

Madine was pathetic signing..one hundred per cent loss on transfer value of 6 million...no takers for him says everything..no goals no contribution..we got promoted in spite of him not because of him..zohore was correct decision and reid was wrong decision it cost us our premiership place wasting money on a player we couldn't accommodate.

This transfer comittee did little better than mackay..there is no football experience on it.
After cornelius something needed to be done but not these three making football decisions

A good and truthful read that.

Personally I think all the fact in all 3 stories are spot on. Everyone knew we paid too much for Madine but not many complained as everyone thought he was a great catch at the time. Just what we wanted to push for promotion. Although we got promoted it didn't work out for him and we struggled to get rid due to his contract with us. I always thought he would go on a free if he did not start showing the potential once we were back in the Championship.

As for the other 2 well neither one fitted in and although they both showed glimpes of their talent it was clear it was not going ot happen here. Zohore transfer money was excellent business, on the same level as Mason. Reid without doubt was the right thing to do and hopefully we will recoup most of the money back from him.

Very much how I see it.

Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has detailed why Bobby Decordova-Reid's transfer to the side from Bristol City did not work out.


Bristol live

Wednesday 3rd June 2020



Decordova-Reid came through the youth system at Bristol City, starting out as a midfield player before Lee Johnson pushed him further up the field as he broke into the City side.

He was the club's top scorer in the 2017/18 season (21 goals) and missed out on the Championship golden boot to Matej Vydra, but after the Robins missed out on the play-off spots the Premier League came calling for the Jamaica international.

He scored five goals in 27 games for Bristol City's Severnside rivals as they were relegated in their first season back in the top division but struggled to fit into the system and moved to Fulham a year later in the summer window.

The move was initially a loan deal, but after impressing Cottagers boss Scott Parker during his short time at the club, the move was made permanent for a fee reported to be around £10 million.

The transfer to Fulham has worked out better than the move to City's rivals did, and now Dalman has suggested that Decordova-Reid didn't fit into then-manager Neil Warnock's system.



Speaking to ACE Podcast Nation about transfers that didn't work out, including Gary Madine and Kenneth Zohore, when asked why the club accepted the offer from Fulham he said: "Because they gave us a very good offer.

"I think at the end of the day, the football Neil Warnock was playing didn't suit Reid, and Reid didn't feel terribly comfortable with the style of football that was being played.

"We tried to adjust to that and we were not getting there.

"When Fulham came with the offer that they did, we took it.





"It was the right thing for us to do because you can't force a player to play in a certain style, but you are not going to change the team."

Decordova-Reid made his first team debut for Bristol City in the 2010/11 before loan spells at Cheltenham Town, Oldham Athletic and Plymouth Argyle.

He was a key part of the side which went to the Carabao Cup semi-finals in 2017/18, scoring against Manchester City in the first-leg at the Etihad Stadium.

The forward has made 23 starts in the Championship for Fulham this year, scoring five goals and setting up three more.

Honestly suprised he answered these so honest. It was me who asked the original question of who set up the transfer committee because a few of the transfers were highly questionable, I was then asked for examples and named a few however he spoke about these 3 instead but still great. And he was brutally honest.

Even went to say he spoke to all the Cardiff fan groups regarding the rebrand and everyone was on board. Which disappointed me as so many have often said they told him no.

Honestly suprised he answered these so honest. It was me who asked the original question of who set up the transfer committee because a few of the transfers were highly questionable, I was then asked for examples and named a few however he spoke about these 3 instead but still great. And he was brutally honest.

Even went to say he spoke to all the Cardiff fan groups regarding the rebrand and everyone was on board. Which disappointed me as so many have often said they told him no.

he wasn't here when we rebranded...

Honestly suprised he answered these so honest. It was me who asked the original question of who set up the transfer committee because a few of the transfers were highly questionable, I was then asked for examples and named a few however he spoke about these 3 instead but still great. And he was brutally honest.

Even went to say he spoke to all the Cardiff fan groups regarding the rebrand and everyone was on board. Which disappointed me as so many have often said they told him no.

he wasn't here when we rebranded...

he spoke about it, he said he came in during january of the rebrand and he said he spoke to all fan groups regarding it, and they were all up for it.

Honestly suprised he answered these so honest. It was me who asked the original question of who set up the transfer committee because a few of the transfers were highly questionable, I was then asked for examples and named a few however he spoke about these 3 instead but still great. And he was brutally honest.

Even went to say he spoke to all the Cardiff fan groups regarding the rebrand and everyone was on board. Which disappointed me as so many have often said they told him no.

he wasn't here when we rebranded...

he spoke about it, he said he came in during january of the rebrand and he said he spoke to all fan groups regarding it, and they were all up for it.

after we had rebranded ?

Honestly suprised he answered these so honest. It was me who asked the original question of who set up the transfer committee because a few of the transfers were highly questionable, I was then asked for examples and named a few however he spoke about these 3 instead but still great. And he was brutally honest.

Even went to say he spoke to all the Cardiff fan groups regarding the rebrand and everyone was on board. Which disappointed me as so many have often said they told him no.

he wasn't here when we rebranded...

he spoke about it, he said he came in during january of the rebrand and he said he spoke to all fan groups regarding it, and they were all up for it.

after we had rebranded ?

i have no idea, if you want to listen to it. check out the podcast where it happened. he spoke about being around the club during it, offically joined i think he said in the january, and he called the rebrand a success. said everyone took it on board, everyone loved it and tan for it. and only after the sacking of malky did people kick up a fuss....

he was even asked will the club change the seats to blue, he said they cannot afford it.

and only once was he overruled on a player to sign for the club and it caused uproar in the boardroom but wouldnt announce who it was

Honestly suprised he answered these so honest. It was me who asked the original question of who set up the transfer committee because a few of the transfers were highly questionable, I was then asked for examples and named a few however he spoke about these 3 instead but still great. And he was brutally honest.

Even went to say he spoke to all the Cardiff fan groups regarding the rebrand and everyone was on board. Which disappointed me as so many have often said they told him no.

he wasn't here when we rebranded...

he spoke about it, he said he came in during january of the rebrand and he said he spoke to all fan groups regarding it, and they were all up for it.

after we had rebranded ?

i have no idea, if you want to listen to it. check out the podcast where it happened. he spoke about being around the club during it, offically joined i think he said in the january, and he called the rebrand a success. said everyone took it on board, everyone loved it and tan for it. and only after the sacking of malky did people kick up a fuss....

he was even asked will the club change the seats to blue, he said they cannot afford it.

and only once was he overruled on a player to sign for the club and it caused uproar in the boardroom but wouldnt announce who it was

I did listen to it... didn't hear the supporters group thing { but that might have been me distracted } but I did know he wasn't here for the rebrand .. i heard him say he thought it a success... but he said everyone loved it.. and that everyone loved tan for it...?. im going to re watch because my recollection of the time was varying degrees of tolerance ,i don't remember anyone loving VT for doing it..

Honestly suprised he answered these so honest. It was me who asked the original question of who set up the transfer committee because a few of the transfers were highly questionable, I was then asked for examples and named a few however he spoke about these 3 instead but still great. And he was brutally honest.

Even went to say he spoke to all the Cardiff fan groups regarding the rebrand and everyone was on board. Which disappointed me as so many have often said they told him no.

he wasn't here when we rebranded...

he spoke about it, he said he came in during january of the rebrand and he said he spoke to all fan groups regarding it, and they were all up for it.

after we had rebranded ?

i have no idea, if you want to listen to it. check out the podcast where it happened. he spoke about being around the club during it, offically joined i think he said in the january, and he called the rebrand a success. said everyone took it on board, everyone loved it and tan for it. and only after the sacking of malky did people kick up a fuss....

he was even asked will the club change the seats to blue, he said they cannot afford it.

and only once was he overruled on a player to sign for the club and it caused uproar in the boardroom but wouldnt announce who it was

I did listen to it... didn't hear the supporters group thing { but that might have been me distracted } but I did know he wasn't here for the rebrand .. i heard him say he thought it a success... but he said everyone loved it.. and that everyone loved tan for it...?. im going to re watch because my recollection of the time was varying degrees of tolerance ,i don't remember anyone loving VT for doing it..

my bad, i just re-listened to the part. he says everyone bought into it, and the fans who were in the discussion, he said when mackay was sacked, only then was it an issue. he said he came in the tail end of it.

it was the change "from Red to blue" is what everyone agreed on, and again my bad he didnt say everyone loved tan for it.

however what was interesting was Dalman said he had an offer for the club. and a meeting had to go pitch perfect so vincent didnt change his mind.

Honestly suprised he answered these so honest. It was me who asked the original question of who set up the transfer committee because a few of the transfers were highly questionable, I was then asked for examples and named a few however he spoke about these 3 instead but still great. And he was brutally honest.

Even went to say he spoke to all the Cardiff fan groups regarding the rebrand and everyone was on board. Which disappointed me as so many have often said they told him no.

he wasn't here when we rebranded...

he spoke about it, he said he came in during january of the rebrand and he said he spoke to all fan groups regarding it, and they were all up for it.

after we had rebranded ?

i have no idea, if you want to listen to it. check out the podcast where it happened. he spoke about being around the club during it, offically joined i think he said in the january, and he called the rebrand a success. said everyone took it on board, everyone loved it and tan for it. and only after the sacking of malky did people kick up a fuss....

he was even asked will the club change the seats to blue, he said they cannot afford it.

and only once was he overruled on a player to sign for the club and it caused uproar in the boardroom but wouldnt announce who it was

I did listen to it... didn't hear the supporters group thing { but that might have been me distracted } but I did know he wasn't here for the rebrand .. i heard him say he thought it a success... but he said everyone loved it.. and that everyone loved tan for it...?. im going to re watch because my recollection of the time was varying degrees of tolerance ,i don't remember anyone loving VT for doing it..

my bad, i just re-listened to the part. he says everyone bought into it, and the fans who were in the discussion, he said when mackay was sacked, only then was it an issue. he said he came in the tail end of it.

it was the change "from Red to blue" is what everyone agreed on, and again my bad he didnt say everyone loved tan for it.

however what was interesting was Dalman said he had an offer for the club. and a meeting had to go pitch perfect so vincent didnt change his mind.

yes that's what i thought id heard.. i was surprised at the turned down offer too. hadn't heard that before.
fair play to Mehmet over an hour and a half answering questions...