How Neil Harris slashed Cardiff City's bloated squad,with 20
Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:29 pm
How Neil Harris slashed Cardiff City's bloated squad, with 20 players now gone during Harris stay so far.
In that time, Cardiff have made only one permanent signing – Kieffer Moore from Wigan for approximately £1.5mill.
The cull and where axed stars are now
No fewer than 10 senior players have been released, sold or had their contracts terminated during Harris' 10-month tenure.
Academy youngsters : The club also announced that 10 academy players had left the building this summer, so over all 20 senior players have now come off the wage bill.
Neil Harris had already agreed with Cardiff City's owner and Chairman on that he could work with in their budget and has impressed them as well as he has slashed the over all players wages drastically.
By Glen Williams
Wednesday 23rd September 2020
In that time, Cardiff have made only one permanent signing – Kieffer Moore from Wigan for approximately £1.5mill.
That is quite a cull.
Harris had to be ruthless from the get go, deciding which players fitted into his future plans and who needed to go sharply.
Here is every senior player to have been moved on by City in the past 10 months and where they are today:
Armand Traore : A fairly simple one for Harris, the left-back was brought in for two months as short-term cover, one of the last acts of Warnock's reign, and was swiftly released after the New Year. He is still unattached.
Brian Murphy : The Irish goalkeeper was, again, handed a short-term contract to be named on the bench in the Carabao Cup defeat by Luton last summer. Released after Christmas and signed for his hometown club Waterford on a free.
Gary Madine : To be fair to Harris, the slate for Madine was wiped completely clean when the new manager walked through the door.
Madine had not scored a goal in a little less than two years at the club but Harris brought him in from the cold and gave him eight outings in the league. Madine still couldn't find the back of the net.
It was decided in January that it was best to cut his contract 18 months early and allow him to move on. He was picked up by Blackpool and has scored five goals in 26 appearances for the League One outfit.
Blackpool's Gary Madine
Lee Peltier : Perhaps the biggest shock in January was the departure of a player Warnock and Russell Slade regarded as a kingpin.
However, Peltier had six months left on his contract and the club were not forthcoming with favourable fresh terms. He is also 33 and that attempt to drive the average age down might have just worked against him.
But he left the club on good terms, as he revealed in his interview here with WalesOnline.
He was picked up on a free by West Brom and has just penned a new deal with them for their Premier League campaign. He made his senior debut in the Carabao Cup triumph over Harrogate Town last week.
Jazz Richards : The Wales international was buoyed when Harris walked through the door. The manager lavished him with plaudits and it looked as though the right back had a future at the club. But it didn't quite work out that way in the end.
He endured some personal problems, which you can read about in his interview with WalesOnline here, and, after losing his place to Dion Sanderson, it was eventually agreed that it was best for player and club if Richards moved on when his contract expired in the summer.
A number of clubs are understood to have registered an interest but he remains a free agent as things stand.
Omar Bogle : A striker who showed some promise but never truly delivered for Cardiff City.
Harris allowed him to go on loan to ADO Den Haag in Holland back in January, a deal which would take him up to the expiry of his Cardiff City contract.
He was released and is still unattached.
Matthew Connolly : After eight years of stellar service Connolly was released following the end of his contract in the summer.
He had been plagued by an ankle problem and underwent surgery at the beginning of last season, a procedure from which he could not recover in time to make any further appearances for the Bluebirds.
The 32-year-old left in the summer and is also still a free agent.
Danny Ward : Another whose future was in limbo after City's play-off charge last season, but it was eventually decided that he would go.
Ward was a good impact player to have off the bench, but never delivered with any consistency when afforded a starting berth. He left because he wanted to be closer to home, too, and was snapped up on a free by Huddersfield.
A good move all round, by the looks of things.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing : The biggest story of the summer for Cardiff City.
The powerful winger was primed to take the league by storm this season, having shown glimpses last term, but a bombshell announcement made by the club on the eve of the league season starting saw his contract terminated.
He is still unattached.
Neil Etheridge : And, lastly, the most recent player out of the exit door on a permanent basis.
Etheridge was the club's Player of the Season in the Premier League campaign but no one could deny that Alex Smithies had earned the No.1 spot last term.
Etheridge was too good of a goalkeeper to be sitting on the bench and Birmingham saw an opportunity to pounce, prising him away in a deal which could be worth upwards of £2m.
A good deal all-round for a player who had just 10 months left to run on his contract.
Academy youngsters :
The club also announced that 10 academy players had left the building this summer, the most high-profile of which being Wales youth international Cameron Coxe and promising playmaker Sion Spence. Coxe has dropped into non-league football, having been signed by Solihull Moors, while it was announced last week that Spence had been picked up by Premier League club Crystal Palace for their under-23s set-up.
What about incomings?
It says a lot that Harris has brought in six players since becoming manager of Cardiff City and only one of them has been a permanent transfer.
That, of course, is Wales marksman Kieffer Moore.
Albert Adomah, Brad Smith, Dion Sanderson, Jordi Osei-Tutu and Sheyi Ojo have been recruited on loan deals, with only the latter two still with the club.
Harris, knows there is no money available to buy new players, so he is searching for loan players.
Chairman Mehmet Dalman during the lockdown warned of the financial impact coronavirus will have on the spending power below the Premier League and while City were already on a mission to become more self-sustaining, the climate we find ourselves in will only accelerate that.
While it has not been the way City have worked in recent years, it looks as though the loan market is something they will try to exploit moving forward.
Harris recently said that if they do make any more signings in the coming weeks, a playmaker and potentially another right-back are on the list, then it will likely be via the loan system.
Premier League clubs will also want to lessen their own wage bills going forward, too, so we might see more willingness from top-flight clubs to allow their bright young prospects to head out on loan.
With Tom Sang on Tuesday having left for a season-long loan to League Two Cheltenham Town, we are also seeing the trickle-down effect there.
Sang, too, is another player who could have slotted into that playmaker role, to provide back-up for Lee Tomlin, so his exit could also point towards potentially another No.10 coming into the club very soon.
AND MORE PLAYERS TO LEAVE?
Before the transfer window shuts on October 16, there will likely be more outgoings.
Mark Harris, the Wales youth international striker, might well follow his contemporary Sang out the door in search of regular football.
At 21, he is someone who needs first-team action to prove himself to Harris and his coaching staff that he can be a success at senior level.
He has impressed coaches in recent months and, as such, was offered a one-year contract. But this is a crucial stage of his development now and he must grab his chance, whether that is at Cardiff or out on loan somewhere.
Aden Flint, too, is a difficult one. A defender with pedigree and experience at this level, but at the moment he is Cardiff's fourth-choice centre back.
He has played in one of Cardiff's two under-23s matches so far this term but is yet to make his first senior outing of the season.
Flint was a defender brought in for upwards of £4m last summer, a Warnock favourite, but has dropped down the pecking order. It might transpire that he searches for regular game time elsewhere.
The same, too, might be said for Gavin Whyte, another player who was so prominent under Warnock but not so much under the current manager.
The Northern Ireland international is in the long-term plans of the club, but whether he needs a loan for a run of games remains to be seen. The club want him to improve his finishing and he will only do that, one would think, with regular first-team minutes under his belt.
ISAAC VASSELL
And, finally, City are hopeful Isaac Vassell will return to full fitness before the end of the transfer window so that they can get him out playing first-team football regularly, even if that means dropping down a couple of divisions, or moving to Scotland.
The striker has been ravaged by injury since his move from Birmingham City more than a year ago and simply needs time on the pitch.
Whether he will be fit enough to secure a loan move away before the window shuts, however, is anyone's guess at the minute.
In that time, Cardiff have made only one permanent signing – Kieffer Moore from Wigan for approximately £1.5mill.
The cull and where axed stars are now
No fewer than 10 senior players have been released, sold or had their contracts terminated during Harris' 10-month tenure.
Academy youngsters : The club also announced that 10 academy players had left the building this summer, so over all 20 senior players have now come off the wage bill.
Neil Harris had already agreed with Cardiff City's owner and Chairman on that he could work with in their budget and has impressed them as well as he has slashed the over all players wages drastically.
By Glen Williams
Wednesday 23rd September 2020
In that time, Cardiff have made only one permanent signing – Kieffer Moore from Wigan for approximately £1.5mill.
That is quite a cull.
Harris had to be ruthless from the get go, deciding which players fitted into his future plans and who needed to go sharply.
Here is every senior player to have been moved on by City in the past 10 months and where they are today:
Armand Traore : A fairly simple one for Harris, the left-back was brought in for two months as short-term cover, one of the last acts of Warnock's reign, and was swiftly released after the New Year. He is still unattached.
Brian Murphy : The Irish goalkeeper was, again, handed a short-term contract to be named on the bench in the Carabao Cup defeat by Luton last summer. Released after Christmas and signed for his hometown club Waterford on a free.
Gary Madine : To be fair to Harris, the slate for Madine was wiped completely clean when the new manager walked through the door.
Madine had not scored a goal in a little less than two years at the club but Harris brought him in from the cold and gave him eight outings in the league. Madine still couldn't find the back of the net.
It was decided in January that it was best to cut his contract 18 months early and allow him to move on. He was picked up by Blackpool and has scored five goals in 26 appearances for the League One outfit.
Blackpool's Gary Madine
Lee Peltier : Perhaps the biggest shock in January was the departure of a player Warnock and Russell Slade regarded as a kingpin.
However, Peltier had six months left on his contract and the club were not forthcoming with favourable fresh terms. He is also 33 and that attempt to drive the average age down might have just worked against him.
But he left the club on good terms, as he revealed in his interview here with WalesOnline.
He was picked up on a free by West Brom and has just penned a new deal with them for their Premier League campaign. He made his senior debut in the Carabao Cup triumph over Harrogate Town last week.
Jazz Richards : The Wales international was buoyed when Harris walked through the door. The manager lavished him with plaudits and it looked as though the right back had a future at the club. But it didn't quite work out that way in the end.
He endured some personal problems, which you can read about in his interview with WalesOnline here, and, after losing his place to Dion Sanderson, it was eventually agreed that it was best for player and club if Richards moved on when his contract expired in the summer.
A number of clubs are understood to have registered an interest but he remains a free agent as things stand.
Omar Bogle : A striker who showed some promise but never truly delivered for Cardiff City.
Harris allowed him to go on loan to ADO Den Haag in Holland back in January, a deal which would take him up to the expiry of his Cardiff City contract.
He was released and is still unattached.
Matthew Connolly : After eight years of stellar service Connolly was released following the end of his contract in the summer.
He had been plagued by an ankle problem and underwent surgery at the beginning of last season, a procedure from which he could not recover in time to make any further appearances for the Bluebirds.
The 32-year-old left in the summer and is also still a free agent.
Danny Ward : Another whose future was in limbo after City's play-off charge last season, but it was eventually decided that he would go.
Ward was a good impact player to have off the bench, but never delivered with any consistency when afforded a starting berth. He left because he wanted to be closer to home, too, and was snapped up on a free by Huddersfield.
A good move all round, by the looks of things.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing : The biggest story of the summer for Cardiff City.
The powerful winger was primed to take the league by storm this season, having shown glimpses last term, but a bombshell announcement made by the club on the eve of the league season starting saw his contract terminated.
He is still unattached.
Neil Etheridge : And, lastly, the most recent player out of the exit door on a permanent basis.
Etheridge was the club's Player of the Season in the Premier League campaign but no one could deny that Alex Smithies had earned the No.1 spot last term.
Etheridge was too good of a goalkeeper to be sitting on the bench and Birmingham saw an opportunity to pounce, prising him away in a deal which could be worth upwards of £2m.
A good deal all-round for a player who had just 10 months left to run on his contract.
Academy youngsters :
The club also announced that 10 academy players had left the building this summer, the most high-profile of which being Wales youth international Cameron Coxe and promising playmaker Sion Spence. Coxe has dropped into non-league football, having been signed by Solihull Moors, while it was announced last week that Spence had been picked up by Premier League club Crystal Palace for their under-23s set-up.
What about incomings?
It says a lot that Harris has brought in six players since becoming manager of Cardiff City and only one of them has been a permanent transfer.
That, of course, is Wales marksman Kieffer Moore.
Albert Adomah, Brad Smith, Dion Sanderson, Jordi Osei-Tutu and Sheyi Ojo have been recruited on loan deals, with only the latter two still with the club.
Harris, knows there is no money available to buy new players, so he is searching for loan players.
Chairman Mehmet Dalman during the lockdown warned of the financial impact coronavirus will have on the spending power below the Premier League and while City were already on a mission to become more self-sustaining, the climate we find ourselves in will only accelerate that.
While it has not been the way City have worked in recent years, it looks as though the loan market is something they will try to exploit moving forward.
Harris recently said that if they do make any more signings in the coming weeks, a playmaker and potentially another right-back are on the list, then it will likely be via the loan system.
Premier League clubs will also want to lessen their own wage bills going forward, too, so we might see more willingness from top-flight clubs to allow their bright young prospects to head out on loan.
With Tom Sang on Tuesday having left for a season-long loan to League Two Cheltenham Town, we are also seeing the trickle-down effect there.
Sang, too, is another player who could have slotted into that playmaker role, to provide back-up for Lee Tomlin, so his exit could also point towards potentially another No.10 coming into the club very soon.
AND MORE PLAYERS TO LEAVE?
Before the transfer window shuts on October 16, there will likely be more outgoings.
Mark Harris, the Wales youth international striker, might well follow his contemporary Sang out the door in search of regular football.
At 21, he is someone who needs first-team action to prove himself to Harris and his coaching staff that he can be a success at senior level.
He has impressed coaches in recent months and, as such, was offered a one-year contract. But this is a crucial stage of his development now and he must grab his chance, whether that is at Cardiff or out on loan somewhere.
Aden Flint, too, is a difficult one. A defender with pedigree and experience at this level, but at the moment he is Cardiff's fourth-choice centre back.
He has played in one of Cardiff's two under-23s matches so far this term but is yet to make his first senior outing of the season.
Flint was a defender brought in for upwards of £4m last summer, a Warnock favourite, but has dropped down the pecking order. It might transpire that he searches for regular game time elsewhere.
The same, too, might be said for Gavin Whyte, another player who was so prominent under Warnock but not so much under the current manager.
The Northern Ireland international is in the long-term plans of the club, but whether he needs a loan for a run of games remains to be seen. The club want him to improve his finishing and he will only do that, one would think, with regular first-team minutes under his belt.
ISAAC VASSELL
And, finally, City are hopeful Isaac Vassell will return to full fitness before the end of the transfer window so that they can get him out playing first-team football regularly, even if that means dropping down a couple of divisions, or moving to Scotland.
The striker has been ravaged by injury since his move from Birmingham City more than a year ago and simply needs time on the pitch.
Whether he will be fit enough to secure a loan move away before the window shuts, however, is anyone's guess at the minute.
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Re: How Neil Harris slashed Cardiff City's bloated squad,wit
Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:38 pm
Re: How Neil Harris slashed Cardiff City's bloated squad,wit
Wed Sep 23, 2020 7:16 pm
Since Neil Harris became manager of Cardiff City these are the results at home and away:
Played 39 games
Won 17
Drawn 13
Lost 9
Our home record needs to improve if we are to
Mount a series promotion challenge this season.
Harris away record very good
Home: P 19 W 6 D 9 L 4
Away: P 20 W 11 D 4 L 5
Played 39 games
Won 17
Drawn 13
Lost 9
Our home record needs to improve if we are to
Mount a series promotion challenge this season.
Harris away record very good
Home: P 19 W 6 D 9 L 4
Away: P 20 W 11 D 4 L 5
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Re: How Neil Harris slashed Cardiff City's bloated squad,wit
Wed Sep 23, 2020 7:18 pm
Our record before there were No home crowds .
Home records:
W3 D7 L1 before,
W3 D2 L3 since.
Home records:
W3 D7 L1 before,
W3 D2 L3 since.
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Re: How Neil Harris slashed Cardiff City's bloated squad,wit
Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:30 am
He’s certainly reduced the wage bill by getting rid of some crap players bought by previous managers! Perhaps exchanging Flint for an attacking midfielder and getting rid of Vassell for a right back would complete our squad? Our Academy certainly needed a big shake up let’s hope Morrison can bring through a couple of players for the first team squad!
Re: How Neil Harris slashed Cardiff City's bloated squad,wit
Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:21 am
Forever Blue wrote:Our record before there were No home crowds .
Home records:
W3 D7 L1 before,
W3 D2 L3 since.
Of course, our counter attacking game is more suited to matches away from home so at the moment we are always more likely to win away.