CARDIFF CITY: ' SHORT TERM / LONG TERM '
Tue Feb 28, 2023 2:08 pm
Cardiff City must strike right balance between short-term aim and long-term progress amid transfer and contract dilemmas
Cardiff City Transfers
When asked when players' futures would be decided, Lamouchi last week said: "It's absolutely a good question. So I will probably tell you that after the international break.
Cardiff cannot afford another near-disaster of a window like they had in January. They have to be locked, loaded and ready to go when the summer window opens.
By Glen Williams
The Transfer Committee will be planning two scenarios now, a transfer strategy for the Championship and also for League One. Everyone at the club hopes they get to pull the trigger on that first scenario, of course.
Transfer priorities are already being identified. With Sory Kaba leaving, Wickham and Harris out of contract and Isaak Davies not really getting a crack, at least one striker is going to be needed.
And because goals have been at such a premium, some creativity in that midfield is sorely lacking, too. Their midfield players are all too similar at present.
They will have two players who will feel like new signings in Ebou Adams and Jamilu Collins. The return of the latter might just quell the need for a left-back in the summer window. Having Adams and Collins back next year will be a big boost.
Cedric Kipre will return to West Brom, meaning centre-back is also very high on the list. While Mark McGuinness and Perry Ng are set to play a big part again next term, providing none of them leave, they need another body in there, with Jack Simpson having struggled this term.
The partial transfer embargo will play its part, too, and we mustn't forget that. The EFL stipulate that Cardiff still aren't allowed to pay a loan or transfer fee for players, so the Bluebirds will once again be shopping in a narrower market than most unless that gets overturned.
Quality loan players or the pick of the free agents is the best they can hope for at present. That requires even more meticulous planning. If the manager leaves before the summer shopping spree, though, that makes the job 10 times harder.
Cardiff City Transfers
When asked when players' futures would be decided, Lamouchi last week said: "It's absolutely a good question. So I will probably tell you that after the international break.
Cardiff cannot afford another near-disaster of a window like they had in January. They have to be locked, loaded and ready to go when the summer window opens.
By Glen Williams
The Transfer Committee will be planning two scenarios now, a transfer strategy for the Championship and also for League One. Everyone at the club hopes they get to pull the trigger on that first scenario, of course.
Transfer priorities are already being identified. With Sory Kaba leaving, Wickham and Harris out of contract and Isaak Davies not really getting a crack, at least one striker is going to be needed.
And because goals have been at such a premium, some creativity in that midfield is sorely lacking, too. Their midfield players are all too similar at present.
They will have two players who will feel like new signings in Ebou Adams and Jamilu Collins. The return of the latter might just quell the need for a left-back in the summer window. Having Adams and Collins back next year will be a big boost.
Cedric Kipre will return to West Brom, meaning centre-back is also very high on the list. While Mark McGuinness and Perry Ng are set to play a big part again next term, providing none of them leave, they need another body in there, with Jack Simpson having struggled this term.
The partial transfer embargo will play its part, too, and we mustn't forget that. The EFL stipulate that Cardiff still aren't allowed to pay a loan or transfer fee for players, so the Bluebirds will once again be shopping in a narrower market than most unless that gets overturned.
Quality loan players or the pick of the free agents is the best they can hope for at present. That requires even more meticulous planning. If the manager leaves before the summer shopping spree, though, that makes the job 10 times harder.
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Re: Cardiff City must strike right balance between short-ter
Tue Feb 28, 2023 2:10 pm
The long-term future of manager Sabri Lamouchi and striker Connor Wickham are some issues Cardiff City still have to deal with
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Re: Cardiff City must strike right balance between short-ter
Tue Feb 28, 2023 2:12 pm
The manager
Arguably the most important of the lot.
By Glen Williams
There is scarcely widespread positivity when a manager is appointed, but it's fair to say the mood among Bluebirds fans when Lamouchi was given the reins was one of unanimous optimism.
The Frenchman signed a contract only until the end of the current campaign and was open about why that was the case during his first press conference with the media. He did, however, say that if he achieved his goal of keeping the club in the division, he would want to stay in the dugout next season.
LAMOUCHI:
"Talking with the club, it’s easy," he said last month about his deal. "I am not here just to save the club. I am here to try to have a future together. I cannot talk about the future if the job is not done.
"Our goal, my goal, is to work together for a long time. But for that, it’s to do a great job right now until the end of the season. And to see Cardiff in the Championship next season, that’s it."
If he does that, will he be in the dugout next season? "Absolutely!" he replied.
But this survival battle might go right down to the wire. It might be May before we find out whether City have pulled off the great escape. Having the manager's situation still shrouded in uncertainty makes longer-term decisions less straightforward.
On the other side of the coin, though, would Lamouchi want to manage in League One? It's unlikely. If they are relegated, it could be six managers in two-and-a-half years. That really is not the model of stability.
Perhaps during the international break next month, when the relegation picture is a little clearer, talks might take place.
Arguably the most important of the lot.
By Glen Williams
There is scarcely widespread positivity when a manager is appointed, but it's fair to say the mood among Bluebirds fans when Lamouchi was given the reins was one of unanimous optimism.
The Frenchman signed a contract only until the end of the current campaign and was open about why that was the case during his first press conference with the media. He did, however, say that if he achieved his goal of keeping the club in the division, he would want to stay in the dugout next season.
LAMOUCHI:
"Talking with the club, it’s easy," he said last month about his deal. "I am not here just to save the club. I am here to try to have a future together. I cannot talk about the future if the job is not done.
"Our goal, my goal, is to work together for a long time. But for that, it’s to do a great job right now until the end of the season. And to see Cardiff in the Championship next season, that’s it."
If he does that, will he be in the dugout next season? "Absolutely!" he replied.
But this survival battle might go right down to the wire. It might be May before we find out whether City have pulled off the great escape. Having the manager's situation still shrouded in uncertainty makes longer-term decisions less straightforward.
On the other side of the coin, though, would Lamouchi want to manage in League One? It's unlikely. If they are relegated, it could be six managers in two-and-a-half years. That really is not the model of stability.
Perhaps during the international break next month, when the relegation picture is a little clearer, talks might take place.
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Re: Cardiff City must strike right balance between short-ter
Tue Feb 28, 2023 2:18 pm
' Out-of-contract players '
By Glen Williams
That brings us to the out-of-contract players. Cardiff found themselves in a similar situation last year, with an interim manager in Steve Morison faced with the prospect of 10 players heading to the end of their deals in just a few months' time.
Morison was then given a contract until the end of the 2022/23 campaign, which obviously didn't work out, and could make clearer decisions over who he wanted to remain at the club. It was only Joe Ralls, it turned out.
But the time is coming when Lamouchi will have to start having some major conversations about who he thinks should be around the building next term - even if, at time of writing, his own future is still up in the air.
Mark Harris, Gavin Whyte, Tom Sang, Joel Bagan, Eli King, Connor Wickham and a duo out on loan, Kieron Evans and Dillon Phillips, all see their deals up at the end of the season.
How many of them will still be with the club next year? Well, it's a good question. Harris and latterly Wickham have been the most heavily involved, but the others have played bit-parts at best. It seems their futures will be decided in the coming weeks, though.
When asked when these players' futures would be decided, Lamouchi last week said: "It's absolutely a good question. So I will probably tell you that after the international break.
"Let me focus on Norwich, Bristol after that, Preston, West Brom and Rotherham. Then, after Rotherham, during the international break, with the club we will sit and we will see where we will be at this moment.
"And then we will take our responsibility to look forward for the club."
By Glen Williams
That brings us to the out-of-contract players. Cardiff found themselves in a similar situation last year, with an interim manager in Steve Morison faced with the prospect of 10 players heading to the end of their deals in just a few months' time.
Morison was then given a contract until the end of the 2022/23 campaign, which obviously didn't work out, and could make clearer decisions over who he wanted to remain at the club. It was only Joe Ralls, it turned out.
But the time is coming when Lamouchi will have to start having some major conversations about who he thinks should be around the building next term - even if, at time of writing, his own future is still up in the air.
Mark Harris, Gavin Whyte, Tom Sang, Joel Bagan, Eli King, Connor Wickham and a duo out on loan, Kieron Evans and Dillon Phillips, all see their deals up at the end of the season.
How many of them will still be with the club next year? Well, it's a good question. Harris and latterly Wickham have been the most heavily involved, but the others have played bit-parts at best. It seems their futures will be decided in the coming weeks, though.
When asked when these players' futures would be decided, Lamouchi last week said: "It's absolutely a good question. So I will probably tell you that after the international break.
"Let me focus on Norwich, Bristol after that, Preston, West Brom and Rotherham. Then, after Rotherham, during the international break, with the club we will sit and we will see where we will be at this moment.
"And then we will take our responsibility to look forward for the club."
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Re: CARDIFF CITY: ' SHORT TERM / LONG TERM '
Wed Mar 01, 2023 1:02 am
Decisions need to be made - When this season is over and a major plan in place moving forward 