Why I Believe The Loan Window Is So Important For Our Season

On the day that the final Football League Emergency Transfer Window of the season opens I think that many of us will be hoping that Malkay Mackay can make some inspired loan signings in the coming days and weeks.

So far this season MM has only signed 2 players on loan, Filip Kiss and Elliott Parish, and as the latter has know signed a permanent contract that will not count against the 8 emergency loans we are allowed. That leaves us with the ability to sign up to 7 players on emergency loans and with the normal season ending on the last weekend in April a maximum 93 day transfer will last for the remainder of the season, however any player signed within the next 14 days would not be eligible to play in the play off final should we reach it.

I believe if we are to have any chance of making the automatic places maybe even in a worst case scenario make the playoffs we need to sign 3 - 4 players, two at a minimum and the reasons are threefold.

Firstly we will currently play a minimum of 55 matches this season and that will increase to 58 matches should we make the playoff final. The last time we had that number of matches in a season was 2007/08 and during that campaign we used 23 players on a regular basis. So far this season we have only used 18 players on a regular basis in our League campaign.

During that season only 10 players passed the 2000 minutes on the pitch, the same as last season. Already this season we have 8 players who have passed 2000 minutes on the pitch with another 5 more than likely to pass that mark unless more players are added to the squad.

That's the second reason why I believe it is so important to sign players in this window in short our players are playing more often and longer than any squad since our return to the Championship.

The final reason is that with only 18 players used on a regular basis there is a distinct lack of options for Malkay Mackay, despite the fact that he has had the 18 players organised in a number of different formations, and this is clearly in shown in the substitution statistics are we risking becoming predictable. So far this season there are mainly two players who are introduced to games on a regular basis, Rugy Gestede and Joe Mason. In the case of Rudy Gestede he has appeared in 17 League games with 14 of those being as a substitute and not surprisingly Rudy has only had 481 minutes on the pitch. Joe Mason has appeared in 23 League games with 13 of those as substitue and he has managed 1259 minutes on the pitch.

Of the two players most would agree that Joe Mason is the better of the two players more ready at this stage to make an impact. As much as I like the effort Rudy Gestede puts in everytime he plays he is still raw and we need to sign a player to replace him on the bench, one of Championship standard who is ready to make an impact.

We all know we need a real alternative to Craig Conway, a wide player with real pace, maybe Khadeem Harries will offer something but as Craig Conway has been taken off more often than anyother player this season, 13 times, the lack of an option is hurting us.

Whilst we have players like Peter Whittingham, who has played every minute of every League match, Don Cowie who has virtually matched him but for 1 substitution and Andrew Taylor, Kevin Macnaughton, Mark Hudson, Ben Turner, Kenny Miller and Aron Gunnarson who have played almost every minute when fit surely these players will run out of steam.

We are effectively 5 players short from the last time we played 58 matches in a season and for me now the emergency loan window is open we absolutely must use it.

Great post i would say we need at least 3 to 4 players.

i agree with the post but think 2 players will do it but wouldnt mind more we are lucky we havent had any injuries this year so far which is good

Still pretty narked that we didn't get anyone in the window notwithstanding I know Mackay tried hard but IM it was left too late.

We so need fresh faces in to gee up the clearly jaded squad.

Ive been saying we needed 3-4 more players since start of the season it will cost us in the end thats a cert weather it be injurys and nobody of equal standard or better to step in or some players getting tired playing 2-3 games some weeks and not giving 100% because they dont have it to give

IMO 2 players will cut it. One right winger, so Cowie can move into the centre with Whitts and Gunnar. And a bench striker, unless Earnie can get a chance and prove himself as that much needed impact striker

While i completely agree with the need for more players in theory its not as straightforward as we think.
Malky is adament that the only players who are lucky enough to pull on the blue shirt will be right for the team and hes not going to bring players in with egos,bad attitudes etc.
Honestly id rather see a 16 year old lad from the academy in our team then someone who believes they are bigger than the club or is just after a pay cheque and a taste of the Cardiff nightlife

in malky we trust

Great post i would say we need at least 3 to 4 players.

Jason, I have been saying this since OCT, I feel it will come back to haunt us and we will fail because of not strengthening, yet we are so close.

Very tidy post and and points well made...hope your post doesnt get the " ooo your being negative" and malky will deliver no matteer what.

malky is not God...he is just very very close

i thought carl said last night that malky was getting loans in

Great post by Castleblue.

Not being negative but I believe that City have missed out during the transfer window. If we had been mid table I wouldn't have minded not bringing in extra players but when we are in the top 3 why not strengthen like the other top teams and give yourself a better chance of reaching the promised land. We were crying out for players and we did not get them.

If you want a certain player then go in from the outset with a decent bid and don't play cat and mouse because its backfired. I can't see there being many quality players being made available during the loan period. Our best chance was the summer transfer window followed by the January window.

Lets hope that it does not come back to haunt us with another narrow miss to the promised land. Looking forward to the trip to Leciester on Saturday

i thought carl said last night that malky was getting loans in

Yes Malky will try his best, depends how much were willing to pay towards their wages.

Annis do you honestly think Malky will fetch anyone else in cos ive got this feeling he wont ?

We need new players to be added to our squad...how many - Good post Gary

I just hope we're not all here in 3 weeks time still waiting for some news regarding players coming in on loan, the ground work should've been done already so that things can be tied up pronto.

i thought carl said last night that malky was getting loans in

Yes Malky will try his best, depends how much were willing to pay towards their wages.

Something tells me your not very confident Annis! If we had 3 million to spend on sordell surely we would have more than enough to cover the wages of a he'll of a lot of premiership players ??

Great post i would say we need at least 3 to 4 players.

Jason, I have been saying this since OCT, I feel it will come back to haunt us and we will fail because of not strengthening, yet we are so close.

I agree, back in November I was emailing TG on this very subject and informing him that those clubs that are successful in the Championship are the ones that bought wisely in the January transfer window. He told me that they were well aware what they had to do in January. Well unfortunately the board may have been all too aware what they had to do in the transfer window, however at the end of the day we got one player in and a raw 18 year old at that. For me that will not be enough to give us promotion and the evidence is already there right before our eyes - our squad is tired and needed freshening up a bit. If we use the loan window we have to get the right type of player in, players that actually want to play for the club. To me that means getting players in on loan who are likely to sign with a view to a permanent contract come the summer. Are there 3 or 4 of those available to us in the loan window? I very much doubt it and so sadly under those circumstances we will do well with the current squad to even remain in the top 6. I hope I am wrong.

Annis do you honestly think Malky will fetch anyone else in cos ive got this feeling he wont ?

I am honestly starting to worry he wont, hope I am wrong.

Malky will only bring in players he wants and he feels will play and train to what he wants and more importantly will play for the club with heart like what we got there now.

I do not want panic buying like we have before we brought in players who did nothing, we do not want to go down that road again and I do not blame TG & VT holding back look at the support they gave Jones and they got nothing back just lazy players and a failed attempt for promotion.

Malky will do whats right for the club try and remember he is building for the future I was not expecting play offs this season we have well over achieved with the money we have spent and the squad we have

i think 2 will be enough, a striker and and an attacking minded midfielder! people who will grab on to wittingham's deadly passes and will take advantage of the runs miller makes when he drags defenders away!... we have witts, mcphail, kiss and gunnarson who will hold, we have cowie and conway as our wide men (at the moment) so we just need those extra men going forward (like mason) to make options in and around the box!

would love 3, maybe another winger to let cowie push in alot more! but 2 will do without being greedy, at least it gives malky some options and other players a little rest which is needed for the run in!

One down now another one or two of the quality of this Vuckic and we will be on our way.

Given he is an attacking midfield player this is likely to mean less game time for Ralls, Gestede maybe Mason.

Good start Malkay who's next.