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Summer madness bites at Cardiff

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

By all accounts Malky MacKay is a good guy.  He is certainly a good motivator and tactician, and an excellent communicator, unburdened by the airs and graces normally associated by managers in the self-appointed Greatest Show on Earth.  None of this saved him from the sack, though, accused of running riot with the cheque book in the summer.

Cardiff City certainly ran riot, spending in the region of £50m to help prepare for top flight football.  If, as owner Vincent Tan alleges, the spend was unauthorised, Cardiff have a management control problem, not a problem with the manager, who is within his rights to spend whatever money made available to him.

‘Bluebirds’ fans are united on Malky’s side, they are equally united against owner Tan, who appears wholly unsuitable to control a football club.  Changing their strips from blue to red, as red is the colour most associated with Wales, tells you all you need to know about Tan and where he will ultimately take the club, but the extravagance of the summer has already set Cardiff off on the road to rapid decline.

Every club should anticipating making mistakes in the transfer market, it is part of the territory, but they need to be able to afford those mistakes.  Cardiff’s summer signings allowed for no mistakes. The totem was Andreas Cornelius, recruited from from Copenhagen for an outrageous £10m.  The player received a five year contract worth more than the transfer fee.  He’s only 20.  Cornelius also earns more than seven times his salary at Copenhagen, no one will be able to afford to take him from Cardiff, his 18 career goals, all in Denmark, suggest he’s simply not worth anything like money he’s on.

If you’re Cardiff City, here’s the problem when you try to recruit for top flight football: after 50 years in the wilderness, you’re favourites for the drop.  Players with other top flight options will take them, you’ll have to pay over the odds to convince players to sign on.  You’re also shopping in a market you have absolutely no experience of – making mistakes more likely.

Spending £10m on a striker was possibly a sensible idea for Cardiff (I can imagine how popular it was, any sane voices would have been whistling against the wind) but what striker, genuinely worth £10m, would go there without being ‘bribed’ with copious amounts of cash?  I’m aware of the parallels with Celtic, which £10m striker would come to Scotland?

They could have received 50 knock-backs before doing a deal in Copenhagen.  This pattern was replicated across the rest of their summer spend.  They should have invested their Premier League windfall on long-term development, irrespective of the short-term consequences.

For the sake of the club’s fans I hope they survive but inadequate controls at board level, with an owner seemingly intent on self-destruction, a rapid decline through the leagues seems inevitable, sooner or later.
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  5. The Spirit of Arthur Lee on

    Well I hope I make more money than this at my next club

     

     

    I hope there’s a lot more in it there for me.

     

     

    I’d like my trousers pressed and my shoes

     

     

    shined up by a rich girl,

     

     

    who’s only care in the world is me.

     

     

     

     

    “But are these all the brains I’m entitled to have?

     

     

    Don’t try to make me happy, when I’m happy feeling bad.

     

     

    I’ve got no manners or a hand you shake,

     

     

    and when I won’t tell the truth it’s easier to fake.”

  10. Marrakesh Express on

    A wee point was made in the pub earlier. What with the msm going into complete overdrive on Celtic negativity and all that, namely flares, broken seats and banners:- how did this media exposure compare with events pre July 1989, when nothing short of SFA sanctioned apartheid was ongoing at Rangers FC for over 100 years?

     

    I can only ever recall Ian Archer and to a lesser extent Gerry McNee writing about it, or being allowed to should I say.

  11. bognorbhoy oscar in my thoughts/ support the dam 5 on

    modern day canal canoeing is for softies

     

     

    compared to dubh kosi expedition 1976

  13. TinyTim on

    SFTB

     

     

    And I wish you and yours all the very best for 2014 and a belated merry Christmas.

     

     

    I haven’t caught a glimpse of you recently,as I often do at the away matches.

     

     

    Are you still going to the away matches?

     

     

    TT

  18. ryecatcher on

    This Charity Foundation issue at Sevco just gets worse and worse.

     

     

    Please read the Alzipratu blog.

     

     

    Fat Salary,his son and mates apparently did a Whitewater Rafting Trip to Idaho last summer.

     

     

    Allegedly the sum raised FOR THE CHARITY was circa 15k

     

     

    Allegedly the cost of the trip TO THE CHARITY ( business class flights / luxury hotels etc.) was 39k

     

     

    This is genuinely feckin scandalous.

     

     

    Come on Phil…..investigate further please?

     

     

    Corsicacharity is behind Alzipratu.

  19. Tricoloured Ribbon on

    I see the old Jungle Boys were on last night having an old sing song about the songs of yesteryear when a poster threw a hand grenade into proceedings about the tragic killing of Paul Maxwell who was in the boat when Mountbatten was executed.

     

    If the scourge of Ireland hadn’t been anywhere near this country for centuries then Ireland would always have been at peace.

     

    A guy wae Paddy McCourt as his username..hahaha..give me peace

  20. the long wait is over on

    Marrakesh

     

     

    The MSM reporting on Rangers –

     

     

     

    http://www.wallpaperhere.com/See_no_Evil_Hear_no_Evil_Speak_no_Evil_82556/download_1280x800

     

     

     

    The irony is that their refusal to publish anything negative about them , no matter how relevant , unquestionably contributed to their downfall and continues to damage them, not least of all because it has fuelled the belief that all is well and that a quick turnaround is just around the corner , as soon as the next saviour , backed by the saintly mr mccoist , pumps untold millions into the warchest.

     

     

    Long may it continue…

  21. ryecatcher on

    http:alzipratu.wordpress.com/

     

     

    The following is a letter I wrote to Peter Lawwell and the board of Celtic Football Club in April 2013. I have decided to post it now because I believe we are at the …

     

    ‎Uncategorized – ‎Older posts – ‎About – ‎Corsica1968

  22. jude2005 is Neil Lennon \o/ on

    Was a bit disappointed re Neil words on the Tony Watt situation in the papers today.There again I dont know the full story or facts!!

  27. THE EXILED TIM-Free the Dam 5 on

    Tricoloured Ribbon

     

     

    Many to this day believe that the Ra, who have never claimed resposibility for the bombing, did not carry it out.

     

     

    But the meja said they did it, so that is good enough for the majority.

     

     

    They will be telling us next they landed on the moon >}

     

     

    HH

  29. Clashcitybhoy on

    Gents,

     

    Very late decision, but I am thinking about going to Inverness to tomorrow with the Bhoy.

     

    Any insight on ticket availability?

  32. Tricoloured Ribbon on

    The Exiled Tim,

     

    Naw bud,there is no doubt the IRA carried out the attack.None at all.The IRA claimed responsibility.

  35. ryecatcher on

    TSOAL

     

     

    Last comment from me since the issue was raised….

     

     

    Gerry Adams admitted the IRA ‘executed’ Mountbatten in a press release.

     

     

    He was killed on the same day as the Warrenpoint bomb.

     

     

    Over and out for the avoidance of doubt.

  37. SydneyTim on

    Ryecatcher good letter , but as it had nothing to do with Peters bonus then it went straight in bin

     

    See also requests for strikers they also went into bin

  40. ryecatcher on

    TSOAL….

     

     

    Were you in the bar when it happened?

     

     

    Very unusual in the Free State.

     

     

    I was in Dublin around July 1994 and you could still feel the sense of shock then.

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