January Transfer Window

As the January transfer window edges nearer to opening, with just a few weeks away, Cardiff City have been linked with a bundle of players. Malky Mackay has said that he thinks the January transfer window have two types of players "One's that are trying to get a move and clubs who want to get rid of the dead wood" He had not ruled out making signings but did state we wouldn't sign any big named players.
I will go through a list on the potential signings that we have been linked with so far

Johan Berg Gudmundsson 

Johann is an 21 year old Icelandic footballer who plys his trade in Holland playing for AZ Alkmaar. He had previously had youth spells with Fulham and Chelsea before going back to Iceland. Since then he has a lot of interest and joined AZ Alkmaar in 2009. He is a highly rated player and plays as a winger or a forward. Is this what Cardiff need? A pacey winger who can also do a job up front, with both of our wingers lacking pace he could do a job, he's already had spells in Britain so he is used to the and Aron Gunnarsson is there so he can fit into the place.

Jimmy Kebe 

Jimmy Kebe is a known player to all, he has played for Reading since 2008 and is on the radar of Malky Mackay, he has been slated by Reading fans for his attitude but with his pacy attributes this could prove a good signing for the Bluebirds as he would offer more pace to the team.

Karl Sheppard

Not known to a lot of people but Karl Sheppard is a highly rated 20 year old striker who plays for Shamrock Rovers, he has notched up 10 goals for his club this season and has played in the Europa League. He is wanted by Watford, Sunderland, Peterborough and Blackpool which could provide a lot of competition for him but is he a striker we need?

Matt Lowton

Matt Lowton is remembered by the Bluebirds for that horrible challenge which got him sent off. The twenty two year old can play in defence or play as a midfielder which offers a lot of chances for him to push into the side. Could a lucrative offer tempt the Blades into selling one of their prized assets to Cardiff?

Tom Collins

Tom Collins isn't really known to a lot of people but the nineteen year old who plays for Hayes and Yeading has been offered a trial at Cardiff City at the start of the new year. Tom is a striker come midfielder who played for Stevenage, not really a signing anyone would class as huge but surely one for the future?

Lawrie Wilson

A twenty-four year old midfielder, who plays for Stevenage, He has played 133 times for Stevenage which is an impressive feat for such a young player, could he be a bundle of midfielders to come to Cardiff City? 

Cardif City 2-2 Ipswich Town

As a minority of Cardiff City fans try and erase the earlier rugby score of where Wales were cheated out of a game due to a dubious decision, there was a sense of dejavu to happen at the Cardiff City Stadium!

The game starts and while Chopra's name is read out, returning to the Cardiff City Stadium, he receives an applause from the Cardiff City fans honoring his time at the club. I was suprised that Anthony Gerrard wasn't even included in the match day squad, Kenny Miller on the other hand I had my doubts about and would prefer a full fit Kenny Miller against Peterborough than a half fit one against Ipswich.

Cardiff caused a considerable amount of pressure but Ipswich had their fair amount of chances but in the nineteenth minute, a header scored by Rudy Gestede after Aron Gunnarsson's long looping throw put the Bluebirds ahead. 

Rudy Gestede has grown on me, he's turned out to be my favourite striker for the club, I've always thought he was a great capture for the Bluebirds and he composes himself brilliantly, everyone's compared him to Jay Bothroyd and I'd agree with that but he doesn't fall on the floor constantly and moan, he gets on with the game. Rudy has grown to love the club as well I guess, every time he plays he'll try and motivate the crowd and when he scored today he instantly got a "RUDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY" from me! 

The goal was a wake up call for Paul Jewell's men and ten minutes later Jason Scotland found himself in a lot of space and smashed it from twenty two yards which was one of the sweetest goals from an opposition player I've seen in a while, being an ex-Swansea player, he went over to the Cardiff fans and put his finger to his lip taunting the Cardiff fans.

As I wonder how that goal went in, I was amazed to see that Scotland had lost a lot of weight over the summer, he seemed more mobile! Chopra nearly put the Tractorboys ahead but narrowly missed, the first half finished and Cardiff fans were a bit shocked to see a goal of that goal go in.

I somehow felt really ill in this game, was it nerves? I watched the halftime entertainment as a fellow CCMB'er Elliot Cantor took a penalty in front of the crowd for Sky's Take it Like a Fan, he missed sadly!

The second half kicked off and Ipswich came out with all guns blazing, Grant Leadbitter from 12 yards out forcing David Marshall to pull off an acrobatic save.


In the 51st minute, controversy and confusion came into the equation when Michael Chopra returned to haunt Cardiff by putting his new side in front with a header. It seemed controversial when the linesman seemed to have flagged for infringement or an off-side, but then the decision seemed to be reversed? I was confused like any other fan, we all just stood there, some Cardiff fans waving and taunting Ipswich fans thinking it didn't go in, it was given though and this frustrated me even more, prompting me to shout "If you're going to raise your flag, raise it correctly" 


This was just a taste of what the linesman perspective of the game, a lot of decisions were going Cardiff and it frustrated Andrew Taylor so much that Andrew Taylor rightfully went over to give the linesman a piece of his mind! Cardiff were refused a countless amount of penalties, Dean Whitestone was having an absolute nightmare, having to ask his assistants for almost everything really, I'm suprised he's a referee at this level! 

In the end the referee gave in and Cardiff were awarded a deserved penalty after Carlos Edwards handled the ball in the area, Peter Whittingham slotted home a perfect penalty lifting the Cardiff hearts, I felt this was well deserved, Ipswich played horrible, trying to foul us on every attempt we had, we deserved this penalty after turning the tide against them!


In the final fifteen minutes it was all Cardiff, after the penalty we should have had another when Kevin McNaughton was brought down recklessly and we screamed for a penalty, we could have wrapped up three points when Hudson's defensive header caught the Ipswich Town napping and Gestede was in, only to be denied by a great save from David Stockdale. Don Cowie was also denied by a great save from Stockdale with a header. 




The full time whistle blew and a part of me felt happy that we didn't lose to a team we class as our "bogey" side but another part felt that we were cheated out of a win by the officials but in other ways we should have put our chances to bed.


Peterborough on Tuesday for us, I won't be there due to school but I'll be at Cardiff City Stadium for certain against Keith Hill's Barnsley. 

Is there any passion in loan moves?

When a player is sent out on loan, I see it as experience or because they're out of favour, but is there any passion in the move or is it just to improve on their football?

Last year my team Cardiff signed hometown hero Craig Bellamy on a season long loan after being shafted out of the Manchester City team after the billionaire owners gave Roberto Mancini the full backing and Bellamy was surplus to requirements. In strange circumstances it seemed that Manchester City were playing a large sum of Bellamy's wages to make this deal happen. 


It was a fairy tale story, the home town boy wanting to help his club gain promotion to the Premier League and end the financial woes of the club.

On the other hand though, on the 18th January 2011, Cardiff had signed Jay Emmanuel Thomas on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season, being such a young age this meant that this was merely an experience move for him and he proved that he showed no passion when joining the club. Jay Emmanuel proved this after losing in the 3-0 Play-Off semi final second leg when he tweeted "F*** OFF people who call me s***, s*** fans" This tweet wasn't directed at all Cardiff City fans but a small minority, he had a right to say it yes but he's a young age and will learn from the mistake but it seems he had a very cocky attitude at his time at Cardiff. 

It's made me wonder, Is there actually any passion in a loan move? Is it just seen as an opportunity for a player to try something new.

I believe that a young player who's been sent out on loan haven't really got an ability to show any passion, they're a young age and with having to move house for the duration or keep on renting whatever place they live in can be a massive affect on the player. I'm not saying all youth players aren't good loanees and can't adapt to the circumstances, for example Jack Cork earned great reviews from Championship fans.

A player who is 25 or over rarely moves out on loan unless they've been out of favour or injured. Some players often choose to return to their old club from where they started, or played their before, one being Jason Koumas who earned a lot of admirers in his first loan spell at Cardiff, but after returning to the club for a second time last season he was a ghost of what he was before, injuries restricting him from playing and only a glimmer of what he done in his previous spell made you wonder what had happened to him? He did try and show some passion though, after Cardiff were grafting a 1-1 draw with Doncaster, he placed a perfectly placed freekick and celebrated right over to the fans as they grasped a victory after Koumas set another one up. Another player who showed no passion at all was comedy, mediocre and terrible goalkeeper Stephen Bywater who replied to questions interview asking about his game for Cardiff by replying "I don't care" for a player that I'm suprised that can actually play because he's that terrible of a goalkeeper that he shouldn't be in the top three tiers of English football, he should at least try and motivate himself to actually put on the shirt.

It seems there is a lot more passion from older players as they come along as their legs tire they feel more motivated to up their game and if they're out of favour then they want to play well for their loanee manager so they can go back to their parent club with great reviews, Shefki Kuqi who was sent on loan to Derby after falling out of favour with Paulo Sousa earned Derby fans over with great performances and interacting with the fans.

There's another thing that comes into loans that's debatable, international loans.

Cardiff have signed players before from foreign clubs on loan, some turned out to be good and some turned out to be bad!

Quincy Owusu Abeyie was one of the most less passionate players for club, and there was questions to why, he's been in the country before after moving from Arsenal to Spartak Moscow, why would he feel he wasn't able to adapt?

Two foreign loans caught the eye of me, one is Glenn Loovens who initially joined Cardiff City on loan, but played so well for the club that Cardiff decided to sign him permanently and was then sold to Celtic for £2.1m after playing so well for Cardiff, getting to the FA Cup final in the process.

One is a current loanee and despite being early days I admire his passion so much, his name is Filip Kiss, he's one of them midfielders you can instantly love after being a hardman in the midfield, putting his head in where it gets hurt, sticking everything he can to get on a loose ball or chase a lost cause, that's someone that wants to play for the club and earn admirers.

In my opinion, in some cases in loan moves, they can play off brilliantly and the passion generated between the player and club can earn the player a deal at the club or to go onto bigger things and give them a taste of what it's like. On the other hand they can dramatically fail and you can have a player who simply just doesn't care about the club. 

The Incredible Peter Whittingham

Peter Whittingham, a 27 year old born and raised in Nuneaton. He attended a school that didn't have football as an option in P.E and was noted for being a capable batsman in cricket, but despite being deprived of playing football in his school except for lunch, Peter Whittingham has turned out to be one of the best players to grace the Championship. 

In the early stages of career, he was part of an FA Youth Cup winning team in 2002, he was notified by the Aston Villa staff in 2003, when he made his debut against Newcastle United, coming on as a substitute for Gareth Barry. In that season he made 32 appearances for the club, he scored his first ever goal for Aston Villa against Wycombe Wanderers in the League Cup, despite gaining a reputation for being a player who had great attributes for his age, he was then loaned out to Derby County and Burnley to improve his football. He then returned and scored his first league goal for the club against Portsmouth in 2004.

In 2007, things had changed for Peter Whittingham, he had only made four appearances for Villa, On the 11th January 2007, Peter had signed for Cardiff City for a fee understood to have been £350,000. In that time, Cardiff City have never looked back after spending such a small sum for such a quality player. In his first season for the club, he had made 18 appearances and scored four goals. He wrote his name in the team sheet almost every week with only Joe Ledley really offering him competition for his spot, but after a shortage of players, Joe was made to play in left back and Whittingham was on the left side of midfield. 

In the next season, it proved to be the rise of Peter, making 33 appearances for Cardiff ending with 9 goals, in that season Cardiff had reached an FA Cup final for there first time since winning the cup in 1927. He ended up being the top goalscorer in the FA Cup for Cardiff that season, with his first coming against Chasetown, Wolverhampton Wanderers and a memorable goal against Middlesbrough where he turned and beat the keeper sweetly, and then also setting up Roger Johnson to set up a semi-final tie at Wembley against Barnsley. 

In the 2008-2009 season, after suffering FA Cup final heartbreak against Portsmouth, losing by a goal to nil and having a goal ruled out and numerous penalty claims turned down, Peter had to go ahead again and try and help the Bluebirds go on and look for success, making 26 appearances and scoring four goals, Cardiff had finished 7th on the final day of the season finishing outside the play-offs only by a goal. 

After suffering heartbreak on the final day of the season, losing the play-off place just by a goal, Cardiff went ahead again and they started off the season brightly, Whittingham getting on the score sheet in a rampant 4-0 win over Scunthorpe. In this season, the Championship had finally opened up and heard the name of "Peter Whittingham" in this season, which looked one of the hardest line up of teams yet with Middlesbrough, Newcastle and West Brom all coming down, Peter Whittingham was the man grabbing the spotlight, in this season Peter Whittingham scored an incredible twenty five goals as a left sided midfielder, scoring memorable goals for Cardiff, for example a memorable goal against Leicester at The Walkers(now known as King Power Arena) with a cheeky left footed freekick which cannoned in from the post. 

Another goal was equalizing from the spot against Leicester in the home leg at the Cardiff City Stadium, when it all looked doom and gloom for the Bluebirds, but having to go off injured and not playing a part in the rest of the game.  In the end though, Cardiff City had beaten Leicester City on penalties with Yann Kermorgant's extravagance not paying off and David Marshall saving the crucial penalty to send Cardiff to Wembley in a play-off final against Blackpool.

In that season, Cardiff had been through terrible financial woes with the club having constant tax bills having to be payed and having a transfer embargo placed on them in the January transfer window, leaving Dave Jones' men unable to strengthen and making the team come together as a team to overcome the problems. 
Peter was available and ready to go in Cardiff's play-off final which was worth £90m and could have ended Cardiff City's financial troubles but after a well fought first half, Blackpool were crowned play-off Champions after being classed as the underdogs and Cardiff yet again fell at the final hurdle, leaving some fans wondering what was going to happen to the club.In the end, Cardiff had gained Malaysian investment from Vincent Tan and Dato Chan and a new era at Cardiff City had begun. In that season, Whittingham was named in the Championship team of the year.

The 2010-2011 season had started, and Cardiff City had to 'pick themselves up, dust themselves down and get ready again' Dave Jones.  
Peter was at the center of a transfer battle, with Nottingham Forest claiming that Whittingham wanted to join the club, Burnley also had a bid turned down for £1.75m, which in my eyes was laughable. In the end, Peter had ended all interest by signing a new contract for two more years, showing pure commitment to the Welsh club. In the 2010-2011 season, Cardiff had one aim and that was to get to the Premier League at the final time of asking and they showed their ambitions by signing on-loan stars like Seyi Olofinjana, Andy Keogh and other names, one to be notified was home-town hero Craig Bellamy who was found out of favour at Manchester City and opted to join the Bluebirds, Craig's move meant that Peter Whittingham was moved to an unfamiliar center midfield role, this restricted Whittingham from improving from last season's goal tally where he had an incredible goal scoring record. 

A lot of the time, through the season Peter was made to be a center defensive midfielder letting big utility man Seyi Olofinjana play as an attacking midfielder, this frustrated Cardiff fans and some fans were claiming that Whittingham was terrible in that position and that he was afraid to tackle, but could you blame Whittingham? A player that was scoring freely last year and used to attacking and not defending was made to pull back while a player who was most suited as a defensive midfielder was playing ahead of him? Despite this, he still managed to score 11 goals and was noted for his passing. In this season, Whittingham had missed numerous penalties and a lot of people were calling for the Whittingham of the 2009-2010 season to return. I watched Peter throughout the home matches of the season and a few away games, I always had faith in him, I know his ability of what he can do. As the season drew to a close, Peter had scored a goal that sent Preston North End down and revived their automatic promotion hopes. The season ended and Cardiff City yet again failed at the final hurdle, losing 3-0 at home to Reading, who went on to lose 4-2 to Cardiff's bitterest rivals Swansea. 

On the 30th May 2011, Dave Jones was sacked and a few weeks later Malky Mackay was made manager of the club, Malky had made his feelings known instantly saying that he wanted to keep Whittingham after interest from Ipswich. He's currently made 12 appearances for the Bluebirds this season, grabbing two goals. On the 26th August 2011, an article was posted on the Cardiff City website that Peter had signed a contract extension that meant he was contracted to the club till 2014. He's been comforted by Malky, sort of a favourite player really as Whitts has gone to grown on Malky and Malky rates him highly. In the early stages of this season, Whittingham has been made a center midfielder for the Bluebirds but a more freedom role being able to go forward.

Peter Whittingham has grown on me, he's a player with such great attributes, he can hit a sweetly struck free kick, set up a goal and has a great vision for the goal. A lot of Cardiff fans have come out of their shells and realised the ability of Whittingham, you could give me a lot of midfielders in the Championship and I'd always give you a valid reason on why Whittingham is one of the top midfielders in the Championship, the fact that he is so versatile and can do a great job for the team is a reason why I've grown to love the No.7 for the club. The long ball that Whittingham gives is simply incredible, he loves what he's doing this year and he feels more comfortable under Malky Mackay, he's part of a strong midfield now this year and our midfield is one of the best in the Championship this year in my opinion because we have a lot of quality and a midfield with Peter Whittingham is a midfield that is a force to be reckoned with.