The turmoil at Cardiff City in the last few pre-seasons has cast a dim shadow amongst the fans with the infamous colour change, over-spending, ‘textgate’ and the relegation from the Premier League in the last close season. This season, however, opposes those negative vibes and a there is a more positive atmosphere around the Cardiff City Stadium with little over three weeks until the Championship season kicks off against Fulham on 8th August.
The squad produced by former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is slowly being dismantled and sold off for what price the board can get with the wage bill reduction being the main concern for club chairman Mehmet Dalman. There has been movement nonetheless, with Semi Ajayi joining from Arsenal and Newcastle winger Sammy Ameobi signed on a season long loan from the Magpies.
Fans will be a little disappointed that the club have missed out on four potential targets but pleased that they are not prepared to overspend on players whilst at this level of the football pyramid. After last season’s mid-table finish it is always going to be more difficult to become an appealing destination when the last campaign was deemed a failure. Even so, £4 million is a massive price tag for the 32-year-old Darryl Murphy who scored 27 goals for Ipswich Town last season.
The failure began with Solskjaers’ poor recruitment from his home country, including Norwegian players Jo Inge Berget and Magnus Wolff Eikrem. The exception, Mats Moller Daehli, showed a lot of promise for the Bluebirds in the year he spent at the club. Other players did not manage to make any sort of impression such as Maxi Amondarain, whom many would have forgotten was still at the club until recently.
With the slow progress in the transfer window supporters will be expecting the blooding of youth prospects whom they saw glimpses of last season. These include the promising talent in Joe Ralls, Declan John and Kadeem Harris as well as the younger players from the development squad including Tommy O’Sullivan, Jazzi Barnum Bobb who have already had a taste of first team action.
All the talk of potential signings and bringing the youth through the ranks is important for a club to make a bid for promotion. As well as this, holding on to stalwarts such as Peter Whittingham and David Marshall will be key to how Cardiff City fair during the 2015/2016 season. With such a young squad, the experience will be invaluable.
The most encouraging development at the club during the close season is most definitely the reversal of the rebranding. The return to blue has pleased the club’s support and the new kit sponsorship with Adidas has led to a revamped shirt which has had very positive responses. The club shop has had a refurbishment and credit has to go to the discreet Vincent Tan and the board during the restoration period. Quotes have been engraved into the walls of the interior from past players and managers, revitalizing recent memories including the FA Cup final against Portsmouth and the League Cup final against Liverpool most recently.
Fans’ views on Tan have reduced from a boil to a simmer during this close season, largely due to the reversal of the which for which he and the board can take credit. The club is where it should have been three years ago and ultimately the fans’ happiness is significant to the club’s success. Additions to the squad and the keeping of long-serving players contracted along with the return to blue has cast a vibrant feel around the club. Russell Slade is still under criticism for his style of play which will be scrutinised by most. The minimum expectation will be a play-off position come the end of April 2016. A poor start could see Slade lose his post as manager which would not displease most of the Cardiff faithful.
