So, here we are then, a full 78 days (come Sunday) after that playoff defeat, sorry, THAT playoff defeat and we find ourselves ready to go through it all over again. Why do we continually do this to ourselves? Well the answer to that is simply because we are hooked, we are addicted, it’s part of all of our lives, it’s in our blood and we love it.
If you are reading this you will probably fall into 1 of 3 categories, either a) you are a Cardiff fan b) you are friend or family or c) you are a total stranger and have accidentally stumbled across it. Well whatever category you fall into you got here you are 2 paragraphs in and still reading, so you may as well keep reading eh?
Silly season has been and nearly gone and as usual the summer has seen many rumours flying around, there was talks of Craig Bellamy signing, Peter Whittingham and Michael Chopra leaving (which is still a distinct possibility), there were even talks of our manager Dave Jones taking up the vacated managerial role at Fulham.
One player who has left the club is Joe Ledley, who has finally got what he wanted and gone to the Premier League, although I’m pretty sure when he said he wanted to play in the Premier League he meant the English one rather than the Scottish one. Cardiff ended up getting nothing (bar a pending small tribunal fee) for a home grown player, who, after 9 years at the club, found himself out of contract, it’s ridiculous really, particularly as we were reported to have turned down a £6mil bid from Stoke just 2 years ago! Ah well that’s football for you and I suppose the club only have themselves to blame. Good luck to Joe, but I can’t help but feel he’s going to spend the best years of his career in a league, which is generally a poorer standard than the Championship.
Another player to leave is full back Mark Kennedy, although not everyone's favourite player on the pitch over the last couple of seasons (myself included), he always gave his all and he seems like a genuinely decent bloke. The playoff semi final against Leicester instantly springs to mind. Straight after he scored the winning penalty, instead of rushing to celebrate with his team mates the first thing he did was console Martyn Waghorn, who missed Leicesters final penalty, it had echoes of Flintoff and Lee at Edgbaston in the 2005 ashes series and showed true sportsmanship, I wish him all the best at Ipswich and hope he gets a decent reception when he returns to the Cardiff City Stadium later in the season in an Ipswich shirt.
Koumas is coming. We’ve heard those words said on numerous occasions every summer since he finished his first loan spell with us after the 2005/2006 season, but this time it has happened, Jason Koumas is coming, the messiah has returned, the only question is, will he be as good as last time? I, personally, don’t see any reason why he can’t be, at 30 he is hardly ancient and he is proven at this level to be about 3 steps ahead of everyone else. He really is one of the best players I’ve ever seen down the city (yes, this includes Josh Low), Koumas has under hugely achieved everywhere else he has been, so let’s hope Jones can bring out the best in him again.
Other signings we’ve made this season are goalkeeper and Tom Heaton (who had a loan spell with us a couple of seasons back) and Danny Drinkwater (season loan) both coming from Manchester United, so not much of a drop then. Let’s just hope the embargo is lifted in time for them to play on Sunday and who knows, maybe we can make a few more additions.
Ah the embargo, it had to be mentioned sooner or later didn’t it? Due to our continued well documented financial difficulties (slight under statement) we haven’t been able to register any new players, although it is thought that it will soon be uplifted, it better be , because if it isn’t, we are in some trouble (stop the press: embargo uplifted).
Ah the financial difficulties, it had to be mentioned sooner...The business element isn’t something I want to go into too much, mainly because it confuses me, but we all know what is happening, well sort of, and there’s nothing we can do about it, but the Riddler has gone and the Malaysians are here and I’m sure Dato and co will do a good job and sort out the mess our previous chairmen have left us in. Anyway, that’s my introduction done, here’s hoping for a successful campaign, stay tuned and join me for the ride...
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