Great player at this level. Probably on a few quid though.
+ Visit Cardiff FC for Latest News, Transfer Gossip, Fixtures and Match Results |
A player I think would suit Warnock's style of play very well, and bring a bit if drive to our midfield would be Jordon Mutch.
I thought he was comfortably our best outfield player in the premier league.
Currently out of favour at palace, and didn't do much on loan to Reading at the end of last season, and a bit injury prone, I think he's definitely got some qualities that would suit this side very well.
Worth a cheeky bid?
Great player at this level. Probably on a few quid though.
He'll be on a wedge and is really injury prone. If you could guarantee he'd play 35-40 games, I'd take him for a sensible price. Having said that, Reading fans don't rate him at all and it might be that not playing regular football for 3 seasons has set him back quite a bit.
This can happen with players like Mutch who do well at this level, not quite so well at Premier League level but tend to stay there warming the bench instead of playing regularly. Another such player I think this applies to would be Fraizer Campbell, which is one reason I've never joined those who thing he'd be a great buy for us.
Was fantastic for us in our promotion push, however he hardly did anything for Reading in their promotion push this year and was often on the bench. Seems a lot of players have their best spells with us and Mutch is definitely one of them.
I think Mutch needs to be fully match fit to get the best out of him.
He struggles with injuries and if he doesnt get a run of games he doesnt get his fitness levels up.
A fully fit Jordan Mutch id take back straight away.
I dont think Warnocks type of player is some fairy who wont play through the slightest of pain and spends more time in the treatment room than the dressing room.
Another to rank alongside Gary Medel as someone who had a handful of good games for us and is massively overated.
Talking of former midfielders, Haris Vuckic was released by Newcastle and signed for FC Twente, and Conor McAleny (less a midfielder but a versatile forward type) left Everton on a free and is now at Fleetwood. Just thought I'd mention it. I've no idea if they could've done a job for us but I thought they were quite promising at the time.
The point being that he has hardly played in 3 seasons. Given his lack of game time, while there's also a need to factor in a likely drop in confidence, there's little to suggest he could come back and show the same form he did previously. That's the problem.
It'll be interesting to see where Campbell ends up next season. He's not likely to play at Palace, he'll need to drop down a division but I can't see any team going for promotion seriously considering him. He's proven over the last 3 seasons that he's barely adequate at Premier League level - some would argue that he was hardly great for us, only that we had no other option after the Cornelius flop. If he'd need replacing when a club got promotion, clubs are likely to gamble somewhere else in the hope that they'd get a striker that could make the step up, not one who has struggled there.
For Campbell, see Jerome, Earnie, Nugent, Rhodes etc. If Campbell had played more games and scored more goals, a club challenging would probably buy him because he'd almost guarantee enough goals to win games but his complete lack of game time since he left us probably means his confidence has dried up and some of that match sharpness will have gone. I'd still say he's worth a gamble for someone, and somebody will overpay him in terms of wages but I wouldn't want that to be us.
Ok if Mutch doesn't whet your appetite, how about Austrian playmaker Robert Zulj.
Available on a free, but a bunch of clubs are apparently tracking him.
McAleny, definitely. The type of player who could fit into any system, he's got goals in him too (10 in 14 starts at Oxford last season). Championship sides were interested, apparently, but he played under Rosler at Brentford and I'm guessing no one else was prepared to offer him a three year deal like Fleetwood have. I'd like to think we were one of the clubs taking an interest but, with his terrible injury record, I can understand the risks involved in giving him a long-term deal. A great signing for Fleetwood if he stays fit, it's a massive if though.
Yes, that's exactly the issue. He'd be a gamble, not a guarantee. If someone else goes for it and it works out, fair enough. Better than us go for it and it becomes an expensive mistake.
For me if Campbell was a natural finisher who had an ability to find space and had a nous for goals then I'd sign him. Most of his ability in a Cardiff shirt was trying to make the most out of lost causes. In terms of being a natural finisher, he was never that. He missed countless opportunities when we were in the Premier League. Because of this, his lack of game time over recent seasons means he's one that most won't touch with a bargepole.