Tue Jun 13, 2017 1:45 pm
Cardiff City must exploit crucial loan market, it holds the key to promotion —
By Scott Johnson -
Tuesday 13th June 2017
It’s fair to say that Cardiff have a chequered past with regards to bringing in loan signings.
When you’re a Championship side with a limited budget — like Cardiff — it pays to make optimum use of the loan market.
Last season, both their loan signings were goalkeepers and were polar opposites in terms of influence. Cardiff would have sent Ben Amos back to Bolton if they could, but having already represented two different teams, he was left in limbo and remained at the club as a drain on the wage bill. Allan McGregor was brought in to replace Amos and proved to be a far more calming, reliable influence.
Cardiff’s loan signings in the previous couple of seasons were like strays that the club took in from the cold, with careers that needed reviving.
Sammy Ameobi had all of the ability but none of the fitness, whereas Ravel Morrison had all of the ability and, unfortunately, all of the attitude. Wilfried Zaha had also lost his way at Manchester United after leaving Crystal Palace, his spiritual home. All arrived low on confidence and subsequently flopped.
Kenneth Zohore and Tom Lawrence both underwhelmed during the 2015/16 season, but both went on to shine last year. Unfortunately, only one starred for Cardiff. In contrast, Lex Immers impressed during his temporary spell, but bombed after signing permanently, proving to be yet another expensive mistake.
There are success stories in Cardiff’s recent past. Leon Barnett arrived at the tail end of Cardiff’s promotion campaign and helped drag them over the line with some formidable performances at the back. In 2010, Dave Jones went loan crazy and brought in the likes of Danny Drinkwater, Seyi Olofinjana, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Craig Bellamy and Aaron Ramsey, with mixed results.
Gary O’Neil was a huge success over the course of nine games in 2004, but Jason Koumas will forever be the benchmark against which future Cardiff loan signings are compared. He had a transformative effect on the side during the 2005/06 season and proved so influential that Jones had no choice but to build the side around him.
Like Zaha, he was struggling at his parent club West Brom, despite his undoubted talents. Unlike Zaha, he played some of the best football of his career at Cardiff and could not reach those heights when he again returned on a temporary basis a few years later.
Wilfried Zaha was disappointing in a loan spell at Cardiff City
The reality is that, like permanent transfers, the success rate of loan signings is probably only around the 50 per cent mark and very few make a truly significant impact.
If you’re signing a young player, you hope for someone hungry to make a name for themselves, rather than someone with a chip on their shoulder. If they’re a bit older, a club may be moving them on because they’re frozen out or a disruptive influence, but with a stroke of luck they're still desperate for regular first team football and you will reap the benefits.
When you’re a Championship side with a limited budget — like Cardiff — it pays to make optimum use of the loan market.
If your side is not blessed exceptional individual talents, you have far more chance of bringing in someone on the periphery of a Premier League side temporarily than buying someone outright. It can be the difference between a top half finish and a top six finish; automatic promotion or the play-offs.
Cardiff have an impressive squad, but lack that extra spark that a player like Tammy Abraham can provide. The talented teenager plundered 19 goals in 37 games and swept the board at Bristol City’s end of season awards last year. He was also instrumental in the club retaining their Championship status.
Tue Jun 13, 2017 2:06 pm
Trouble is, for every Tammy Abraham there's a Sammy Ameobi! Huddersfield's success was built on loan stars, but I'm not sure it's Warnock's philosophy....it'll depend on who we can afford and there are plenty of class acts released by Premier clubs anyway.