The one player Neil Warnock must sign to drive Cardiff City

Nathan Blake: The one player Neil Warnock must sign to drive Cardiff City into the Premier League -

By Nathan Blake

Thursday 9th November 2017


Defeat at Bristol City or not, Neil Warnock’s Bluebirds stand in a fantastic position during the international break.

Third in the Championship, more than a third of the season gone, they just have to keep the momentum going to the New Year — and then decide where to strengthen in the January transfer window for a final push towards the Premier League.

I actually believe Warnock has a more than capable squad at his disposal which needs very little tinkering.

There’s an old saying in football that you need two players for every position and Cardiff City are pretty much there with that.

They have a plethora of quality centre-backs for Championship football, plus Lee Peltier and Greg Halford who can fit in there if necessary.

Callum Paterson has given a new dimension at full-back and there are any number of men vying for the midfield berths — Aron Gunnarsson, Joe Ralls, Loic Damour, Craig Bryson, Lee Tomlin. Plus you can put Sol Bamba and Halford again into that mix.

Kenneth Zohore, Omar Bogle and Danny Ward are three centre-forward options; only one can play. Kadeem Harris will return soon to offer an extra alternative out wide to put pressure upon Junior Hoilett and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

So Cardiff don’t need much, they really don’t. What they do require is something a little unique, someone with that extra quality who can make the difference between the top two and the top six at the end of the season.

The person who fits that bill for me is Mohamed Diame, who spends far too much of his time at the moment sitting on the bench up at Newcastle United and who must be itching to play regularly in a successful side.

Diame, for me, is everything the Bluebirds need for the final push under Warnock. Strong, powerful, athletic, experienced and with the know-how of what’s required to go up from the Championship.

He was a kingpin for Newcastle when they won the title last season, but his game time has been far more limited in the Premier League under Rafa Benitez.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Great shout but can’t see Newcastle letting him go.
Wages would probably be prohibitive as well unfortunately.

I keep banging on about Ledley but he would be perfect for us. The other midfielders could get forward and he would sit in protecting and breaking up play. Like he does for wales and is doing for Derby.

He’s a good player, but he’s 30, on the decline, probably on very big wages and I wonder if the hunger will be there for him to drop back down to this level. He’s only useful as an attacking midfielder these days, I don’t think he has the legs or mobility to play a normal centre midfielder role anymore.

If we want to bring in another attacking midfielder to give Tomlin competition, we should go for Billy Bodin, who continues to improve, scores plenty of goals at League 1 level and would jump at the chance to step up to the Championship as he wants to break into the Wales squad. He has so much talent and he would come on a fraction of the wages Diame is on.

Interesting shout about Diame. Wonder if Blakey has heard a whisper?

God I hope not.

I was reading some Newcastle opinions the other day, and they all say he's useless. His legs have gone so he's got nothing else going for him. He's lucky to be on their bench

FORMER INTERNATIONAL MAKES ASTOUNDING COMPARISON AS HE RAVES OVER FRINGE NEWCASTLE FIGURE


9th November, 2017,


By Russell Edge

Former Welsh international Nathan Blake has been raving over Newcastle United midfielder Mo Diame as he urges Cardiff City to snap him up.

The 30-year-old joined the Magpies back in the summer of 2016 from Hull City ahead of their campaign in the Championship, and played a key role in securing the second tier title and therefore promotion, with 37 league appearances to his name.


However his impact this season has been minimal, as he has found himself limited to just one start among his seven top flight outings, with the likes of Mikel Merino, Jonjo Shelvey and Ayoze Perez all favoured ahead of the Senegal enforcer.

Pushed to the fringes of the first team at St James’ Park, Blake, who picked up 29 caps for Wales during his career, has urged Neil Warnock at Cardiff to make a move for the man with 75 second tier appearances under his belt, as the Bluebirds look to push on for promotion.


Making an astounding comparison between Tottenham’s Mousa Dembele and Diame, Blake wrote “Strong, powerful, athletic, experienced – he was a kingpin for Newcastle when they won the title last season.

“I wouldn’t fancy coming up against him in a challenge. He can crunch with the best of them, trust me.

“The best analogy would be with Mousa Dembele of Spurs, who is also athletic and powerful, goes box-to-box, but has the vision for a defence splitting pass.

“Make no mistake Diame is a Warnock type of player, too. Leggy, physical, has stature, can be bossy on the pitch.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

God I hope not.

I was reading some Newcastle opinions the other day, and they all say he's useless. His legs have gone so he's got nothing else going for him. He's lucky to be on their bench

Warnock is far more likely to produce a signing none of us have heard of...Billy Bob- blogbutton from Skelmersdale thistle reserves who turns out to be shit hot..

Well, fair play to Blakey. It's hard to pick a player who you reckon can improve the team without being too fanciful

Why do people keep going on about Ledley? he is no better than Ralls sorry he is now not good enough for the future of the club and to put him in the same statement as Diame is comical