" GARY MADINE REVEALS WHY HE CAME TO CARDIFF "

Gary Madine reveals the full reasons behind his Cardiff City move and sends message to Bolton Wanderers ahead of clash with former club


Sunday 11th Feb 2018


By Ian Mitchelmore

Madine is in line to feature against his former employers on Tuesday night, just 13 days after his move to South Wales


Gary Madine has revealed former Bluebirds Andrew Taylor and Craig Noone played a huge role in his big money move from Bolton Wanderers to Cardiff City.

The striker secured a £5m switch from the Macron Stadium to the Welsh capital just two hours before the 11pm cut off point on transfer deadline day in January having been the subject of multiple bids from the Bluebirds during the course of the winter window.


He started in both of Cardiff's away Championship games against Leeds United and Millwall and is in line to feature against his former club at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday night.

And the 27-year-old has revealed ex-Bluebirds Taylor and Noone played a big part in his move to South Wales, along with current Cardiff man Liam Feeney and manager Neil Warnock.


"When I heard there was interest I was desperate to come to a team and a club going in the right direction and pushing for promotion," Madine told iFollow Cardiff City .

"A manager like Neil Warnock, he's had success throughout his career so I jumped at the chance to come.

"They didn't need to say much really. From the outside looking in, I can see where they are in the league. I didn't fancy playing against Sean Morrison and Sol Bamba either. I'm glad to be playing with them now rather than against them.

"I played with Liam Feeney at Bolton, me and him are quite close actually. We always kept in touch and leading up to the move he told me how good the club was.

"A couple of the other lads, Andrew Taylor and Craig Noone, they spoke so highly of the club and they were a big part of me coming here."

Madine made his Cardiff debut in the stunning 4-1 win over Leeds at Elland Road on the opening weekend on February, with the Bluebirds' new frontman playing 72 minutes before being replaced by Kenneth Zohore.

And the towering forward admits he has long been an admirer of his new strike partner Zohore, adding that his own physical presence will make him the perfect fit with the Bluebirds.


"I looked at the fixture list before I came here," added Madine.

"I thought Leeds would have been a hard game, but I looked around at Bamba, Morrison, Paterson, everyone's massive and I can really just see us steam rolling people.

"Hopefully we'll carry that on and get promotion.

"I watched a lot of Zohore last season and being a big lad myself I appreciate other big lads so I was telling the lads at Bolton 'that's always a right handful' and now I've got a chance to learn from him and hopefully I can pass bits on to him aswell.

"The average fan these days, they like to see players dribble past people and do step overs, I'm not blessed with the ability to do that. I do the other side, catching it on my chest and flicking it on. It's just as hard when you've got somebody 6ft 4in up your backside trying to kick you. It's a really selfless job, bringing people into play, it's a real team position."


Madine goes in search of his first goal for the Bluebirds when they come up against his previous club Bolton in the Welsh capital on Tuesday night.

The forward netted 10 goals in 28 Championship fixtures for Phil Parkinson's side this season prior to his switch to Cardiff City Stadium.

And ahead of the meeting with his old club, Madine has sent a classy message to the Bolton faithful to thank them for their support during his time in the North West of England.


"I wasn't so popular at the start but I managed to win the fans over, I got a few goals and we got promotion," added the forward.

"We had a real good team spirit up there, the gaffer and everyone was great and it was a good place to be.

"We had a good little bond towards the end, they would sing my name for 90 minutes solid and I'd like to thank them. Some of the performances I put in, I couldn't have done it without them, my team-mates and the gaffer, and the fans cheering you on gives you that extra lift."



Craig Noone in action for Bolton

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