Bluebird Over.....

[Manxie_Ash]

DAVE JONES STEPS DOWN

Cardiff Manager, Dave Jones, has stepped down as role of manager at the South Glamorgan club.

“I feel it is time for me to move on.” Stated the manager, who had been in charge during the clubs best spell for years “The club is going up, and I feel they need a manager with that winning mentality, the drive to take them into a new era. I had a brilliant time at the club and will miss the players and the staff dearly. I wish the Bluebirds, and their new manager, luck and I hope they can gain promotion to the Promised Land.”

Speculation is mounting at who will take over Jones role at the club, with Mick McCarthy and Paul Jewell favourites according to many bookies and pundits. A surprise outsider in the form of current team coach Arturo Pod is also in the running. The young man from Italy has ancestry in Wales and is a favourite with the players and his former boss.

I swallowed my coffee, Dave told me he had planned to step down and that he thought I would make a great choice before putting in his recommendation to Peter Risdale, I wondered if I could compete with the likes of Jewell and McCarthy. I had managed once before back in Italy, that had been three years ago with A.C Pro Sesto, in the city of Sesto which is part of the province of Milan. I had managed there for just one season, unfortunately guiding the team to near relegation before being sacked. I moved back to my ancestral home land of Wales, and applied for a coaching role with the Cardiff squad. Dave had seen me on a trip to Italy and we had a lengthy chat, although I nearly got the team relegated he saw potential in my ability and took me on. I blended in well with the squad and soon I had become good friends with Jones, who saw me as a protégé, a pretender to the throne if you will.

Back to now, I knew Dave had recommended me after he gave me control of the under 18’s and I had lead them to the championship last year, and I was waiting for the call from Risdale to go into the office. Nervous couldn’t even begin to describe how I was feeling. Take nervous, bundle it up with fear, nausea and an uncontrollable bladder and you were pretty close to what I looked like.

The phone rang once, and then stopped. Risdales secretary glanced over, I tried to smile but it came out as a cross between a smile and that look you get are trying to squeeze one out.

“Peter’s ready for you Arturo” Mandy said, smiling sweetly

“Thank you.” I tried to say, but I think it came out more like “nkoo"

I stepped into the board room and awaited my fate.

“Mr Pod!” Peter said, beaming. In that moment I felt better, I had been in meetings with Peter before and forgot how much I got on with the Chairman.

“Arturo, please.” I replied, shaking the man’s hand and smiling back. I couldn’t stand my surname, it sounded like something from the poddington peas. My parents had a wicked sense of Humour.

“Arturo, let me be frank with you. We have had so many applicants for this position, but none have come with such a glowing reference like you have.”

“Glowing reference, sir?” I knew what he meant, Dave had obviously talked me up, I was just shocked.

“Dave told us how you steered the under 18’s to the league last year. Tough mentality, and won’t stand for anything less than a win if it is expected.” Peter replied, it had been true; I had caused some minor ripples in the press when I kept the players locked in the changing room after the game until they gave me an adequate reason as to why they had conceded 4 in the space of 5 minutes. They had been in that changing room for 2 and a half hours before I allowed them to leave.

The rest of the interview went well. I outlined my plans to the board, if I were to be given the job. I expected to be challenging for the playoffs within two seasons. Media expectation has been high for the club after the F.A Cup final against Portsmouth last seas, but I knew that we still needed time to get that edge we needed. Peter thanked me for my time and said he would let me know within the day.

I left Ninian Park with high hopes; I hadn’t expected to go that well. Peter agreed with my plans and seemed to like my ideas. At around 5 I had a call from him offering me the job, which I accepted without a second thought.

A second chance at management that I would not waste.

[Manxie_Ash]

8/7/08

I stepped into my new office and found three emails awaiting me. One was from Peter wishing me luck for the task ahead, and that I had full backing from the club’s board. The second was to let me know that my budget for the season would be £725K with a wage budget of £125K per week, with the club already paying out £115k a week I will be looking to offload some of the dead wood. The third email was from Terry Burton, my assistant, with the team report:

*First Team*

Peter Enckelman – 31 – Tall, experienced goalkeeper, The Finn will be wearing the no.1 Jersey for me this season

Kevin McNaughton – 25 – Scottish defender than can play at either left or right back. A free transfer from Aberdeen in the 2006/2007 season has become a firm first team choice.

Tony Capaldi – 26 – First choice left back, Joined from Plymouth Argyle last season and made 44 appearances for Cardiff so far.

Roger Johnson – 25 – Interest is high in this central defender, a solid player who can provide a goal scoring threat from set pieces.

Gabor Gyepes – 27 – One of Dave Jones signings before he left. Although not a big fan of the tall Hungarian, He will be a first choice until a replacement can be found.

Chris Burke – 24 – Snapped up from Rangers on a free, great player. Unfortunately he is going to be out for 3-4 months with a ligament problem.

Joe Ledley – 21 – Star Welsh winger, easily the best player in the squad. He is one for the future and is attracting a lot of interest, which I will try and repel.

Gavin Rae – 30 – Experienced Scottish central midfielder, the small, brave midfielder has taken over the role from Riccy Scimeca and done very well so far.

Stephen McPhail – 28 – Completing an all Celtic midfield, the former Leeds and Barnsley man will partner Rae in the middle.

Michael Chopra – 24 – The man who seems to love this club. Joins us on loan from Sunderland and will move to us permanently at the end of the season.

Ross McCormack – 21 – Young Scot, hopefully if he keeps injury free will provide a huge threat to opposition defences.

*Best of the rest*

Tom Heaton – On loan Man United ‘keeper will back up Enckleman

Darren Purse – Current club captain, will be behind Johnson and Gypes

Darcy Blake – Youngster with bags of potential

Riccy Scimica – Experienced central midfielder

Eddie Johsnon – On loan from Fulham and will compete for a first team place

Jay Bothroyd – Competent striker will also provide competition.

Peter Whittington – Jack of all trades midfielder

I’ll be looking to cut down on the wage budget as well as bringing in a central defender and a midfielder.

9/7/08

Pre-season friendlies will be starting on the 13/7/08 with a trip to Bradford, followed by matches against Wigan, PSG, Carmarthen, Merthyr and Crewe before our opening game of the season against Southampton. I went into the press conference with an optimistic outlook on the forthcoming season.

Skysports .com – You sit here as Cardiff Manager. Is this your dream job?

I am happy to be here, I thank the board for having faith in me.

Skysports.com – What will be your overall tactical approach to the game?

I will look to play an attacking game.

Sportinglife.com – Handling players is a key part of the job. What will you bring to the man management side of the game?

I like to make sure the players respect my presence.

Skysports.com – How involved do you intend to be in the day-to-day running of the club?

I am going to try my best to be involved, given the time.

The Western Mail – Is there going to be an upheaval of personnel?

I haven’t been here for a day yet! How am I meant to answer that question?

SkySports.com – What can we expect in the transfer market?

I will try and make sure they are considered and well thought out.

With the conference over, I went home.

11/7/08

I offered contracts to Stephen Appiah and Jose Pierre-Fanfan. Two good players that were available on free transfers, Interest was high for both players and I would be very lucky to get both of them. The league cup 1st round was drawn today, and see’s us travelling to League 2 outfit Barnet on the 13th August.

13/7/08

Appiah’s transfer was cancelled today after the player failed a medical. He’ll be out for 4 weeks, my interest was still there and I will look into offering him a new contract when he is fit. Today is our first friendly against Bradford at the Valley Parade.

Bradford City 1 - 1 Cardiff City –

A match we dominated, but couldn’t convert our chances in. We were made to pay late in the first half when Omar Daley smashed in a shot from outside the area. Our dominance paid off in the second half when substitute Darcy Blake hit a stonking 25 yard free kick that hit the post before going in. We couldn’t convert any more chances and we had drawn a game we should have won comfortably

Cardiff: Enckleman (Heaton, 84), McNaughton, Comminges, Johnson (Purse 74), Gyepes, McCormack (Whittingham74), Ledley, Rae (Blake 74), McPhail, Johnson, Chopra.

Scorers: Daley (37), Blake (74)

MotM: Daley (8.2)

Attendance: 4628

[CAFCIan75]

Impressive start, I like this, keep it up and good luck for the season.

[Manxie_Ash]

15/7/08

Fanfan opted to join Guingamp. So that would be zero signings from two contract offers, not best pleased. I placed a bid for Pierre Ducrocq; the 31 year old central defender had been suggested by Terry Burton.

20/7/08

After 5 days of negotiations our offer for Ducrocq was accepted and we began contract negotiations before the Arrival of Premier League team Wigan.

Cardiff 1 – 1 Wigan

League status means nothing when you play like we did today. We played Wigan off the park and were rewarded with a goal in the 42nd minute thanks to Ross McCormack pouncing on a mistake by Chris Kirkland, it wasn’t to last though as Amir Zaki smashed on a minute later. The second half Wigan didn’t produce anything, and if Whittingham and Bothroyd had taken chances we would have beaten them comfortably. But we didn’t and for the second game in a row we drew 1-1, albeit against “better” opposition.

Cardiff: Heaton, McNaughton, Ledley (Blake 60), Purse, Johnson, Whittingham (Scimeca 75), Rae, McPhail, Chopra (Bothroyd 75), McCormack (Dennehy 75).

Scorers: McCormack (42), Zaki (43)

MotM: Zaki (7.9)

Attendance: 6132

After the match Sean Connolly informed me that Darren Purse would be out for 6 days after bruising his ribs in a collision during the match.

24/7/08

Cardiff 0 – 2 PSG

It took 5 minutes for PSG to register on the score sheet, Peguy Luyindula smashing home from close range. The early goal shattered our confidence and we could do nothing but defend, and defend we did. We didn’t concede again until the 84th minute when Luyinda popped up again to head in a corner. We didn’t stand a chance against a superior team.

Cardiff: Heaton, Comminges, McNaughton (Blake 77), Johnson, Gyepes, Whittingham, Quincy (Scimeca 77), Rae, Ledley, Johnson, Chopra (McCormack 60)

Scorers: Luyindula (5, 84)

MotM: Luyindula (8.4)

25/07/08

Championship odds got released today, putting us at 20/1 which puts us just outside the playoff spots. I am remaining optimistic about our chances in the league, but I didn’t want to play up our chances of promotion. A lot of people are expecting us to do well off the back of our F.A. Cup Final appearance last season, but things like this take time.

Carmarthen 1 – 4 Cardiff

It took us a while to really get going against easier opposition, McCormack scoring after 41 minutes with a placed shot from just inside the area. Whittingham doubled our lead on the stroke of half time with a well placed free kick that no-one in the world could of stopped. 5 minutes into the second half it was 3-0, McPhail smashing home for 6 yards after some decent work from Whittingham. In his last act before being substituted Whittingham capped a fine performance by scoring his second, this time a curler from 30 yards. Carmarthen got a consolation goal in the 84th minute when youngster Kye Edwards turned it past his own goalkeeper.

Cardiff: Enckelman, McNaughton (Edwards 70), Ledley (Matthews 81), Johnson, Gyepes, Whittingham, Quincy (McPhail 45), Blake, Rae, McCormack, Chopra (Johnson 81)

Scorers: McCormack (41), Whittingham (45+1, 56), McPhail (50), Edwards (o.g. 84)

MotM: Whittingham (8.7)

Attendance: 2902

28/7/08

Our first piece of transfer news this year sees 21 year old French Left Back Zoumana Bakayoko join us on a free transfer. The player had impressed my scouts at the recent England Trialist game, and my fans seem to like the prospect of him. He had made 15 appearances for Millwall and had a short loan stint at Brighton before joining us. Other transfer news, Darren Gibson has joined us on a season long loan from Manchester United; I am a huge fan of this kid and look forward to seeing how he progresses. United will be paying 100% of the kid’s wages whilst he is here.

31/7/08

Merthyr Tydfil 0 – 8 Cardiff

A game which we run riot in, it took us only two minutes to go ahead with Joe Ledley slotting home from close range. Once the first goal had been scored the floodgates opened and goals from Gibson, Parry, Chopra and a marvellous hat-trick from Eddie Johnson sealed the win in style.

Cardiff: Heaton, McNaughton, Ledley, Johnson, Purse, McPhail, Quincy (Whittingham 60), Parry, Gibson (Rae 70), McCormack, Johnson (Chopra 55).

Scorers: Ledley (2), Johnson (5, 17, 53) Parry (19), Gibson (30), Chopra (62)

MotM: Johnson (9.4)

Attendance: 3723

[tenthreeleader]

Stephen McPhail – 28 – Completing an all Celtic midfield, the former Leeds and Barnsley man will partner Rae in the middle.

That will come as news to the ex-Light Blue Gavin Rae.

Nice start otherwise, though.

[Manxie_Ash]

I didn't mean the club

[Manxie_Ash]

Unfortunately, the game file has decided it doesn't want to load ¬_¬.

I have spent the past 2 hours trying to fix it, but its not having any of it!

Luckily the stroy was only at the start, and I might start again at some point. But for now Arturo Pod has retired.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

Arturo!