adam le fondre's exit

Cardiff City striker Adam Le Fondre reveals shock at being told he could leave Bluebirds on way to a match
y Jon Doel

Le Fondre has joined Cardiff's Championship rivals Bolton on loan until the end of the season after struggling to find the net in South Wales

Adam Le Fondre celebrates his goal for Bolton against Watford

Adam Le Fondre has hit the goal trail at Bolton

Cardiff City exile Adam Le Fondre has revealed his shock when Russell Slade told him he could leave the club on loan as he travelled to an away match.

Le Fondre's January departure for the Bluebirds' Championship rivals Bolton surprised many fans after the former Reading man had been a first-team regular under Slade despite a lack of confidence in front of goal.

The 28-year-old, who netted just three times for the Bluebirds in 25 appearances has scored three for Bolton in eight matches.

And he now believes his departure has been 'a blessing'.

"It has been a bit hit and mss so far,” he said of his Cardiff career to date.

“It’s a massively attractive club which has everything in place to go straight back up to the Premier League but it’s sadly just not happened for them.

“It was a bit of an unexpected one really with me having figured so prominently for Cardiff this season.

“The manager spoke to me in the airport as we were about to fly up to Middlesbrough and explained that I could go out on loan if I wanted.

“Obviously it was a bit of a shock to begin with but once I’d got my head round the idea of playing elsewhere I threw myself into making the right decision for both me and my family," he told The Bolton News

Le Fondre has two years left on his Cardiff contract and is due to return to South Wales at the end of season. It remains to be seen if he is part of Slade's future plans.

For now, though, the striker is happy where he is.

“It has just been a really easy move for me,” he said.

“It’s better for me personally because I’ve got a young family who didn’t move down to Cardiff with me and stayed up here so to be able to go home to them every night has been really important to me.
“It was really hard in Cardiff without them but it was one of those things that had to be done.

“This move has been a bit of a blessing for me, to be able to get back up north enjoying my football and scoring goals again, so I’m really grateful for the opportunity.”

Explaining the reason behind Le Fondre's exit, Slade previously said: "In the short-term there's an opportunity for Adam to get some football and some confidence back.

"Any deal will not be permanent and will refresh himself. Forwards need to do that"

What kind of idiot tells a player he's not wanted straight before a match? It's like telling someone that you are making them redundant but you still need them to file those really important tax returns. That's just unbelievably stupid.

Seems a bit at odds with today's offering from Slade, who says that Le Fondre's agents instigated the move.............

i watched slade's pre-match interview and can confirm what you say

Got himself a couple of goals yesterday. Another good player stifled by the system at Cardiff City

Conway also got on the scoresheet too.

It goes to show we've had some real quality Championship level players at the club in recent seasons but not a manager to mould them or get them playing to their potential. Malky got them winning but didn't use the talent he had to the best of their ability.

I think Conway had a good couple of seasons here. He was unlucky not to get more of a chance in the Premier League and his move on was probably right for both player and club.

However, Le Fondre out on loan makes no sense. Buy a clone in Eoin Doyle who has never played at this level, then stick him on the bench.

Le Fondre has mentioned something about being able to see his family more often, so presumably they have been based up north for some time........even though he was at Reading before he joined us.

Perhaps we have "intransigent spouse syndrome".

I think we have him trying to find a "press friendly" reason for an inexplicable managerial decision.

I'd completely forgot we even had Doyle