£43 Miillion

That is near enough what Malky has spent on transfers in the past 18 months.

£12 million last season and £31 million this season to put together a squad that will really struggle to avoid relegation.

No wonder Vinnie ain't a happy man.

But if you believe Malky, he's under the budget that Tan set. Therefore he's done nothing wrong.

And that's not a rumour, that came straight from Malky's mouth in an interview. Besides , someone has to sign the cheques. It's impossible for Tan to not know how much is being spent , so if he wasn't happy why didn't he stop paying out? It's just a nice scapegoat.

Apart from putting together a squad that's going to struggle
Would you be happy if it was your money?
I know I wouldn't.

Out of that money, we are slightly lacking in key areas. Particularly in the centre midfield area - the fact that malky had to play Aaron and Don against Chelsea, both of whom are not really cut out for this level.

Also we need a proper lone striker, if Malky carry's on playing this way, he should get the players who fit the mould. We can't rely on just Cornelius, especially if it is true that malky is not 'rushing him back'.

Where exactly are we struggling? The side he put together for his first two years won the championship, despite still lacking in quality compared to our rivals. His signings (minus Brayford) have strengthened every part of our team that was weak last season, and we're currently safe from relegation despite a really rough start and with some respectable performances at champions league teams to boot.

Some people need to start realising that this level of investment isn't massive in modern football. It's what's needed to survive, to convert a good championship team into a decent premiership team. Southampton have spent nearly a 100 million in the last two years and they'd settle for midtable.

And people really need to stop judging Cornelius before he's even managed to reach triple figures in terms f minutes. In the friendliest of senses, we all need to get a grip and sit down.

Red614 wrote:Where exactly are we struggling? The side he put together for his first two years won the championship, despite still lacking in quality compared to our rivals. His signings (minus Brayford) have strengthened every part of our team that was weak last season, and we're currently safe from relegation despite a really rough start and with some respectable performances at champions league teams to boot.

Some people need to start realising that this level of investment isn't massive in modern football. It's what's needed to survive, to convert a good championship team into a decent premiership team. Southampton have spent nearly a 100 million in the last two years and they'd settle for midtable.

Where are we struggling?

Centre midfield, wide midfield, and up front, that's where.

Malky has not addressed these areas properly in my opinion.

And I believe theses are the reasons Moody was shown the door, Malky will be next as Vinnie is clearly not a happy man having invested over £100 million in the Club.

Lose the next 2 games and there'll be another Manager coming in.

There is no central midfield in Malky's current playstyle, he plays two defensive midfielders and an attacking midfielder. Medel in defensive midfield is one of the best signings cardiff has ever made, and in attacking midfield Kim is raved about and Mutch is putting in great performances. All three are Malky signings over the past two seasons, so accusing him of not improving is ridiculous.

Up front, he has bought a striker, and can't be blamed for him getting injured. The same happened to Maynard last season, Malky has just had s**ty luck in that department. Again, critiscising not improving the strikers when our record breaking fee striker is on crutches and has yet to properly have a chance, is ridiculous.

The wings is the only section I feel you have a point on. But when you balance in he brought in a very impressive and much needed right back and a potential future England starter in Central defence, I think you can balance out this mishap.

I do have to point out that your first point was Tan isn't happy with how much money was spent, but the point I'm addressing now is that he apparently hasn't invested enough? That's a contradiction. The only seemingly guaranteed mistake made with the budget this season was Brayford, who at 2 million was barely scratching the surface of the total of 31 million. That means 29 million of it was invested well, and under budget.

Ok we'll agree to disagree on this matter, but players in midfield who aren't up to the job, in my opinion, are Cowie, Gunnarsson, Noone, Whittingham. Unfotrunately Bellamy's best days are behind him.

Also why play 2 defensive midfielders?
Mackay is so intent on not losing he relies on counter attacking with a team that has no pace and a lone striker who can't hold the ball up. As for Cornelius being injured all teams suffer injuries, and no one actually knows if he can cut it in the PL after 1 season in Danish top division.

There are others in the squad also not up to it.

4-3-2-1 is the modern playstyle, employed by many too teams, including Chelsea yesterday. I'm not going to say I particularly love the formation either, but it's effective this far and is probably the best call in a scenario such as yesterday, where we will spend most of the match in defence.

Whittingham is one of our top assisters this season, he's in fine form, though I again agree he shouldn't be a winger in that format. Noone is yet to be given a proper chance so how can you say he's not good enough? Cowie has had some great performances off the bench this season but did underwhelm yesterday. Gunnarrson may find himself losing his place soon, but he was a rock last season and has earned his worth many times this season , people just focus on his negatives. Bellamy I agree.

Red614 wrote:There is no central midfield in Malky's current playstyle, he plays two defensive midfielders and an attacking midfielder. Medel in defensive midfield is one of the best signings cardiff has ever made, and in attacking midfield Kim is raved about and Mutch is putting in great performances. All three are Malky signings over the past two seasons, so accusing him of not improving is ridiculous.

Up front, he has bought a striker, and can't be blamed for him getting injured. The same happened to Maynard last season, Malky has just had s**ty luck in that department. Again, critiscising not improving the strikers when our record breaking fee striker is on crutches and has yet to properly have a chance, is ridiculous.

The wings is the only section I feel you have a point on. But when you balance in he brought in a very impressive and much needed right back and a potential future England starter in Central defence, I think you can balance out this mishap.

I do have to point out that your first point was Tan isn't happy with how much money was spent, but the point I'm addressing now is that he apparently hasn't invested enough? That's a contradiction. The only seemingly guaranteed mistake made with the budget this season was Brayford, who at 2 million was barely scratching the surface of the total of 31 million. That means 29 million of it was invested well, and under budget.

Don Cowie and Aaron Gunnarson are not really good enough for this level are they red, not a disaster (although gunnars has had a few so shocking performances in a row) but they are not really adding anything.  I'm willing to believe that Malky will want to address this in January though.

Regarding Cornelius, I read an articke recently that quoted malky as saying that basically when he is fit, they will not rush his development and the impression was that he would likely be spending most of the season in the development squad (I'll try and dig the article up now). 

If true, then it is a bit of a worry.  I think everyone agrees we are in need of some wide players.

But, you can only do so much with 30 Mill at this level.

Gunnarrson has greatly contributed to our defensive performances alongside Medel. As I just said I think he is hitting the ceiling in growth and I wouldn't be surprised if he was replaced in January, but to be so harsh after contributing so much is unfair, in my opinion.

And we do need more wingers, but the only way to get that in the summer would of been one of two things -

1) Spend more money, and apparently annoy Tan further
2) Miss out on Caulker, Medel, Cornelius, Catherine and settle for cheaper, less impressive options.

I'd pick neither personally. Should definetely be the focus in January though, alongside another striker to either take the first team spot if Cornelius does struggle, or become his back up if we have a repeat of an injury crisis.

Red614 wrote:But if you believe Malky, he's under the budget that Tan set. Therefore he's done nothing wrong.

And that's not a rumour, that came straight from Malky's mouth in an interview. Besides , someone has to sign the cheques. It's impossible for Tan to not know how much is being spent , so if he wasn't happy why didn't he stop paying out? It's just a nice scapegoat.

you are not answering the point that has been made. namely, should an existing squad avoid relegation if it has had an additional £43,000,00 spent on it?

Red614 wrote:4-3-2-1 is the modern playstyle, employed by many too teams, including Chelsea yesterday. I'm not going to say I particularly love the formation either, but it's effective this far and is probably the best call in a scenario such as yesterday, where we will spend most of the match in defence.

Whittingham is one of our top assisters this season, he's in fine form, though I again agree he shouldn't be a winger in that format. Noone is yet to be given a proper chance so how can you say he's not good enough? Cowie has had some great performances off the bench this season but did underwhelm yesterday. Gunnarrson may find himself losing his place soon, but he was a rock last season and has earned his worth many times this season , people just focus on his negatives. Bellamy I agree.

4-2-3-1 may be the modern style, but to make it work you need a) a striker who can play in that system - Mackay doesn't have one b) midfielders who can support the striker -Mackay doesn't seem to get the players to do this.

Sad to say but Malky will be gone by mid November.

davewebber65 wrote:

Red614 wrote:But if you believe Malky, he's under the budget that Tan set. Therefore he's done nothing wrong.

And that's not a rumour, that came straight from Malky's mouth in an interview. Besides , someone has to sign the cheques. It's impossible for Tan to not know how much is being spent , so if he wasn't happy why didn't he stop paying out? It's just a nice scapegoat.

you are not answering the point that has been made. namely, should an existing squad avoid relegation if it has had an additional £43,000,00 spent on it?

The squad have only had 31 million added this year, the other 12 million was last season, just to clarify.

And look back at our topics from last season, we all accepted that compared with our rivals - Hull, Watford, Leicester - we were much weaker. It's the end of the Dave Jones saga, Malky was left with an empty squad and had to rebuild it completely. He did a great job of making an average squad perform very well the first season, and with the extra investment then made a good team again punch above their weight and win the league. The problem with that is the squad is still very much not ready for the premier league and has a lot of catching up to do. I said at the time that it may do us better I delay promotion a season as it allows us more time to improve he squad and be more ready for the challenge. Instead we went straight up, and there was always going to be an element of catch up required , and I feel that been done well.

So, that was a long answer. In summary Dave, that sort of money is enough to keep up an excellent championship team, as has been demonstrated recently. Our team however weren't an excellent championship side, they were a playoff quality team that hit much above their weight. That means whether the investment is enough is much greyer.