McGuinness a bright light in Cardiff gloom
IT has largely been a pretty dour season for followers of Cardiff City. Slumped down the bottom of the table, managerless and struggling at both ends of the pitch, there are very few things to feel encouraged about.
Mark McGuinness, though, is definitely one.
The defender, who is still only 20, looks to be the signing of the summer as far as Cardiff goes, having turned out a string of impressive performances during the infancy of his Bluebirds tenure.
He was a leader within Arsenal’s academy, captaining their youth sides alongside some supremelytalented players, and the future looked bright.
But in the summer, he made an executive decision. He could see the pathway was blocked for him and got out early, with Mick McCarthy keen to bring him to Cardiff.
Now, he has his sights set on gaining valuable experience and proving to those top teams, such as Arsenal, that he is capable of eating at the top table.
“I was at that club for 10 years. I’ve seen a lot, I’ve seen pathways that have been successful and some that haven’t,” McGuinness said.
“For me, I want to go out and play football and make a career for myself.
“I think the pathway there was blocked a bit. They brought in older guys with a bit more experience.
“I thought, ‘Let me go and do that, let me go and get my experience’ and then when I am 24, 25, I can be the guy who they bring in.
“So I wanted to make a career for myself.”
The man who brought McGuinness in, of course, was McCarthy, who was released by the club last week following a run of dismal results.
It didn’t go right for the manager this season, but the one thing everyone can agree on is that he got the signing of McGuinness right.
And McGuinness, whose maturity belies his 20 years, hopes to repay the faith McCarthy placed in him.
“I am so thankful for Mick for bringing me in,” the defender said. “Let people not forget that, he was a fantastic man.”
The short-term goal, of course, is arresting this horrible winless run.
Cardiff have gone 10 games without a victory and the international break is looming.
Huddersfield are Cardiff’s next opponents and defeat could send the Bluebirds into the relegation zone, if other results don’t go their way.
And while McGuinness believes Cardiff have the squad to lift them out of danger in the coming weeks and months, he hopes he can look back on this tough period as a valuable learning experience to stand him in good stead moving forward.
“You never wish or think you’d
be losing these games – definitely not the spell we’ve been on,” he said.
“But it’s all learning for me. It sounds bad because you don’t want these experiences but I’m pretty sure with the squad we’ve got we will get out of it.
“I’m sure I’ll look back on this and have it as a learning experience. The players we have got in our squad, there is a real depth of quality.
“We just need to find that click and a bit of confidence and we will be flying again.”
McGuinness, along with thousands of Cardiff City fans, will be hoping that run starts against Huddersfield.