January sales... will Warnock fare better than Ole?
WE LOOK AT WHAT BECAME OF SOLSKJAER’S NEW YEAR FLOPS
THE January transfer window is rapidly approaching.
And Neil Warnock has revealed that Cardiff City will scour Europe in a bid to strengthen their squad during the upcoming transfer window.
The Bluebirds made no fewer than seven signings in the winter window the last time they were in England’s top division, although they have all since departed Cardiff City Stadium.
But whatever happened to the men signed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in January 2014?
We took a closer look to find out.
THE STORY OF SOLSKJAER AND THE TRANSFER WINDOW
Following a 3-0 defeat at home to Southampton on Boxing Day in 2013, Malky Mackay was sacked by the Bluebirds who named Solskjaer as their new boss on January 2.
And having splashed the cash ahead of the Bluebirds’ debut campaign in the Premier League, Vincent Tan pulled no punches in his assessment of Mackay’s transfer dealings that saw Cardiff spend hefty sums to bring the likes of Andreas Cornelius, Steven Caulker and Gary Medel to the Welsh capital.
Such was the toxic relationship between the pair, Tan reportedly said after the Bluebirds’ 2-1 win over Norwich under Solskjaer in February 2014 that the Norwegian was “much better” than his predecessor.
“I am very happy with Solskjaer. He’s much better than Malky Mackay. It was a very excellent win,” Tan is reported to have said in the immediate aftermath of the match.
As for Solskjaer himself, he took charge of the Bluebirds in the opening week of the New Year with the club sitting in 17th place in the table, just one point above the relegation places.
He joined a club who had been in turmoil following Tan’s decision to change the Bluebirds’ home strip from blue to red, a decision he has since admitted was a “mistake”.
Solskjaer was hugely inexperienced in management at the top level having only had stints with Molde and Manchester United’s reserves prior to joining Cardiff.
He tasted victory on his debut in an FA Cup third round tie against Newcastle United at St James’ Park, although the Norwegian oversaw just three wins in his 18 league matches in charge of the Bluebirds who were relegated after finishing at the bottom of the table.
THE SIGNINGS, AND WHAT THEY’RE UP TO NOW Magnus Wolff Eikrem
Norwegian midfielder Magnus Wolff Eikrem followed Solksjaer in making the move from Molde to the Welsh capital just six days after he was named as Cardiff’s new boss.
He made his debut in the 2-0 home defeat to West Ham at Cardiff City Stadium, making eight appearances in all competitions in his debut campaign with the club.
And following the Bluebirds’ relegation from the top flight, the midfielder’s contract was terminated by the club in December 2014, meaning he left without playing a single game under new boss Russell Slade. He has since returned to Molde following spells with Malmo and Seattle Sounders.
Mats Moller Daehli
The majority of the above applies to
Mats Moller Daehli who also made the move to Cardiff from Molde.
The highly-rated Norway international had a little more success during his time in Wales than his former Molde team mate though, scoring a dramatic injury time equaliser against West Brom in a thrilling 3-3 draw at The Hawthorns.
He ended the campaign having made 15 appearances for the club and went on to feature nine times in the following season before signing for Freiburg.
The Norwegian now plays for German Bundesliga 2 outfit St. Pauli.
Wilfried Zaha
How the Bluebirds could do with someone like this man in their squad right now. The striker joined Cardiff on loan from Manchester United but failed to score a single goal in his 13 appearances for the Bluebirds, although he did deliver some promising performances.
His career has certainly been on an upward spiral since though, with Zaha earning two caps for England before pledging his international future to the Ivory Coast while he has gone on to be a huge success at Crystal Palace since his move from United to Selhurst Park in 2015.
Juan Cala
Former Spain Under-19 international Cala joined the Bluebirds in February 2014 having left Sevilla after more than a decade at the La Liga club.
Despite making only seven appearances in his debut season, the central defender became something of a favourite under Solskjaer having scored goals against Everton and Southampton, although a red card in a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Sunderland curtailed his impact.
And following the appointment of Slade as the club’s new boss, the Spaniard was left in the wilderness and went as far as writing about his frustrations on his official Twitter account before being released in December 2014.
He went on to have spells with Granada, Getafe and Henan Jianye but is currently in his homeland with Las Palmas.
Kenwyne Jones
The Bluebirds secured the services of Kenwyne Jones in the final days of the window, bringing in the Trinidad and Tobago international from Stoke City as part of a swap deal that saw Peter Odemwingie head to Staffordshire.
And he made an instant impact by scoring the winner against Norwich City on his debut, although that proved to be his only goal in his first term in Cardiff.
Jones enjoyed an impressive full debut campaign in the Championship, scoring 13 times in 34 appearances in all competitions to finish as the club’s top scorer, despite spending the final two months of the season on loan at Bournemouth.
Injuries and struggles with his form meant his second full season was far more difficult, and the frontman then had a loan spell at Al Jazira before joining Atlanta United on a permanent deal in 2016. Retired last year.
Fabio
After a loan spell with Queens Park Rangers, full-back Fabio was allowed to leave Manchester United on a permanent basis in January 2014, linking up with ex-Red Devil Solskjaer at Cardiff City Stadium.
He proved to be a real hit with the Cardiff faithful an was an integral cog under both Solskjaer and Slade before leaving the club to join Middlesbrough in the summer of 2016.
Fabio showed his love for the Bluebirds by doing the Ayatollah in Boro’s clash with Swansea City in April 2017 and left the Riverside Stadium after two seasons with the club. The Brazilian is now with Ligue 1 outfit Nantes.
Jo Inge Berget
Berget was one of three Norwegians brought in by Solskjaer from Molde following his appointment as Malky Mackay’s successor in the Cardiff City Stadium hotseat. But this was arguably the worst signing of the lot as the attacker made just two appearances for the Bluebirds before signing for Malmo in 2015 following a short-term loan at Celtic.
He is now with Major League Soccer side New York City.
Cardiff City’s full transfer business in January 2014
Ins: Daehli, Eikrem, Zaha (loan), Cala, Jones, Fabio, Berget.
Outs: Andreas Cornelius, Rudy Gestede, Joe Mason (loan), Deji Oshilaja (loan), Nicky Maynard (loan), Simon Moore (loan), Ben Nugent (loan), Kadeem Harris (loan), Joe Mason (loan), Peter Odemwingie, Simon Lappin (loan), Dave Richards (loan), John Brayford (loan), Craig Conway, Filip Kiss, Etien Velikonja (loan).