Cardiff City Bench: From Rags To Riches !!

Cardiff City have been less than blessed in recent years when it comes to squad depth yet we have challenged for the play-offs year on year, always falling just short. That has been attributable to Dave Jones assembling a strong starting XI, mostly on a shoestring budget and having to sell at least one of our 'best` players each year to survive. Loovens, Gunter, Ramsey, Jerome and Chopra were all sold out of necessity and it seems Roger Johnson`s departure was always likely over the summer too.

Something had changed completely this weekend however as we recorded a 4-0 victory away at former Premiership side Watford. That was on the back of a 6-1 win against Derby and unsurprisingly the team was not changed. A quick look at the bench however, revealed a positive wealth of talent - including solid cover and options to change the game. In fact, the value of our bench probably surpassed the £12 million mark.

Ledley had an offer of £6m from Stoke City while Ross McCormack is valued at £5m. Quinn, Gyepes and Taiwo all commanded fees of £750k fairly recently and only Scimeca is likely to be regarded as a 'free` transfer at present.

There was no Ndumbu-Nsungu, Jason Byrne or Warren Feeney to make up the numbers as in recent seasons. Add to that the observation that Kevin McNaughton is currently injured and is a sure starter when fit, and that loan prospect Kelvin Etuhu is surely worth a bench place and we look incredibly healthy. Tony Capaldi and Miguel Comminges have featured relatively heavily for us recently yet neither makes the matchday squad while for the first time in years, we have allowed a player with first team experience out on loan - Darcy Blake at Plymouth Argyle.

With the team currently in red hot form, and a dramatic improvement in the back-up we have available - could this finally be the year for Cardiff City….?!

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