Cardiff City Celebrate Transfer Window Success

Cardiff City did not manage to disturb the FA on transfer deadline day which passed without much fuss for the Bluebirds save for the offical confirmation that Andy Keogh's loan deal had been terminated, and that the Wolves striker joined Bristol City.

That actually represented an excellent result for City and while Dave Jones admitted he wanted to add a couple more, the big coup was not to lose any key squad members - least of all Jay Bothroyd who constantly re-iterated his desire to stay, and stuck to that.

With Bothroyd staying - I'd say the Bluebirds have certainly strengthened during the transfer window. Out went Andy keogh, Danny Drinkwater and the unfortunate injury victim Chris Riggot.

In place of Riggott comes Dekel Keinan, the Israeli International signed from Blackpool. We don't know all that much about him, but the Tangerines fans gerenally claim he can be a dominant defender, but has looked poor when the team as a whole underperformed. There is a good chance he will be a good prospect in the Championship and would surely struggle to make less of an impression than the two starts Chris Riggot made.

Then there's Andy Keogh, a tidy and hard-working player but without any end product. There were signs he worked well with other players, but essentially the Bluebirds will be disappointed with his contribution and his 2 goals, whilst important, were a poor return from a player in such a potent attacking line-up. Quite simply, he was not going to feature much once Parkin arrived. Jon Parkin is a huge presence, but much more than just a big lump as his debut goal proved. He is strong, powerful and good at bringing others into the game offering a useful back-up to Bothroyd, and a viable 'plan B' option from the bench.

In midfield, Cardiff City lost Danny Drinkwater back to Manchester United. He has now joined rivals Watford, but had struggled to make any impression since an unfortunate thigh strain early in the season. Until then he was energetic and tidy but lacked a killer contribution. Since the injury he was off the pace and struggled to influence any game. In place of Drinkwater, Dave Jones secured loan deals for Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (end-of-season) and former Bluebird Aaron Ramsey.

Both Arsenal loanees are great prospects and Emmanuel-Thomas impressed on debut. He is more attacking than Drinkwater and operates from out wide. Bellamy, Whittingham, Burke and Koumas will be his competition but his pace, power and energy already suggest he will be a big asset. Potentially, that left us weak in central midfield but with Ramsey returning for a month, we will be endowed with added creativity, influence and sheer class. After that month, we will probably miss Ramsey but will once again have Steve McPhail back from his hamstring injury.

All-in-all, a very satisfying transfer window for Cardiff City, with the possibility of adding another loan player. Much is made of the weaknesses at the back, but McNaughton is now free to shore up either full-back position and Gabor Gyepes and Darcy Blake provide cover - both featured regularly in our 3rd place finish last season so can't be too bad!!

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