How ironic the world of football can prove to be on times. Not more than one month ago Bluebird fans all over the world were hoping and praying that just like Christmas when you're a child the transfer deadline day would crawl along more slowly than Swansea City's goal average last season. Once again, how wrong was i to be?
Like many other football-related bloggers everywhere little did i know just how desperate i would be for the transfer window to shut and stay shut until the post-Christmas blues set in. In the space of a few short weeks we have woken almost daily to the news of not just more signings but dream-team Esq signings such as Jason Koumas, Seyi Olofinjana and Craig Bellamy (all three Marquee signings when you consider that Cardiff City is a Championship club). I cannot remember a time as exciting as this in the last twenty years at Cardiff City (and yes that includes the signings of Robbie Fowler and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink) and if i was to say that the atmosphere at match days was tangible i wouldn't be exaggerating.
Dave Jones finally has a squad that is more than capable of challenging for a top-two finish in the Championship if not the title and whilst this may seem to many as a challenge new to the longest-serving manager in the Championship to others it is merely a reward for a man who has worked within a tighter budget than George Osborne at the treasury. Rather than a mill-stone i see this as a platform for Mr Jones to finally prove that not only is this the opportunity to prove his pedigree as one of the best managers in British football but a manager capable of taking this South Wales club to the highest division in the land and keep them there.
The window is shut tighter than a Scot's wallet and the board and management have achieved what many of us thought would be impossible, the holding onto of our best players from last season. The likes of Peter Whittingham, David Marshall, Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra are all here at least until January and i for one see that perhaps as a bigger achievement than signing the Bellamy's of this football world.
In years past by Cardiff City would not have been able to keep hold of their prize assets (see Ramsey, Gunter, Jerome, Ledley and Earnshaw) and now, just as the chairman TG promised we have a squad that is settled and ready for a long hard season again, for evidence of a happy squad look no further than Jay Bothroyd sitting pretty at the top of the goalscoring charts already.
This is the year of the Bluebird, this is the year of Dave Jones and this is the year where hearts are healed of Wembley heartbreak and Cardiff fans all over can wear their shirts with pride, wherever they are in this fair country.
Cheers all, BB20
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