sought be every club. We were very fortunate to have one.
We are not the richest club in the world and as such, added to the
aspirations of the player, are fools if we believe that we were never going
to sell Robert Earnshaw.
When the time came for Earnie to leave Cardiff City then we had to be sure
that we were not left in the lurch. Sol Campbell at Spurs springs to mind,
no contract signed, current deal ran out and Spurs had to let him walk away.
To rub salt in the wound he went to Arsenal. If Earnie's going to go then
now is the right time as he has a transfer value. 3m+, we may never know the
exact amount, to me is good money for a striker that is currently unproven
at Premiership level.
Cardiff City have enjoyed Robert Earnshaw for the past few seasons, he's
broken club records and inspired a generation of young football supporters
to follow Cardiff City. Things happen though and changes need to be made.
Firstly this is not a money grabbing decision by the club against the
players wishes. Robert Earnshaw is the hottest striker in the Football
League and as such will be courting the interest of the Premiership. He is a
recongnised international striker, a superb strike rate which has alerted
the rest of Europe to his talents. The boy is mixing with Premiership stars
and playing for an International manager that wants to see him play
Premiership football week in week out. All that going on in his head means
he has lost focus at Cardiff City and has gone past the point of no return.
This has been brewing, his form over the latter half of last season and into
this has been indifferent. You could point to a lack of service but we've
seen the lad tear open defences on his own. He want's to go. You can't stop
him.
I don't want him to go, in my ideal world he'll get 30 goals a season for
the next 10 years for Cardiff City. In my head though I know it's the best
possible outcome if he's that set on going.
To Robert Earnshaw I offer thanks for the entertainment and for many many
memories. I wish you continued success in your career in the Premiership and
of course far more importanly (from a Welsh point of view) for Wales.
--------
Line drawn, what next?
Well this must be the start of a new post Earnshaw era. By that I mean that
the squad must be improved with the monies received. I appreciate maybe not
all of it can be used but it would a outrage if we lost Earnshaw and did not
improve our squad in other ways. We are on bare bones as far as players are
concerned. In recent games we have had to bring back in Neil Alexander who
was told he was out of the picture, we had a youth team defender in the 16
yesterday and no strikers on the bench at all. If the rumours that City
could bring in players like Clement, Gregan and Hulse from WBA are true
then we would be heading in the right direction.
All this is detracting from the fact we have lost the last three league
games and tmorrow face Wigan at the JJB. We could be bottom of the table and
in a right old mess. Are we strong enough to recover? I hope so, we have
come so far and have to get back on the up as soon as possible.
Wigan tomorrow looks like a home banker. A 4 - 0 defeat for City in 2002
cost Alan Cork his job, with Preston parting company with Craig Brown today
(they have had a better start than us) because it's not good enough shows
that even this early in the season managers jobs are not safe.
Lennie must be hoping his team do not fail again.