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Slad to manage Cardiff

The Norwegian former manager of Cardiff City, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked from his managerial position at the English club after the squad suffered relegation from the Premier League and things did not improve as they continued struggling in the 2nd tier English League at the Championship League.

It hasn’t been until recently that a new manager has been appointed as it was made announced to the public on October 6 that Russell Slade was the man selected.

The Malaysian businessman and owner of Cardiff City, Vincent Tan made it official to the media that Russell Slade was selected as the new coach after he had asked people around and everyone gave a positive evaluation concerning Russell Slade.

‘’I’m delighted to appoint Russell Slade as the Manager of Cardiff City. I have personally offered Russell this opportunity after giving much thought to the needs of the Club at this point in time and firmly believe that he is the right person for the job. I have spoken to many knowledgeable people in the game about Russell, and the feedback has been extremely positive’’

Slade was actually working with Cardiff City within the internal staff of the club as a consultant ever since he departed from coaching his former club Leyton Orient.

Vincent Tan is hoping that Russell Slade will remain at the head coach of Cardiff City for the upcoming 18 years and hopefully stay even longer in charge of the Championship League club than Arsene Wenger with Arsenal.

The former manager of Yeovil Town, Russell Slade displayed his appreciation towards the new role that he has at Cardiff City as the Englishman said that Cardiff City has a fantastic squad but all that is left to do now is start establishing a relationship with the players and that’s what he will try to achieve in every training session and every match.

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Solskjaer Ready To Sign Players If Opportunity Arises

Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says that he will be ready to sign players on transfer deadline day if a fantastic opportunity arose. Cardiff have already been one of the two clubs in the summer. Aided by the parachute payments that they will receive from the Premier League for the next four years, they have been able to sign the likes of Anthony Pilkington and Sean Morrison. They are expected to be a major part of the club’s bid for returning back to the top flight. After starting the season well, Cardiff failed to take three points against fellow relegated team Fulham.

The 1-1 draw means that Cardiff now have to make up five points towards table leaders Nottingham Forest. Since only five matches have taken place in the championship, Solskjaer will be aware that there is a lot of time to make up, but the squad needs to be in excellent condition. The former Manchester United striker has not ruled out signing players on transfer deadline day, which is something that some clubs tend to avoid as it is viewed as panic buying. The manager spoke in praise of the midfield at Cardiff. There is intense competition in the midfield between the youngster Mats Daehli and veteran Scott Parker.

“I am happy with the squad and if Tuesday comes and we haven’t added another player that will be fine. But if something comes up that’s spectacular and we have to move fast then we will be ready. We will see what the situation is on Tuesday morning. They are two different types of players, but it was a good battle between them. I’ve always been a Scott Parker fan and every footballer can learn from a player of that quality,” said the Cardiff manager, whose team take on Norwich next weekend.

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BOWYER ON CLOUD NINE

Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer was on cloud nine after his team manager a 2-0 win over promotion chasing QPR in order to keep their own hopes of finishing in the top six alive. Blackburn Rovers have been looking to get back to the Premier league ever since being relegated two years ago.

However, it looked as they would miss out on promotion yet again after remaining outside the top six with just a handful of matches remaining. They have, however, given themselves a great opportunity be getting a 2-0 win over QPR.

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OLE WANTS DRAW

The manager of Cardiff City, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has said that the draw against the West Bromwich Albion the other day would make his team believe that preventing the relegation is still possible for them.

Cardiff had looked like losing that match, but, in the injury time, they somehow managed to level the proceedings to earn one point.

Solskjaer reckons if the team had gone down in that game, the morale of the players would have taken a real beating and they probably would have given up on their attempts of staying in the league, but, now, after putting up a good performance in such a tight game, they would start believing that they can actually get themselves out of the relegation zone.

Talking to the reporters, the Cardiff boss said, “Defeat in that game would have been devastating for us. It would have demoralized the boys and they perhaps would not have been able to recover completely from that, but, now after that leveller, things are different. The spirit in the camp has gone high and everyone is feeling good about himself.”

Cardiff presently stands at no. 18 in the league points table. They have lost 18 out of their 32 games and have got only 26 points. They would ideally like to take that number to 40 to ensure that they don’t end up in bottom 3.

Most of the teams whom Cardiff will face in their remaining games are not that strong. Only their last game against Chelsea will be a tough one, but, in the rest five they should back themselves to do well.

Cardiff’s next match is scheduled to be played on the upcoming Saturday. That’s against Crystal palace and will take place at their home ground i.e. Cardiff City Stadium.

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NOT QUITE TO PLAN

The appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has certainly not gone according to plan for Cardiff City, as they have been slowly slipping down the table and into the drop zone in the last few weeks. They were doing exceedingly well under Malky Mackay, who was sacked a few months ago after falling out with the owner Vincent Tan. Solskjaer was brought in as his replacement, but results have actually deteriorated since his arrival. The club has managed just one win in the last five matches. Despite the painful start to his career in English football, Solskjaer says that he is confident of keeping the club up in the Premier league.

Solskjaer has also revealed that he has been taking engagement tips from his former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane. After managing several clubs like Sunderland and Ipswich Town with a fair amount of success, Keane has been involved in punditry for the last few years. He was famously criticised by his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson for not being a great manager. Keane recently returned to football management after taking up the role as the assistant manager to Martin O’Neill, the Republic of Ireland manager.

In his time as the Sunderland manager, Keane managed only 15 wins from 53 matches.

“Roy has been a great help to me in my time at Cardiff” OGS told http://www.ilovemanutd.com.  “Everybody I talk to tells me to be myself – and don’t ever change. I don’t feel alone in this situation because I have great staff around me and we are working through this together. I feel equipped for this job and would not have taken it if I did not feel I was ready,” said Solskjaer.

Solskjaer has also revealed that he has been talking with his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, so it might actually help Cardiff stay up.

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CONFIDENT

New Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said that he was confident of helping the club stay in the Premier league despite starting his reign in the league with a 2-0 defeat against fellow relegation strugglers West Ham. Former Manchester United star Solskjaer was recently appointed as the replacement for Malky Mackay, who was sacked a few weeks ago after falling out with the owner Vincent Tan. Solskjaer has no experience of managing in the Premier league, while his experience has so far been limited to clubs in Norway.

Despite this, he began the Cardiff career in brilliant fashion after a 2-1 win over Newcastle at St James’s Park. Cardiff could not maintain the momentum for long because they were beaten by West Ham in a crucial league match. The 2-0 defeat coupled with the other results going there with meant that Cardiff were bottom of the table after the end of the match. Despite the setback, Solskjaer was confident that Cardiff will avoid relegation. The club spent a huge amount of money after being promoted in the summer, but results have been poor in the last few months.

Cardiff have little chance of taking three points in their next match, as they will face Manchester City, who are extremely strong at home, at the Etihad stadium.

“I was surprised by the bad start we had… we never got going first half. The energy and the enthusiasm that we’ve seen – and we saw second half – wasn’t there. We had about double the possession of them, we had twice the shots. So sometimes football is that way, that you don’t get what you deserve. We had a couple of decent shots and their keeper [Adrian] did well but… they don’t really count when you don’t score,” said the former United star.

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PLAYERS HAILED

The manager of Cardiff City, Malky Mackay, has hailed his players for pulling off a draw in their previous Premier League game against the reigning champions Manchester United.

Cardiff was looking like losing that match at one stage as they were down by 1-2 with not much time left in the game. But, in the first minute of the injury time, the South Korean attacking midfielder Bo-Kyung Kim found the back of the net for the Bluebirds and made sure that Cardiff got something out of the game.

It’s not the first time this season that Cardiff has put up a brilliant show against a top class side. They have already pulled off an upset against United’s local rivals Manchester City.

Cardiff City is currently in the bottom quarter of the Premier League points table. Out of their 12 games so far, they have secured just 13 points and there is every chance of them finishing in the relegation zone if they continue to be inconsistent. But, according to Mackay, the draw against United is probably the beginning of the survival campaign of his team.

Talking to the reporters in the press conference after the match against United, Mackay said, “The way the boys performed from beginning to end, I am really pleased with that. It’s very important to have self belief when you take on a side like Manchester United and we had that self belief today.”

“We deserved that leveller. We had made a lot of good moves before that and eventually, we managed to finish one.”

When asked about the decisions of the referee in the game, Mackay said, “Two competitive sides were out there taking on each other and I reckon the referee made fair calls throughout the game to be honest.”

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CARDIFF SUFFER AT END

Cardiff looked to have secured a point against Tottenham after going into the final few minutes of their encounter with the Premier league outfit with the score 0-0. However, Spurs managed to score deep into injury time through a goal from Paulinho, which is very difficult to take according to Cardiff manager Malky Mackay. He has said that this has been a cruel defeat the club and one that he hopes that they recover from sooner rather than later. Cardiff have made a decent start to the season, but this defeat means that they have no points from this home match.

They have taken just one victory so far this campaign and it came against Manchester city at home. Hence, there is a feeling amongst Cardiff supporters that they need to make the homegrown supporters, but they were unable to do so against Tottenham, who created a lot of opportunities throughout the match. Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas said after the encounter that his team deserved the three points for the way we played. This victory puts Cardiff closer to the relegation zone, which increases pressure on Mackay. The club spend a lot of money on new players in the transfer window, but they have had only limited impact.

“There will be bad days. Today wasn’t a bad day. Today was a cruel day, not a bad day. Today’s a day that showed the players that we’ve got at this football club that they can match top, top teams in the league. We’ve played three teams at Cardiff City Stadium that were in the top six last year and absolutely gone toe to toe with them and our fans have seen that. And it gives my players great belief going forward,” said Mackay. The next match for the club will be a difficult away trip to Fulham.

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FRUSTRATING SUMMER

It has so far been a frustrating summer for Cardiff city, as they have not been able to complete many of the deals that they were hoping once their promotion to the Premier league was confirmed. This club has linked with several players in the last few months, but they have so far only managed to secure the signing of the Andreas Cornelius for a club record transfer fee. Manager Malky Mackay, though, has said that he was patience from the fans who are expecting a lot more transfer activity from the club.

Cardiff came extremely close to signing Blackpool winger Tom Ince after agreeing a deal with the Championship club, but they were disappointed with the deal at the final moment after it had to be cancelled. They were also very close to signing the Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama only to see Southampton pip them in the race at the final moment. Despite the setbacks in the transfer window, Mackay has said that he is extremely confident with the players he has at his disposal. He has also said that there’s still time to bring in players into the club.

The recent financial results revealed by Cardiff has shown a healthy improvement, as the presence of the Asian owner looks to be making its presence felt.

“It’s not any different from last August or last January as far as I’m concerned. People want everyone signed immediately, but we all know within football that does not automatically happen. It takes time to bring in players. You invariably find you are in competition for them. Sometimes prices just become too high for a player you might be interested in,” said the Cardiff manager.

Cardiff will be looking to stay in the Premier league more than anything else after making an appearance after more than a decade.

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MACKAY REJECTS SPECULATION

Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay has rejected speculation that he is about to take over at Everton, who recently lost their manager David Moyes to Manchester United. Moyes was in charge of the club for the last 11 years and this is the first time Everton are in the hunt for a new manager. They are thought to be considering the likes of Michael Laudrup and Mackay, who have had incredible seasons. Laudrup has managed to not only keep Swansea in the Premier league, but he has also managed to get them to their first piece of silverware.

Mackay, on the other hand, has managed to get promotion to the Premier league through automatic places. Cardiff had seen a number of disappointments in the play-offs in recent seasons, but they do not have to endure the heartbreak once again because they were promoted automatically. Mackay, though, has confirmed that he is fully focused on Cardiff right now. The Welsh club have great opportunity to strengthen their squad ahead of the other promoted clubs from the Championship because they knew they are fate several weeks ago.

Hull City are the other team to be promoted automatically. Laudrup also rejected the speculation by saying that he wants to stay with Swansea.

“It’s certainly very flattering to be linked to such a job like that but I’ve got something that we’ve built and we’re really looking forward to coming into the Premier League. I’ve got an awful lot of hard work over the summer,” said Mackay. Meanwhile, Laudrup said that it will be difficult for anyone to follow Ferguson at Manchester United. “Even having all the players it will be very difficult. I think maybe it’s the most difficult job, right now, in world football,” said the former Barcelona midfielder to the BBC.