Dai Sport are spending the week in Cornwall and Devon with Neil Warnock’s Cardiff City. Here is the second part of our Cornish pre-season diary. Watch out for part three tomorrow.
Neil Warnock is prepared to be patient in his hunt for two more Bluebirds signings.
Cardiff City’s astute and experienced manager is keen on a midfield player – which could yet be Liverpool’s Marko Grujic on loan – and a striker.
There are no imminent new signings and Warnock has more than three weeks to capture the two players he believes are crucial to his plans for a successful Premier League campaign.
Reports that chief executive Ken Choo was dashing back to Cardiff to sign a player were off target – the Independent newspaper interview which said that in the intro was carried out a fortnight ago.
There have also been reports that Cardiff are closing in on Matt Phillips for a second time in six years.
Winger Phillips was at Blackpool when the Bluebirds made an £800,000 transfer bid in 2012 and that was rejected.
“I think they are being a little bit ambitious,” said Blackpool manager Ian Holloway at the time. “If he goes anywhere it’ll be one of the top five clubs in the country.
“He won’t have to wait for Cardiff to become that, so (the offer) is slightly ambitious, slightly outrageous.”
Phillips eventually moved to Queens Park Rangers and played under Warnock for a time.
There is also no chance Phillips will come to Cardiff City this time with Warnock saying: “I made one phone call to West Brom six weeks ago and they told me £15million. I’ve never spoke about him since.”
It has also been reported that Willem II forward Francisco Sol has rejected a Cardiff bid and offers from other clubs.
The last player City signed from Willem II was Iwan Reden, who made two appearances as a substitute before heading back to Holland. Played 36 minutes football for the Bluebirds before going back to Willem II.
Warnock is perfectly relaxed about his quest for two more players, saying during his post-match media conference at Tavistock: “We hope for two more if we can get them, They’ll probably be loans
“I never lose sleep over targets, to be honest. I always think it’s their loss if they don’t come.”
Kadeem Harris was among the players who caught the eye during Cardiff City’s six-goal pre-season win against Tavistock in Devon.
The Lambs of Tavistock are among the favourites to be crowned South Wales Peninsular League champions in 2018-19, having won the title two years ago and finished runners-up to Plymouth Parkway last season.
Parkway were promoted and Tavi have their hearts set on regaining the championship.
They were, though, no match for a rampant Bluebirds team in which Bruno Manga, a composed and effective defender, plus Junior Hoilett and Callum Paterson stood out in the starting line-up.
Gary Madine, too, came out with a lot of credit, leading the line with an aggressive purpose and scoring twice.
Pace ace winger Harris, 25, put down his marker after going on after an hour. His speed scared the life out of Tavistock defenders and his ability to cut one way or the other had them scrambling to try and cover.
It was an impressive opening performance by Harris, aged 25 and a former judo black belt from his teenage years. I would expect him to start at Bodmin Town on Wednesday.
The big question, of course is, can he produce this form at Premier League level. Having watched him play for years he has a chance, a real chance.
Sol Bamba is also expected to play against Bodmin, although he has a minor muscle niggle which will be assessed by medical staff.
That is not thought to be at all serious, but manager Neil Warnock won’t take risks at this stage of pre-season.
Aron Gunnarsson joined the squad yesterday after his World Cup exploits with Iceland and was at Tavistock, but he will focus on training this week before playing against Torquay United on Friday.
Cardiff City’s under-23 team, who have coaches Andy Legg and Jarred Harvey in charge, play St Austell in Cornwall this evening (Tuesday).
The Lillywhites are a South West Peninsular League Premier Division club who finished sixth last season and were last champions in 2014-15.
St Austell, who play at Poltair Park, have been crowned Cornish Cup champions 14 times, their last success in 2015, and lifted the SWP League Cup two years ago.
Less than 24 hours to go until our first home pre season friendly against @CardiffCityFC U23’s. Pitch is ready, programmes all printed. Make sure you’re at Poltair tomorrow for what promises to be an entertaining fixture.Admission £6 adults, £3 concessions, £1 children KO 7:30pm pic.twitter.com/5XB4dGByi5
— AFC St Austell (@AFCSTAUSTELL) July 16, 2018
Tavistock AFC laid out the Welsh welcome mat for Neil Warnock’s Bluebirds at Langsford Park on Monday.
A steady stream of Welsh music was played over the loudspeaker system including ‘We’ll keep a welcome (in the hillsides)’ and many more.
Tom Jones was also given a good session with ‘Delilah’ a particular favourite among Tavi fans near me.
The home club has Bluebirds and Welsh flags flying proudly over the entrance to their ground, while one home official was wearing a what looked like a sheep outfit.
That, though, was in homage to his own club because Tavi are nicknamed ‘The Lambs’.
Tavistock have strong links with Welsh choirs, particularly Morriston and Dewlaps, and are due to visit South West Wales with their own choir later this year.
This was Warnock’s ninth visit to Tavistock on a pre-season tour, with a variety of clubs. It was his second since becoming Cardiff City manager.
His post-match interview with journalists was on the pitch with the strains of Welsh songs still pumping out over the speaker system.
The Bluebirds have a training base near Liskeard in Cornwall, an ancient tin mining and market town 20 miles west of Plymouth.
Cardiff have seven fixtures during their week-long trip to the South West of England, three at first team level and four for the under-23s. One of those games is for the development team against Liskeard FC on Saturday.
Captain Sean Morrison and the senior squad play Bodmin Town away on Wednesday and Torquay United at Plainmoor on Friday.
Cardiff pre-season fixtures
July
Friday 13: Taffs Well 0, Cardiff City (u-23) 3
Sunday 15: Truro City 0, Cardiff City (u-23) 2
Monday 16: Tavistock AFC 0, Cardiff City 6
Tuesday 17: AFC St Austell v Cardiff City u-23 (Poltair Park, 7pm)
Wednesday 18: Bodmin Town v Cardiff City (Priory Park, 7pm).
Thursday 19: Porthleven FC v Cardiff City u-23 (Gala Parc, 7pm).
Friday 20: Torquay United v Cardiff City (Plainmoor, 7pm).
Saturday 21: Liskeard Athletic v Cardiff City u-23 (Lux Park, 2pm).
Wednesday 25: Rotherham United v Cardiff City (New York Stadium, 7.45pm).
Saturday 28: Burton Albion v Cardiff City (Pirelli Stadium, 2pm)
Tuesday 31: Greenock Morton v Cardiff City (Cappielow Park, 7.45pm)
August
Saturday 4 Cardiff City v Real Betis (Cardiff City Stadium, 5.15pm)
See dai-sport’s tour diary part one below: