Quick everybody! Time to moan - Cardiff to spend a million on ONE player...

[CHAPPERS]

Cardiff are set to sign defender Darren Purse from West Bromwich Albion in a deal believed to be close to £1m.

Purse's agent, Richard Cody, revealed that they have agreed personal terms with the Bluebirds, who fought off a late bid from Southampton.

"Darren has spoken to (Cardiff manager) Dave Jones and was impressed with what he had to say," Cody told BBC Sport.

"There's a few bits and pieces that need clarifying, but they are not going to stop us agreeing the contract."

However, Cody revealed that there are certain issues surrounding Purse's departure from the Hawthorns that could delay his switch to Ninian Park.

"We have a situation where we need to agree certain things with West Brom and that's what is holding things up," Cody admitted.

"Those are things personal to Darren and myself that have to be clarified.

"You have lots of things in an existing contract and the player himself is not breaking the contract, it's the club looking to sell the player.

"But they are items which I believe will be resolved in the next few days, and then Darren will look forward to a long and successful career with Cardiff."

Purse, 28, was a regular at the start of the season and kept his place after Bryan Robson took over as manager in November.

But the former Birmingham defender has now not figured in the Baggies side since February.

Purse will provide a ready-made replacement in the heart of Cardiff's defence, following the £3.5m sale of Danny Gabbidon and James Collins to West Ham.



Unbelievable!!!! How can a team in so much debt be allowed to go out spending that kind of money??

BASTARDS!

 

[silky1]

By selling most of their first team for a few million I guess. Wouldn't be too concerned still they will struggle.

 

[Simster]

It worries me that Cardiff have Dave Jones in charge - he seems to be looking to sign some astute replacements for the ones he's had to sell.

I was kind of hoping they'd be right in the poo this season.

 

[lizard]

Don't think he's worth a million!

 

[Curious Orange]

I'd be interested to get TLBs perspective on this. I know Cardiff have sold their better players off, but you would have thought that the fact they got the PFA to cover their wages a short time ago would have meant that they wouldn't really be in a position to spend a million on one player?

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

He's rather prone to red cards. I remember one where he was walking away from a confrontation, then turned round and twatted the other bloke. I can't remember what game that was in.

 

[y2dave]

Good signing but I'd be worried. Cardiff have replaced young saleable assetts with journeymen players no doubt still on high wages. Unless the financial situation drasticly improves they will end up in the same mess without the players to bail them out. Looks like it's all or nothing for Sam this season.

 

[CHAPPERS]

The fact that they beat Southampton to his signature means he must be on a fair amount.

 

[Albion Dan]

Are they paying 1 million to West Brom, or does that include wages during his contract?

If its the latter then they have probably easily covered it with the sales they have had and the reduction on transfer fees.

 

[lizard]

I think it's a £1M fee to West Brom.

 

[Albion Dan]

Well if thats teh case lets all laugh because its odds on they will go into admin b4 the end of season.

 

[lizard]

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Does this affect our chances of signing Inamoto/Koumas/Moore/Kanu/Horsefield/Astle?

 

[Albion Dan]

Well if thats the case lets all laugh because its odds on they will go into admin b4 the end of season.

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

I'd be interested to get TLBs perspective on this.

I don't know where a figure of £1 million has suddenly come from. The fee being quoted in the press up here is an initial £100,000, which could eventually rise to £600,000 depending on Purse's appearances and the club's progress over the next few years. The maximum fee that has been quoted since he was linked with us was £300,000, which was said to be more than the club could afford.

There is absolutely no chance that we could or would pay a £1 million fee these days, so you can forget that. If the deal is worth £1 million then it must include Purse's signing-on fee and wages for the next couple of years.

When Gabbidon and Collins went to West Ham for a combined fee of £3.5 million, Sam Hammam told the press that Dave Jones would have a total of around £600,000 to spend provided that further reductions could be made to the wage bill in the meantime.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

TLB, Is that 600,000 to spend on transfer fees, or 600,000 for everything? Is Dave Jones really going to spend all your transfer budget on one player?

And how do you rate your chances for the coming season?

 

[The Laughing Bluebird]

TLB, Is that 600,000 to spend on transfer fees, or 600,000 for everything? Is Dave Jones really going to spend all your transfer budget on one player? And how do you rate your chances for the coming season?

I have no idea what the £600,000 involves, but Jones has brought a number of players to the club (all free transfers or trialists) since that figure was quoted, so it can't include wages. It must mean just transfer fees.

Purse hasn't joined us yet, but we've been told there will be more to come whether he joins us or not. Jones has been playing his cards very close to his chest, and apart from Purse (who turned up at our friendly at Accrington, which was a bit of a giveaway!) the press haven't known much about any of his targets until they've actually arrived. For instance, on Saturday trialists Phil Mulryne (ex-Norwich) and Andreas Ferretti (ex-Parma) were in the team at Accrington despite never having been mentioned by the press.

How will we do this season? No idea at all. Last season we had a squad full of quality players, but we also had a poor manager who couldn't get the balance right whatever he did. You always felt that a decent manager would have been getting much more out of the players.

Since the end of last season it's been all change. Lawrence is gone, Jones has arrived, and the squad has a totally different shape to it. Most of the big names have moved on, but some of their replacements look interesting (and a lot cheaper!). Also, the reports are that the morale in the squad is a lot better than it was at this time last year.

A nice, boring season in mid-table would be just fine, but I expect we'll be involved in the relegation scrap unless Jones works miracles.