Trust News

Keith Morgan, Trust Chair

The sacking of Mark Hudson as Cardiff City manager yesterday is hardly surprising given the recent run of dreadful performances and results. We wish him well for the future.

However.  it does raise at least one important question and that is who advises the club’s owner on who to appoint as manager and what football experience and knowledge does that person/those people have?

The club seems to lurch from one short-term (failed) attempted “fix” to another, both on and off the pitch.

The practical difficulty the club faces is that the owner Vincent Tan is the sole decision maker and does not appear to listen to advice from his board members even if they are prepared to express an opinion to him.

Sadly, the owner appears to have little regard for the opinions of those fans who offer a counter view to his own. Mr Tan should never forget that the fans are the lifeblood of our club.

This latest episode once again illustrates the vital need for far greater supporter involvement in football clubs as will be proposed by the UK Government in its White Paper due to be published shortly.

The club is unlikely to move forward in a positive manner unless some or all of the above issues are resolved, and quickly.

Keith Morgan

Chair

Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust

• You can join the Trust for just £12 a year through our website or call into our office before the Millwall game. We’re near Gate 5 and open 90 minutes before kick-off. The more members we have the stronger voice fans have.

Trust chair Keith Morgan had discussions with the club on Tuesday and was told the first installment of around €6m has been paid with a view to try and have the transfer embargoed lifted. The club is currently in discussions with the EFL and FIFA.

Keith Morgan was told the discussions were progressing favourably and it is hoped there will be an update in the next few days

Trust chair Keith Morgan, who is a football finance expert, was among a group of fan representatives who attended a meeting with Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman and other club officials before today’s Leeds United FA Cup game.

Below is Keith’s report on the key points of the meeting:

1. Transfer Embargo – I was wrong in an earlier post. As well as the EFL embargo, a FIFA one does exist in parallel but they are not consistent with each other. What is clear is that the club cannot presently meet the criteria to lift either. The club has written to the EFL pointing out some inconsistencies in their embargo ruling and expects to receive a response within the next week to their request to have the embargo lifted.

2. Appeal to Swiss Federal Tribunal – This is ongoing but no date has yet been set for a court hearing.

3. Other legal actions to recover losses arising – These are ongoing but full details could not be revealed due to legal confidentiality. However, it was stated that the claim against the club`s insurance brokers was a negligence claim.

4. Neil Warnock – It was categorically stated that the directors had had no contact with Neil Warnock about a possible return to CCFC and that they had no intention of doing so in the future.

5. Vincent Tan Financial Support –Mehmet Dalman stated that Vincent Tan had recently confirmed on several occasions that he was pledging to continue financially supporting the club.

6. Other matters discussed – It was revealed that not only was the Emiliano Sala transfer not recognized as complete by the Premier League at the time but was also not recognised by the players union the PFA. It was also said that players were being loaned out despite there not being the ability at present to bring replacements in as a manager`s decision on the basis that he didn’t believe they would have a part to play in the first team squad this season.

There is expected to be an update on various matters available within the next week and Trust members will be notified as soon as this is available.

• You can join the Trust for just £12 a year through our website or call into our office before the Wigan game. We’re near Gate 5 and open 90 minutes before kick-off. The more members we have the stronger voice fans have.

Keith Morgan

Trust chair Keith Morgan provides a briefing on the implications of the transfer embargo imposed on Cardiff City.

There seems to be a little confusion on social media about what our club can and cannot do under the current transfer embargo, so I thought it might be useful to summarise the actual position under EFL rules.

1. The club can only bring in new players if it currently has less than the maximum level of 23 players of “professional standing”. These are players who have played at least one game (including as a substitute) in any first team competition for any club.

2. New players cannot be permanent transfers for a fee but are restricted to loan signings or out-of-contract players.
3. Loans are restricted to a maximum period of half a season and free agents can only be signed on contracts until the end of the current season.
4. A loan fee cannot be paid in respect of any player brought in on loan and wages paid to him must be at a level no higher that the wages he was being paid by his parent club.
5. If a player leaves the club on loan this does not reduce the number of professional-standing players. .Eg loaning out Max Watters to Barnsley does not free up a space to bring in a replacement. This only happens if we sell a current player permanently.

Keith Morgan, Trust Chair

Dear Member

I hope you and your loved ones had a joyful Christmas.

It seems we have lurched from one crisis – the Covid pandemic – to the cost-of-living crisis which is hitting so many families and individuals very hard with rocketing food and energy costs.

With that in mind, I wanted to thank members for their fantastic support for the Trust’s collections for local foodbanks which have helped feed those struggling to make ends meet. We intend doing another collection around next Easter.

On the field, it has been another year of upheaval with Steve Morison replaced by Mark Hudson as manager and the team at the wrong end of the Championship table for a second consecutive year. We hope for a better second half of the season with the team retaining our place in the Championship.

Of course, there are plenty of off-field issues, principally the transfer embargo imposed by FIFA in the wake of Sala tragedy and the dispute over the payment of transfer funds to Nantes.

As you know, we have recently had meetings with chief executive Ken Choo to discuss the implications of the Fans-Led Review of Football carried out by former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch which proposes far greater involvement in clubs for supporters, something we welcome.

We also met Chairman Mehmet Dalman and other club executives and the Trust believes that far greater dialogue with supporters is crucial to the success of the club. Fans naturally want to hear from those at the top about where the club is going and we will continue to press the club leadership.

Let’s hope for a better 2023 for us all, both on and off the field.

Thank you for your continuing support for the work of the Trust on behalf of fans.

In the meantime, Happy New Year/Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.

Keith Morgan,

Trust Chair