Hello all! Thought it's about time I broke my not606 virginity, some of you might have known me as Bluebirds07 on our dearly departed BBC friend.
Anyway, back on topic. I'm a little surprised at the overwhelming desire to get Bellers back on board. The truth is he's 32 years of age now, fragile, will be very expensive whatever kind of deal we get him on, and I also fear that he may be a hindrance to Mackay's desire to get the boys working as a team, not a 1 or 2 man show as we had last season. Also, where would he play, and who would you take out of the side? I didn't like Bellers on the wing, and I don't believe that Mackay would entertain/has entertained for one moment the idea of having Earnie/Miller as back-up players - and I don't see either of those 2 alongside CB (personally, Gestede starting is a must, but that's another story...). Furthermore - and this may be the crux - when Bellamy signed last season he said that owing to his lack of pre-season and match fitness/sharpness, he would be aiming to get to his best at around January time. And so it turned out. But can we really afford to give him another incubation period for so long? Not really. I'm a massive fan of Bellamy, and he had some terrific games for us (Barnsley A, Leeds A, Leeds H, Coventry H, QPR H, QPR A to name a few). But I can't help feeling that our money could be better spent on other, younger players who may have even more of an impact - someone in the mould of Wes Hoolahan, or Scott Sinclair.
To end on a sidenote: Mackay likes his full backs to get forward and attack - a philosophy I am 100% behind. But it seems like McNaughton is expected to take the right wing all on his own! While Taylor links well with Conway on the left flank, Cowie (terrific though he is) is usually behind and/or inside McNaughton, who is expected to get the balls in the box when that has never been his strong point. And while he's more than capable of taking on players, he can hardly be relied upon to do so. I noticed this in the Bristol game, and thought it was completely exposed against BHA on Wednesday night. Anyone agree? Otherwise, good start to the season!