The Bluebirdsâ boss is still on the hunt for a striker and wideman and could well take another shot at two targets from last month in QPRâs Jamie Mackie and Tommy Smith. The Bluebirds made enquiries about both men on permanent deals, but will now return to the West London club with a loan deal in mind. QPR were the busiest Premier League side in the transfer window bringing in a host of players including a clutch of striking talent. Djibril Cisse arrived from Lazio for £4m and Bobby Zamora from Fulham for £6m to give Rangers boss Mark Hughes plenty of attacking options. With Premier League clubs poised to announce their 25-man squads for the rest of the season, Mackie and Smith could find themselves surplus to requirements at Loftus Road. If so, it looks likely Mackay will be in the hunt to try to bring at least one to the Welsh capital. The Cardiff manager (pictured) does have financial muscle behind him from the clubâs Malaysian backers as he looks to reach the top flight. The Bluebirds saw a £3m bid for striker Marvin Sordell at Mackayâs former club Watford accepted before they were gazumped by Premier League Bolton. A £1.2m offer for winger Craig Noone was also rejected by Championship rivals Brighton. Some of that money now looks set to be ploughed into a budget for loan players with Mackay praising the clubâs board and confirming his involvement in the loan market. âA lot of work was put in and if one of our transfer targets had come in it would have been very good,â said Mackay. âBut when you look at the amount of financial backing put in by our Malaysian owners I can only thank them. âIt wasnât for a lack of effort or financial support that we didnât bolster our squad. We hit the post twice, so to speak and we will move again when the loan window opens on February 7. âI was incredibly well supported and backed. It was frustrating,â n LEEDS manager Simon Grayson has been sacked after just over three years in charge. Grayson, 42, who replaced Gary McAllister as manager of his boyhood club in December 2008, has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks as Leeds have fallen out of the top six in the npower Championship. A heavy 4-1 home defeat to Birmingham on Tuesday night appears to have been the final straw for chairman Ken Bates, who is now in the hunt for his fifth Leeds manager during his seven years at the club. Chief executive Shaun Harvey said: âWe have 18 games to go this season and are still within touching distance of the play-offs, but felt with the transfer window now closed we needed to make the change at this time. âSimon and his staff have given the club over three good years service and we would like to place on record our thanks and wish them all the best. âYouth team manager Neil Redfearn has been asked to take temporary charge of the first team until a new manager is available.â Former QPR boss Neil Warnock has already emerged as the favourite to land the post. Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footba...oan-raid-on-qpr-91466-30249779/#ixzz1lDXObhGD
Cheers Kiwi Mackie would be our choice rather than Smith although as both featured in your game last night (Mackie from the start) it may be they still feature in Sparkey's plans. Can the same be said for our former star Jay Bothroyd? Who was benched at the weekend and not in the squad at all last night. Has he slipped into his former languid ways? He was great for us until his England cap last year and a failed move to Fulham. His attitude was not as good after that. What has been the view of him after half a season at Loftus Road?
Seems daft loaning out players who might just make the 25 only to keep hold of a bus load of "players" who don't stand a chance of being included. All this dead wood has me worried.
It seems to go up by £1M a day! Don't believe all that rubbish. Phil Beard said we had a budget and did not go over it and that Zamora is on roughly the same wage. The board won't make us broke as they have said that from day one.
Mackie looks more out his depth as the weeks progress. Plenty of effort, full of running but technically just not there.
Rather Mackie than smith as sad as it would be to see him go. Mackie is a trier while Smith has had limited chances but looks more likely to score or produce some skill. Remember Smith got us our first win...and goal I think.
Mackie and Smith will both be good squad players who should easily make the 25 and we should definitely not be offloading them IMO. That would be a bit like when NW let Clint Hill go out on loan only to have to recall him when the inevitable gap emerged. I understand it must be frustrating when trying to balance the budget to only get offers for taking the best of our 2nd string players but let's face it who is going to want Hulse?
Ok! You win then.Stop off on the way at Macdonalds and get him a Big Mac Meal and I'll cover the cost of that then.
Eamon , spot on mate , I have been worried about these for a while. If we are cancelling contracts durely Vine should have gone ages ago. Also the likes of Dave, ****tu and Cook should be playing elsewhere. Surely someone somewhere would contribute to a fraction of their wages if they went on loan. People moan about how much some of our 1st team players earn, its these guys coining a decent wage for doing sod all that really gets my goat.
