Here are your Cardiff City headlines for Wednesday, January 4.
Wednesday fear McGuinness exit as they line up Flint
Sheffield Wednesday fans are fearing the worst when it comes to Mark McGuinness.
McGuinness, currently on loan at Hillsborough, has won the club's Player of the Month award, voted for by fans, for both November and December.
However, according to reports in Yorkshire, it appears Owls fans are expecting McGuinness to leave the club and return to Cardiff this month. The Sheffield Star report: "Should Mark McGuinness return to Cardiff City from his loan, as is feared by many supporters, then they will certainly be in the market to replace him in the heart of Wednesday’s backline."
They add that one of the players on their radar is Aden Flint, who left Cardiff in the summer. He had a short spell on loan with the Owls during Neil Harris' reign at the club and he could be in line to replace McGuinness if he does return to the Welsh capital this month.
Flint left as a free agent in the summer and was snapped up by Stoke City. He started nine of Stoke's first 11 Championship matches, but was dropped and hasn't featured in the league since October 2 following a 4-0 defeat by Watford.
When Mark Hudson was asked about McGuinness last month, he said: "It's something we knew when the loan was available, that he could go and play games regularly and go and play a full season, that was the idea. To get himself in a team and playing as well as he can and gaining more experience.
"I think he will maybe have played 180 games by the time he comes back to us. I'm not sure we will be discussing any kind of sale regarding Macca at the moment. That's not where we are at.
"I am buzzing that he is doing well. That's something we are keen on. That's why he went on loan. I speak to him regularly, I watch what he is doing. He is our player."
Whether the implementation of a transfer embargo changes that at the minute remains to be seen.
Neil Warnock linked with sensational return
Neil Warnock is reportedly in the frame to succeed Mark Hudson as Cardiff City manager with the pressure mounting on the Bluebirds boss' shoulders.
The Bluebirds are in a precarious position at present, dangling just two points above the drop zone but under a transfer embargo which has rendered the chances of drastically improving the current squad very slim.
Hudson, who was given the job on a permanent basis on November having taken over from Steve Morison, has found it tough going in the Cardiff hot-seat, having won just four games out of the 16 in which he has been at the helm. The Bluebirds are now winless in their last seven outings in the Championship.
And the Daily Mail report that Warnock, 74, will be sounded out if Vincent Tan decides to oust Hudson from the position. Tan said in an interview with WalesOnline in November that the club were happy to make Hudson manager until the end of the season "unless he does badly", meaning the question now is where the owner's threshold for poor results lies.
Defender should have seen red for 'serious foul play'
Jack Simpson was "lucky" to escape a red card during the clash against Blackburn Rovers, according to former official Chris Foy.
On the half-hour mark, Simpson was beaten to the ball when he went into a challenge with Jake Garrett and his studs ended up making contact with the Rovers player, which sparked fury on the hosts' bench.
Simpson, who was sent off earlier in the season against QPR, was cautioned by referee Tom Bramall, but Foy thinks he got off lightly.
In a new EFL initiative, 'Behind the Whistle', introduced by new PGMOL chief Howard Webb which will see decisions by EFL officials reviewed publicly after a completed round of matches, Foy said: “I think this is an example of a decision that required evidence from the different perspectives of the refereeing team – the referee, assistant referee and fourth official, given their differing viewing angles.
“There is a genuine attempt to challenge for a bouncing ball, and the intensity of the challenge is probably mitigated by the low speed and degree of control.
“That being said, the point of contact is high with the leading foot on the upper thigh of the opposition player.
“With the player’s safety in mind, I believe the better outcome would have been the issuing of a red card for serious foul play.”
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