It's not just Cardiff who can't pay their wages

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8797183.stm

Indeed. Aren't the big Spanish clubs backed up by their governement though? Or is that just Real Madrid?

FIO - I don't know a lot about Ledley, but my Crapdiff supporting mate said he would rather lose Chopra and Whittingham than Ledley, so they obviously rate him. Stoke wanted him but a bigger payday and the lure of pretend Champions League football for a couple of games a year has swayed him apparently

Never heard of him!

Deal not done as yet but looks like it will happen. Any fee likely?

He was an ever-present for the first two seasons he was there, but has since fallen out of favour with the new manager making 16 apps last season. Signed for them from Boavista for £1m. There will be a fee as he is under contract. £500k is the figure being quoted.

Mixed reviews from the Reading fans with some saying he is rubbish and they're glad to see him go and others saying he is God and they are stunned and amazed he is going. Pretty standard fair for any player leaving a club really. I only remember him from that one game where he did destroy us virtually single handedly.

Cole has confirmed he has been at the club for a medical so I guess it's a case of dotting the 'i's etc. No surprise to see Coppell going back and raiding his old club. That seems to happen a lot with new managers.

As always time will tell if it's a good move

I was just reading about Ledley's megabucks move from Cardiff to Celtic and it would seem they are after a host of Championship players. Sc unthorpe's highly rated Gary Hooper looks to be on his way there:

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/editor-s-picks/be-a-star-at-celtic-gary-hooper-1.1040032

Also mentions Simon's Leeds were/are interested in him too, although it doesn't mention Simon

And they are also discussing terms with Hull's Jimmy Bullard. If ever the argument that Celtic and Rangers would be Championship clubs at best in England were proved, well....

Ledley has signed a 4-year deal worth 25K a week; at least according to the Daily Record.

Cisse deal now confirmed as done.

In the meantime, if Lee Trundle thought he had meade it when he secured a £1m move to us, he had no idea the really big move was yet to come! Huge move for him today! What a story!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_of_wales/8805793.stm

I'm beginning to feel confident of our chances of bouncing back up to the Championship first time. We have bought well this summer 🙂

We're currently on pre-season in Sweden. Tonights result:

Vallens IF 1 - 11 Bristol City

Funny as that is, I wonder what exactly the point of games like this are. Things learnt about the squad tonight = 0

Only a couple of weeks til we get underway  Anyone feeling very optimistic or very pessimistic since last discussed?

We have signed two players, both from lower leagues and we have a trialist who looks like he's staying. We've let go of 9 players. Other than that, very quiet. Rumours from my player mate about many millions available for transfers are either wrong or Coppell has decided not to go nuts, which is in keeping with how he usually manages a club. He's never been one for big money signings anywhere he's been. Obviously we still have a couple of weeks to go.

If the season started today I would expect a similar showing to last year and the year before (10th) lots of people are talking about the Coppell effect. Balls in my opinion. We have the same squad as we've had the last two seasons, minus 9, plus 2 untried at this level. He's a manager not a magician

Anyone got any thoughts how Pompey may fair this season..? I think they may really struggle and i expect a whole lot more turmoil at the club.. upside is you football league fans can enjoy a nice friendly welcome at fratton park !!

However for us Owls, I think 1st in League 1 with 97 points and an unbeaten home record...

...I can dream!

I do think we'll bounce back up though

I would expect Wednesday to bounce back too, however, I'd urge caution having been in your situation. It aint an easy league to get out of. You'll need to get physical as well as play nice football. I'm sure Simon would echo these sentiments too.

Pompey? Not sure they'll struggle, but I don't expect them to be challenging either

You be travelling down there for the away game Matty...?

Possibly. It'll be one of our closest games. I only get to a handful of away games in a season, so tend to pick carefully. I'm already going to one dump (Elland Rd) this season, so not sure if I should add Pompey

Hi Simon *waves*

We've barely spent a penny on transfer fees since the season ended and certainly haven't replaced Beckford in any meaningful way.

We are weak in central midfield as well.

I don't know what to expect, but at this stage 'distinctly underwhelmed' would sum it up.

Hope you'll be joining us on a session rather than slumming it with your yokel mates.

I'll do all I can to make the away game, but as happens with us when we so much as fart the game will no doubt be moved for TV.

I'll be getting completely wrecked and sleeping over the night in that place by you I went last time

I'm wondering about TV. We haven't played each other in the league for yonks. If we're doing well by then and so are you then you would imagine it has a fair chance of being picked by Sky. Not played each other for years, you're back in The Championship, Coppell attracts the media like flies around you know what. If we're bottom half and going nowhere then it'll just be seen as another game. TV chances deminish. If it did get TV and put back to something like a Monday or Tuesday eve then I'm screwed for being there. If it's one of the Saturday eve games I'll still be there, but just less drinking time after, which bothers me

What's your away allocation? Our away support is extremely good considering we only average 16,17k or for home games. We almost always sell out our allocation. Worth noting that our soon to be destroyed ground only has an attendance of 19k once you take out segregation, so when you factor in the tickets allowed for away fans (usually 2600 or so, more for some teams, up to 3k) then we do pretty much sell out the home allocation. God we need this new ground! I would imagine we would take 5k to yours if allowed. Obviously how we're doing will make a difference as it always does. Bottom 3 and people lose interest a bit

Funny you should mention that. There's a thread on WACCOE speculating who'll bring their full allocation and it's clear that no-one realises how well you can be supported away from home.

You're guaranteed 1,710 in the SE Corner (Cheese Wedge)

http://www.wafll.com/wafll-gallery/wafll_-_elland_road/inside_er_-_the_cheese_wedge-107-thread.html

If you can sell them (which I suspect you can) you're also entitled to ask for 300 more, which means that you actually get the first two blocks of the south stand (to the right of the wedge on that photo) and a total of 2,700. That means a buffer area behind the goal and much wailing and gnashing of teeth because it deprives our fans of around 1300 'cheaper' tickets.

If you're a Category A it'll cost you £29, if a 'B' £24. I suspect with a good away following the club will need no persuading to make it a top priced game.

EDIT: Better picture of the South Stand

http://www.wafll.com/wafll-gallery/wafll_-_elland_road/inside_er_-_the_south_stand-108-thread.html

I've no doubt whatsoever that we'll sell out all 2700  Naturally I'll be back here later on in the season when we've only sold 2k

We took 5k to Reading last year and year before because they allowed us the extra allocation. Only an hour up the road admittedly. We also took 4k to West Brom, although again that's just over an hour away. We took 3k to Newcastle and asked for another 3k, but they wouldn't allow it. If we expected to sell 6k for all the way up there then I've no doubt we'll sell less than half that for a shorter trip in a heartbeat

Extremely grim reading for Cardiff fans. There seems to be something everyday at the moment:

http://thelonegunmanblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/cardiff-city-football-club-holdings-ltd.html

A very sensible blog by an Ipswich Town fan.

Time to face up to reality?