Goodbye Gary Medel!

A few of Cardiff City’s starting XI from last season have left in the last few weeks. 

I couldn't give a monkeys about losing Frazier Campbell and I even offered to give Steven Caulker a lift to QPR to get rid of him. Gary Medel though is different... 

His departure has become a summer ‘saga’ of twists and bulls**t following his phenomenal performances and tears at the World Cup for Chile. 

If you believe the media (always question them), Gary’s agent has in recent days supposedly informed Cardiff City that he wants to play for Inter Milan next season as negotiations between the clubs over the transfer drag on to yawn status.

Added to this was the announcement yesterday of City’s squad numbers for the new season whereby Medel has had his number eight jersey pinched by new lad Kagisho Dikgacoi and in turn had Don Cowie’s crusty old number nineteen jersey thrown at him.

That’s low... and perhaps the most obvious sign yet that the departure to Italy is imminent.  

So, will the Bluebirds miss Gary? 

Being a big fan of ‘El Pitbull’ after watching him cause havoc in Spanish football with Sevilla, his arrival at City this time last year blew my tiny mind. Brought in by Malky (above pic) to add some nasty bite to the midfield in the Premier League, he soon became a cult hero, bringing his rep of being a fully-fledged lunatic with him.

The Bluebirds started the season well and Gary was a big part of that but he did go missing in games, struggling to adapt to the pace of the English league. 

Malky's defensive tactics meant City played deep (very very deep) and Medel was a flicker of light in that darkness and when a tackle came along he'd throw his life into it. He can play too don't forget and in testing times never hid from taking the ball out from the back where others wouldn't.  

There were games in the first half of the campaign where we saw glimpses of Gary’s dark side too like the Manchester United home game where he swung a punch at Marouane Fellaini (a man double his size - above pic) but he appeared to have found a way to curb his infamous temper.

He was excellent in the first Swansea derby in November too and was looking like settling into his new surroundings. 

In the bleak winter of Malky Mackay's brutal fall out with Vincent Tan and Ole Gunnar Solskjær's subsequent appointment, City’s performances on the pitch were as shambolic as the behavior of their Directors running the club off it.

The wheels had come off and City were in trouble. 

Gary’s performances were becoming tepid and lacking in passion which was odd for a player whose whole game was based around intensity. In January and February most of his time was spent running after teams as they tore City apart.

This even included a humiliating defeat and grim day in Swansea where Gary was anonymous and perhaps the first day where relegation became a massive possibility. 

During this time I felt that City could have done with some vintage loco 'El Pitbull' action to breathe life into the battle they were clearly losing. 

Where was the lunatic we thought we'd signed who couldn't accept defeat? 

Where were the red cards and chairs being thrown?   

On no occasion was it necessary for Police to taser Gary in the stadium car park for completely losing his mind after a defeat. I think my Pops in the Grandstand was more likely to be restrained by authorities than Gary.  

The threat of relegation didn't seem to bother Gary, knowing a trip to the World Cup in Brazil was looming, serving as a shop window for a potential move to jump ship.   

Following the boardroom drama, City inevitably ended up relegated back to the Championship and Medel went to the World Cup, picked his face up and played a blinder for Chile sparking the current interest from Europe’s big boys Inter Milan, Galatasaray and Hamburg. 

Who could blame him.  

Knowing Gary will be off once the admin lads at City and Inter can complete a deal, Solskjær moved quickly this summer to find a cheap replacement in Kagisho Dikgacoi from Crystal Palace (a move met with a sigh from City supporters). 

Given the protracted transfer drama, it wouldn't be a shock if Medel was still around when City kick off their Championship season next Friday at Blackburn but he certainly wont play and will he be around in four weeks when the transfer window closes?  

No, he won’t. 

Goodbye Gary, thanks for having a go and good luck in Italy. 

One last plug for the CV Gary Medel fan site: vamosgarymedel.tumblr.com