Here are your Cardiff City transfer headlines for Thursday, July 7.
Romaine Sawyers opens up on 'sad' West Brom exit
New Cardiff City signing Romaine Sawyers has opened up about the disappointment he felt about the circumstances surrounding his West Brom exit.
Having returned to his boyhood club in 2019, Sawyers admitted his second spell with the Baggies wasn't an overall success. He thought he was going to spend the rest of his career there, but it hasn't worked out like that.
“I’m sad that the back end finished like that. I feel like my return to West Brom, overall, wasn’t great. In my heart of hearts, I thought I was going to retire there,” Sawyers told The Athletic.
READ MORE: Cardiff City's lopsided squad is now unrecognisable but final jigsaw piece will make or break season
“When it was going well, I didn’t see beyond Slav (Slaven Bilic) and the style we were playing at the time. I thought the only thing that’d stop me from thriving was age. I wanted to be like Brunty (Chris Brunt) or Mozza (James Morrison), who spent over a decade there. I certainly didn’t see myself competing with West Brom for play-off places (with Stoke) a couple of years later.”
Some of the sour feeling stems from the aftermath of a 5-0 defeat by Manchester City in the Premier League on January 26, 2020. Simon Silwood, then aged 50, posted a racist message onto a Facebook group. He was subsequently found guilty in September 2021 of sending Sawyers a malicious communication using the phrase “Baboon d’Or”, and was later sentenced to eight weeks in prison. The Baggies also banned him from The Hawthorns for life. Silwood became the UK’s first football fan to serve prison time for racially abusing a player online.
“I didn’t have to go onto the pitch with it but I trained daily with it,” he added. “It didn’t demotivate me but it definitely affected my subconscious. My missus used to say she felt it through me. It was not until I went to Stoke that she felt I was again back to my normal self.
“I’d love to have stayed and retired at West Brom but after that, I’m not sure I could have. How could a fan of my team racially abuse me? Cyrille Regis, Brendon Batson, Laurie Cunningham? He was a grown man and knew about those pioneers in our club’s history.
“There’s never any tolerance but look at the club’s history and the diversity in West Brom and Birmingham. We’re a multicultural club in a multicultural town. How can he walk down the road with those views?”
Speaking more specifically about his departure, he added: “I’ve never crossed paths with (Steve) Bruce but he did an interview where a reporter asked him about me, and it seemed like he was in admiration of my ability. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to return at that time. Still, my job’s my job, and I’m going to have to perform, and if the West Brom situation didn’t work out, I needed Stoke to want me.
“It went on until the end of the season and they (West Brom) decided they didn’t want to take the option. It was strange because of what he said publicly but I’ve done the yards to know I’ll be OK.”
Fortunately for Cardiff, they beat Stoke in the race for his signature and the midfielder can now look forward to being a central part of Steve Morison's project in the Welsh capital.
George Ratcliffe rehabbing
The inclusion of George Ratcliffe on the club's squad list on their website raised a few eyebrows this week.
The club's retained list at the end of last season stated that Ratcliffe, who was out of contract, had been offered a new deal, but no news was put out regarding him signing said deal.
However, WalesOnline has learned that the 21-year-old goalkeeper is rehabbing an injury which kept him sidelined at the end of last season, subsequently handing Rohan Luthra the opportunity to sit on the bench for the last couple of games of the season.
Ratcliffe will remain with the club while he undergoes rehab, similar to what Sean Morrison is doing.
Evans bullish after sealing Torquay switch
Cardiff City youngster Kieron Evans is raring to go at Torquay United and wants to get a regular season of games under his belt to force his way into Steve Morison's thinking.
The Wales youth international winger has penned a season-long loan move to the Devon club and has spoken about the qualities he hopes to showcase while playing there.
“I’m excited,” he told TorquayTalk. “I had a good start to the season, played a few good games, did well, and then went out on loan in Northern Ireland. It was a different experience, but it helped me a lot, made me grow up a bit, and now I’m ready for this new challenge.
"I understood the gaffer, I knew what he wanted. I’ve watched a few of Torquay’s games from last season, and I thought in my head ‘I can play in those games’. I can bring goals and assists, definitely. I’m good one-v-one, and with both feet. I’m delighted, and I can’t wait to get started!”
Warnock weighs in on Boris Johnson departure
Boris Johnson will soon be vacating the top job in England and there is a surprise contender to replace the Prime Minister - the one and only, Neil Warnock.
The former Cardiff City manager, who took charge of countless clubs, is used to fighting fires and going into difficult situations and so with that in mind, he posted a tongue-in-cheek Photoshopped picture of himself being unveiled as Johnson's replacement on his popular Twitter account.
It showed a mock-up of Warnock outside 10 Downing Street with the caption: "Warnock to step in. Sharon gives Neil permission for one last job."
The 73-year-old's well-timed quip garnered plenty of laughs on a historic day after Johnson's decision to step down from his post, with many Bluebirds fans even suggesting Sol Bamba and Lee Peltier are preparing for cabinet posts in Warnock's regime.
READ NEXT
