McPhail & Rae Top Poll – But Are They Good Enough?

Cardiff City have had a settled midfield for well over a season now with Ledley, Rae and McPhail always starting whenever fit. The only question mark has hung on the right wing with Parry and Whittingham sharing duties.


However, it has to be admitted that despite individually good players – we rarely take control of the midfield area and are often out-muscled.


McPhail is a skillful player with excellent vision and passing qualities. However, he has a tendency to be passed by in games and can be crowded out and his threat nullified. Gavin Rae works tremendously hard to support defence and attack but his distribution can be poor and he lacks the cutting edge to hurt teams.


Nevertheless – we are genuine play-off contenders except that there is no depth. Scimeca remains injured and even if he does get himself fit – will he ever be the same presence after nearly 2 years out?


A recent poll of this Vital Cardiff website invited readers to choose their best midfield partnership from our current crop:



Get Darcy in there ! (29%)
McPhail / Rae. (24%)
Ledley / Scimeca. (17%)
McPhail / Scimeca. (14%)
McPhail / Ledley. (11%)
Unsure. (3%)
Ledley / Rae. (2%)




Most felt that McPhail and Rae are the best of our tried options. There was however strong support for Darcy Blake, a highly rated youngster though one we rarely see involved with the first team. Blake can play in defence or midfield though we haven’t seen him play regularly anywhere but full-back.