GAFFER UNVEILS CAULKER

Boss praises defender's bravery in leaving Spurs comfort zone

The signing of Steven Caulker earlier this week was yet another record breaking capture for Malky Mackay.

Sitting alongside his Manager at the Vale Hotel for a press session on Friday morning following a photo-shoot with fellow new signings John Brayford and Simon Moore, the twenty-one year old England international spoke of how Cardiff was the perfect destination for furthering his career.

"I am at a stage in my career where I want to be playing regular football and Spurs have three fantastic centre halves," said Steven. "It may have been a case of me being fourth choice this season and not getting the number of games I would like. I did not want to put my career on hold in that way and I wanted to get out there and get as much experience as possible.

"Opportunities like this don't come around too often, so I decided to take the step and back myself. I want to progress with Cardiff as a team and I want to progress as a player.

"There is no doubt about it that there is competition for places at Cardiff and at Tottenham and of course England, where there is no greater competition. I will be fighting hard for a position now for Club and Country."

Malky Mackay was extremely complimentary of Caulker’s maturity and brave decision to leave the Club he'd joined as youngster in favour of the Bluebirds. He commented: "To be part of a squad is a very good thing and at the time you are loathed to leave because it has a comfort blanket associated with it. You are wrapped in it, you have been there and you know it. To actually step out and go and further your career is a brave decision.

"It is something that I would commend players for when they do it. You see a situation in football when they leave a club and it is unexpected. When it is for the reasons of playing football regularly then I think that is a brave decision. It shows that a player has maturity attached to them and where they see their career going.

"People will be surprised that Steven left Tottenham, but I have a great deal of time for the fact that he wanted to come here to play football and further his career. We will aim make him as good a player as he possibly can be and we are very impressed by the way he was so determined to leave his comfort zone. Spurs were excellent to deal with and Daniel Levy, in particular, was very professional.

"Of course Steven will have to work very hard to get into the team and stay in it, as every player has to. We have a team of players here who won the Championship by some distance and I respect them all, so they will be given their chance. But it's about adding quality to the squad I have. I did that last summer and now I'm doing it again."

And as for further anticipated additions ahead of the Barclays Premier League kick-off, Malky commented: "We saw last year that near the end of the window we brought in five or six.

"It is really about when they fall; we have got irons in the fire at the moment and targets. Sometimes it is not just about when it suits you when a transfer is done. We will be diligent and will go about our work professionally, the way we always go about trying to bring players in. There are still targets out there and are still people I want to bring into the club."