What happened to the strikers who flopped at Cardiff City but thrived elsewhere

Cardiff City's attacking problems continue as they search for a striker to push them towards a promotion push.

Since their first relegation in 2014, Cardiff have only once had a striker score more than 12 league goals in a season, that being Kieffer Moore’s 20 in the 2020/21 campaign.

This season the Bluebirds have the 18th best attack in division, scoring just 48 goals and often relying on their defence to keep them away from the relegation zone. Right-back Perry Ng is Cardiff’s joint top-scorer this term with six goals, alongside winger Karlan Grant.

READ MORE: Cian Ashford has week of his life and Cardiff City player of the year shortlist revealed

READ MORE: Erol Bulut on shortlist for huge job in Turkey as end of Cardiff City deal nears

Jay Bothroyd, Peter Whittingham and Ross McCormack each scored at least 18 league goals in consecutive seasons between 2008 and 2011, but only Moore has reached that tally since.

Many fans wanted Moore to stay and fire them back to the Premier League, but the lack of a promotion push quickly led to interest from bigger clubs.

What is frustrating for Cardiff fans is that many of the strikers who struggled at the club have found success once they left Cardiff City Stadium, making supporters question why they were unable to perform in the Welsh capital. Perhaps the only buck in that trend is Sory Kaba, whose eight goals in 16 games last season helped keep Cardiff safe, however he has struggled since sealing a move to UD Las Palmas in La Liga, scoring three times in 26 games in all competitions.

Indeed, even Isaak Davies is enjoying his best season in front of goal — 10 goals with KV Kortrijk — after leaving the Bluebirds on loan last summer.

So here, we take a look at some of the strikers from recent seasons who struggled at Cardiff but went on to find success elsewhere...

Rhys Healey

Healey signed for Cardiff aged 18 from Connah’s Quay Nomads, but only managed 16 appearances in six years, netting just once.

After loan spells around the UK, he signed permanently for French club Toulouse in 2020 for an undisclosed fee – and flourished. He was named Ligue 2 Player of the Month for December 2020 and November 2021 and was the league’s top scorer as Toulouse were promoted in 2022.

During his spell with Toulouse, Healey banked 39 goals in just 77 appearances. His exploits earned Toulouse promotion to the top flight, but a cruciate ligament injury wrecked his Ligue 1 season.

Nevertheless, he attracted interest from elsewhere and signed with Watford last summer, before moving to Huddersfield Town in January.

Gary Madine

Madine was another striker who came to Cardiff to help fix their goal-scoring woes, yet the 6ft 4ins centre-forward never scored a goal for the Bluebirds.

Many will argue he is the worst striker in the club's history, given he cost £6million and never scored a goal in 28 Bluebirds appearances. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

His contract was terminated at Cardiff and he returned to the north of England with Blackpool, where he got his goalscoring knack back, netting 26 rimes for the Seasiders. He's now a free agent.

Robert Glatzel

German striker Glatzel came to Cardiff following the Bluebirds' relegation from the Premier League at a time when Neil Warnock was desperate to inject goals into the squad. The forward was best known at the time for his hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the German Cup.

Seven goals in his debut Championship season represented a steady start but he was loaned to Mainz in his second year before signing for Hamburg on deadline day in 2021 after Mick McCarthy's infamous "he's not for me" line.

Debated raged among Cardiff fans regarding Glatzel. Some thought he didn't suit the club, others believed the talent was there, but Cardiff totally failed to play to his strengths. His numbers after leaving Cardiff seem to suggest those who were in the latter camp were probably right.

He hasn’t looked back since leaving Wales, scoring 63 goals in 108 games during his three seasons in the German second division, alongside 19 assists. Still just 30, Glatzel has attracted interest from top-tier clubs both in Germany and around Europe. The one that got away?

James Collins

James Collins is a man who scores goals wherever he plays. Except, of course, for when he was at Cardiff City.

Signed by McCarthy, his record, albeit in lower tiers of English football, seemed to suggest he was a steady bet, having been the forgotten man of Luton’s charge up the divisions.

After 72 goals at Luton and 48 for Shrewsbury, Cardiff needed an experienced head and someone who knew where the back of the net was. But the striker failed to hit the ground running.

There was a time when it looked as though he was gunning for Madine's goalless record — it took him 17 games to score his first goal — but he did end up netting three times in 30 appearances. He left the club in 2022 with a year left on his contract.

Since then he has found his form again for the Rams, scoring 30 goals despite a serious knee injury.

WHATSAPP: Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community

Mark Harris

Harris came through the youth system at Cardiff, joining the club aged eight in 2006 before making his first-team debut in 2017.

He was brought into the side as an SOS striker by Neil Harris, who was under pressure following a run of defeats, and the Wales international struck up a good partnership with Moore.

But, like the dozens before him, he struggled to find the back of the net consistently, netting 10 times in 95 appearances. He scored some important goals and some eye-catching goals, too, but it seemed right for all parties that he should leave at the end of last season.

And what a decision it has proved to be for him. He signed for Oxford United and has already scored 14 goals in his debut season in League One, leading their play-off charge.

Ike Ugbo

Ike Ugbo was signed on loan from Troyes last summer and started like a house on fire for Cardiff, netting three times in his first four games.

But his influence waned and he scored just one goal in his next 16 games for the club as Erol Bulut seemingly lost faith in him. He was allowed to return to Troyes in January and he was loaned back out straight away to strugglers Sheffield Wednesday.

Despite playing for a team at the bottom of the division, Ugbo has netted six times in 16 games for the Owls and is one of the primary reasons they are in with a sniff of staying up with three games to go.