Lennie: City will not be held to ransom.
LENNIE LAWRENCE has warned he will not pay over the odds for players after revealing Cardiff City's £850,000 bid for Rotherham striker Alan Lee is their final offer.
And the Bluebirds boss, in a straight-talking interview, vowed he would not waste owner Sam Hammam's money and even claimed that City had sometimes spent unwisely in the last three years.
"If a player is worth £2m then I will be happy to pay £2m," Lawrence told The Western Mail yesterday.
"But if he is worth £1m, I will not be paying £1.5m or £1.25m.
"I will only pay what I think is the right money for a player - and I will only pay him the right wages.
"What I will not be doing is throwing money at players, no matter what.
"That has happened at Cardiff too many times in the past."
Full story.
That's the 'ammer for City Premier bid.
JOE COLE may have reduced West Ham fans to tears by joining Chelsea this week - but there were no such watery eyes at Ninian Park following the England star's £6.6m switch.
The news that First Division rivals West Ham are losing star players such as Cole, Trevor Sinclair and Fredi Kanoute is being greeted with delight at the home of Cardiff City.
The weaker the opposition, the better City's chances of making an impact in a division they have not graced since 1985.
"It's nice to play against top players - but I'm not going to shed any tears about Joe Cole leaving West Ham," said new Bluebird John Robinson on the eve of his league debut at Rotherham tomorrow.
"If West Ham and other teams in the division lose their best players then it's better for the other sides in that division."
Full story.