By Chris O'Brien
March 9 2004

City forward Gavin Gordon has been linked with a move to Ian Atkins' Oxford City. The 24-year-old is struggling to get much first-team recognition at Ninian Park, and with Gordon's contract expiring at the end of the season, a move to the club he spent a brief loan spell at last season looks likely.

Cardiff City forward Gavin Gordon has been linked with a move to Third Division outfit Oxford United, the club he spelt a brief loan spell at last season. The Manchester-born target man netted one goal during his spell at Oxford, starting three matches.

The out-of-favour striker, who has suffered greatly with injuries during his time at Ninian Park, is out of contract at the end of the season and U's boss Ian Atkins, a former assistant manager at Cardiff. is believed to be interested in bringing him to the promotion hopefuls should he not be offered a new deal by Lennie Lawrence.

"Gavin's a good player," said Atkins.

"He was a little unfortunate that he did not score more goals and stay longer when he came to Oxford. I will keep a check on his situation."

There is little more information on the rumour available, with Ian Atkins only having said the above and Cardiff City not commenting on the link. Oxford supporters seem to think that Gordon would be the ideal signing for them as they look to gain promotion back into the Second Division, but with Ian Atkins having no transfer fee available to spend, and City owner Sam Hammam refusing to loan out any City players until the end of the season, a move this term looks unlikely.

Hammam's stance on not loaning out players astounds me. There are a number of decent players in our squad who are working as hard as they can to get a place on the bench, when the club could loan them out to a side lower down the league or elsewhere where they would get regular first-team matches. Particularly with the recent revelation of the clubs astoundingly high wage bill, you'd expect the Lebanese businessman to jump at the chance of cutting how much the club pays to players each month.

Gordon joined the Bluebirds for an initial fee of £275,000 back in the 2000/2001 season, but has never managed to clamp down the first-team place many had hoped when he signed from Lincoln City. Injuries and big name signings have meant the attacker has not been given the chances he probably deserves.

Gordon has bagged a number of goals for the club, but with the clubs debt mounting and the 24-year-old not exactly the most popular man on the Ninian Park terraces, it looks unlikely he will sign a new deal at the end of the season. This is why a move to the Kassam Ground would be more likely at the end of the season, than now.