Cardiff City never got what Reading FC did with clinical attacker: View | OneFootball

When Cardiff City announced the signing of Adam Le Fondre following their relegation from the Premier League in 2014, expectations were high, but it's fair to say that he never lived up to those expectations.

The striker made a name for himself at Reading, scoring goals on a regular basis during their 2012/13 Premier League campaign, which helped develop his reputation as a prolific goalscorer.

However, despite a successful career which sees Le Fondre still going strong at 37, his time at the Cardiff City Stadium was a miserable one, and it's not remembered fondly by the Bluebirds' faithful - a stark contrast to how he's remembered down the M4 at Reading.

Adam Le Fondre failed to live up to expectations at Cardiff City

In May 2014, Cardiff City moved to sign Le Fondre on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee, with the forward citing the chance to work with Bluebirds boss Ole Gunnar Solksjaer as the reason for moving to Cardiff.

The Bluebirds had been relegated from the Premier League earlier that month, and they weren't messing about as Le Fondre became their fourth signing already that summer, with the club clearly keen to make an immediate return to the Premier League.

However, both Le Fondre and Cardiff made a slow start, and after failing to score in his first five games, he was dropped to the bench and used as a substitute.

He was reinstated to the starting XI in October and paid his manager back by scoring his first goal for the club against Ipswich Town in a 3-1 win, leading to optimism that he would kick on and find the form he showed at the Madjeski Stadium, but it wasn't to be.

The ex-Reading man would score just two more goals for the club, both of which came in fixtures against Watford, and after scoring just three times in 23 appearances and with Solksjaer no longer at the club, he was loaned to Championship rivals Bolton in January.

His form would improve at Bolton, scoring eight league goals in total during the second half of the 2014/15 campaign, but he had no future at Cardiff, and was loaned to Wolves in the summer of 2015.

After an unsuccessful spell at Molineux, he was loaned out again in the summer of 2016, this time to Wigan Athletic, but re-joined Bolton on loan in January 2017, before being released by the Bluebirds that summer.

His time at Cardiff City did not live up to expectations at all, and in hindsight, it was a mistake by Le Fondre to leave Reading, where he had thrived.

Adam Le Fondre was unable to replicate his Reading FC form at Cardiff City

Le Fondre is fondly remembered in Berkshire thanks to his three-year spell where he helped the Royals win promotion to the Premier League, breaking into double figures in goals for every season he was at the club.

He joined from Rotherham United in the summer of 2011, just after the Royals had missed out on promotion, losing the play-off final to Swansea, but he helped them get over the line in 2012, scoring 12 goals in all competitions as his club lifted the Championship title.

The following season in the Premier League was where Le Fondre's stock rose the highest, scoring 12 Premier League goals, despite the fact that Reading were relegated, and despite the fact he only started 11 league games.

He followed that up with another 15 league goals during the 2013/14 Championship season, despite starting just 25 games, and it seemed as if Cardiff had done an incredible bit of business in signing Le Fondre, but it wasn't to be unfortunately.

The Reading cult-hero left Bolton and English football in 2018, and despite his age, the 37-year-old was still playing at the top level until this summer.

A five-year spell in Australia with Sydney FC saw Le Fondre score 73 times in 126 games for the A-League club, an incredible return, and a season-long loan spell in India with Mumbai also proved fruitful as he scored 11 times in 23 games.

The striker returned to British football last summer, signing for Scottish Premiership side Hibernian, and he managed to score five goals in 30 games, scoring four of those in the league despite starting just seven times - showing he's still got it.

He was released this summer, but the 37-year-old shows no sign of slowing down and could surely do a job in League One or League Two if there were any clubs interested.

But despite success elsewhere, Le Fondre never hit the heights expected at Cardiff City Stadium, and will be remembered by Bluebirds supporters as a flop.