Return of the Chop

Cardiff City may have made the most sensational recapture of the championship for many years. Sunderland’s Michael Chopra is returning to the club where he made a household name for himself - on loan until at least January.
The 24 year old will be trying desperately to get within the goals again to prove to his current manager Roy Keane that he is a natural goal scorer. There has been premature rumours that the loan deal may end up being permanent one when the transfer window re-opens .
The Bluebird will graciously open their sympathetic arms for the return of Chopra who only spent a mere 13 months at Ninian Park. Whilst there he scored an excellent 22 goals from 42 appearances including a stunning hat-trick to defeat Leicester City 3-2.
Subsequently he moved to Sunderland for £5 million after the Mackems activated a release clause in his contract. After which he managed to score an opening day winner against Tottenham at the Stadium of Light last season.
Having been a former Newcastle starlet, the fans never warmed to him abd found his chances too few and far between. He did manage to score six goals to help contribute to Sunderland’s survival in the Premiership as he did play many of his games from midfield.
This term though, manager Roy Keane has shot Chopra down the pecking order as he focused on his strike force this summer with the captures of El-Hadji Diouf and Djibril Ciise.
He did score a memorable brace against northeast rivals Middlesbrough earlier this season to keep his name in the headlines but his chances were promptly limited.
The chance came about when Cardiff’s front pairing of Ross McCormack and Jay Bothroyd were both ruled out of action for a lengthy period due to hamstring injuries.
McCormack has been the star of the show this season as his 11 goals so far has helped Cardiff into the play-off places and with Bothroyd, they supplied a lethal partnership as 14 out of the 19 goals has been scored by the pair.
Manager Dave Jones moved shrewdly to prevent his team losing any momentum and with the upcoming game against rivals Queens Park Rangers they need to maintain their good form. And looking to cement their place firmly in the play-off picture.