July 24th 2004
By Gavin Allen
RICHARD Langley clocked up 18,834 air miles on international duty while some of his Cardiff City team-mates were lazing on the beach, but rather than tire him out he says it's filled him with confidence for the new season.
The Jamaican international played in the Unity Cup against Nigeria and the Republic of Ireland in Charlton, but then got on a plane and flew to Miami for the first of a two-legged World Cup qualifier against Haiti.
Then he had to scoot over to Kingston, Jamaica, for the second leg before he could get back to Cardiff for his summer break in the last week of June.
"It doesn't seem like I have had much of a break, but it has actually helped my confidence because it has kept my fitness up and I'm flying," he said.
"We did have a lot of travelling because we flew to Miami and stayed there a week, then we had to fly onto Kingston for another week, but they were important games for the country.
"We won 4-1 on aggregate and now we qualify for the group stage where we play USA, Panama and Ecuador.
"Lennie (Lawrence) did say he wanted to be sure I got enough rest and I have had four weeks off since my last training session with Jamaica so hopefully that is enough.
"I had two weeks' holiday in Spain and as soon as I got back from that I started running again to make sure I stayed in shape.
"Now I feel ready and I hope I can keep going for the whole season.
"I'm sure that the coaching and backroom staff have enough about them to know how to keep me in shape to stop me from tiring towards the end of the season."
Langley was given an extra two weeks' grace by Lawrence to ensure his recovery, but in his absence his name appeared in an internet rumour and then in a national newspaper, linking him with a return to QPR, a story he said has no grounding in truth.
"I found out about that when a few of the lads from QPR phoned me to ask me if it was true, but I hadn't heard anything about it," he said.
"Then it appeared in a Sunday newspaper and a couple more people mentioned it.
"I have just bought a new house in South Wales and I'm very happy in Cardiff.
"The only thing I can think of that started it is that I was back at home in London with my family over the summer and maybe people saw me there."
Langley Focuses On Goal Target24th July 2004
By Gavin Allen
RICHARD Langley was disappointed to lose his number 25 shirt in the new squad listings so he's looking to hit 10 goals this season to make sure people notice him at 17.
The Bluebirds winger has set himself a double figure target of goals for the coming season and has his sights set on competing for free-kick duties with Graham Kavanagh - and even penalty kicks with Robert Earnshaw.
"My target is to hold down a first team place, but I would really like to get 10 goals this season," said the Jamaican international.
"I took the last penalty of the season against Burnley and I scored so I think maybe I should hold onto the responsibility.
"Myself and 'Kav' will be sharing the free-kicks so hopefully I can get goals from both those sources."
And while most players want to move up the squad number listings, Langley would have preferred to stay where he was.
"I was gutted because 25 was my first number at Cardiff and I wanted to keep it," he said.
"A lot of the kids when they come up to you say 'you play at number 25' so I would like to have kept it, but I'll just have to make sure they notice me in the new number."