Dimitrios Ghoutas’ name may have been a little forgotten during Cardiff City’s summer signing spree.

Nine players came through the door, but as the Greek was little known here and fans were naturally inclined to be excited about the signing of a striker, the centre-back quietly assumed the role of central defense with little fuss. and fanfare. . .

Suffice to say, this is no longer the case. He is arguably Cardiff’s most important player at the moment, a real rock at the back, a nuisance at the back and most importantly, a real leader alongside teammate Mark McGuinness in the center of defense. Sign up to our Cardiff City newsletter here.

RATINGS: Cardiff City v Millwall player ratings like Gutas are again excellent, but star lacks quality

Cardiff have had many defenders over the years who have won the hearts of their fans. From the days of Darren Pearse and Mark Hudson to Sean Morrison and Saul Bamba in recent years. The first signs indicate that Gutas is heading in that direction.

The former Sivasspor defender demonstrated his skills in an impressive 20 appearances for the Bluebirds. He feels comfortable and competent with the ball, can challenge monsters, wins most aerial duels, scores goals and barks at those in front. There was a period of sloppy play in Cardiff’s 1-0 victory over Millwall yesterday, when the ball appeared for a throw-in, he shouted to his teammates to raise their standards and his voice was heard among the thousands of people in the stands.

In an all-around bad game, level just after half-time, he made a particularly egregious challenge that had the crowd lifting their seats and seemed to light a spark in the team. The partnership he shares with McGuinness in the middle of the defense is one of Cardiff’s real strengths and allows one of them to get injured.

Furthermore, he was also a player on the other side of the field, as he has been on several occasions this season. It was a game that could have been won with a goal from a dead ball and Gutas showed that it could be a real challenge. He won with a header and, although due to poor performance by the goalkeeper, the ball ended up in the goal.

Erol Bulut cited his goalscoring ability when asked about his summer signing and was impressed, now with three this season, one more than his centre-back partner. When Cardiff really need to win, which happens from time to time in the Championship, Gutas is a good man to have at both ends of the pitch.

“You can see he’s rock solid,” teammate Jamilu Collins said of Gutas. – Him and Makka [Mark McGuinness] They’re doing really well, so I’m really happy to see them both play the way they do. I hope they continue to play like this in every game.”

When players come from foreign leagues, there is sometimes concern that the nature of league football, its relentless schedule and its physicality, may come as a surprise. But Gutas started working from the beginning. To get the latest Bluebirds stories straight to your phone, join Cardiff City WhatsApp here

According to Who Scored, Gutas is second only to Aaron Ramsey in player season average. It’s true that Ramsey was fantastic, but he only played six games due to injury. In fact, across the division, he ranks third among the best defenders, behind Middlesbrough’s Rav van den Bergh and Leicester City’s Yannick Westergaard.

In turn, however, he believes he has improved and adapted even more over time, meaning he is only getting better with more time in the league and with relatively new teammates.

“Now I adapt more because I have more time with my teammates,” he said after scoring the winning goal. “It’s very important when you change teams to be with them more on the field and I’m very happy to have adapted.”

Speaking about the game itself, Gutas added: “It was very important for us, three points. I think we didn’t do very well in the first half, but the most important thing is the reaction we saw on the field. In the second half.

“It’s very important for us on our bad days to get three points and I’m very happy with my goal and the three points.

“It’s very difficult to score in games like this, when the opponent has everyone chasing the ball, but, as I said, in the second half we showed our character on the field. “We put pressure on them, created more scoring opportunities and finally scored and got the three points.”