Can The Bluebirds Take

By Craig Muncey

There has been a lot of turmoil at Cardiff City this season. We have seen the changing of the guard with Neil Warnock leaving, his coaching team and the under 23 manager all leaving the capital city club. The new manager, Neil Harris came into the club in November, so inherited the squad but with a transfer window in January (which at the time of writing this is still open), can Cardiff City advance with the existing squad or some new recruits make some positive steps in the league and try to attain a playoff place. Is this possible, or just a pipe dream?

Neil Harris. Picture Credit: bbc.co.uk

Anyone who has watched Cardiff City this season can see the team is struggling. Creation is a major issue, and defensively they are conceding sloppy goals, which is a real surprise as previous City teams over the last few years have been strong defensively. Harris is struggling to ascertain his best starting eleven and even his best formation for the players he has at his disposal. It is not all doom and gloom, though. As set out Cardiff have not had a strong first half of the season, yet only find themselves four points from the play-off positions, so have not been cut adrift and very much with a push can put themselves in real contention. Cardiff City have only lost one game at home in the league all season to date, which was in November against Bristol City. The question is, do Cardiff have the players that are tactically aware enough who can support a tilt at the playoffs?

If you look down the M4 motorway, Swansea City the serial rivals are also right in the mix for a playoff spot, four points ahead of Cardiff City, and they have recruited already in January, three young players with real potential, in Liverpool’s striker, Rhian Brewster and Chelsea defender Marc Guehi and midfielder, Conor Gallagher. Swansea has Steve Cooper as their manager, who managed England under 17’s to a World Cup and his knowledge of English football in terms of youth coming through who have played under him and the culture and the way Swansea try to play football has aided their recruitment. In Guehi, Brewster and Gallagher they have acquired three players with real potential in areas of the team they needed strengthening. Does Cardiff have the same tools to be able to attract young Premier League players? I fear not.

Going back to the pre-season, Neil Warnock brought into the club, goalkeeper Joe Day, defenders Curtis Nelson and Aden Flint, Marlon Pack, a midfielder, also came into the club, as did Robert Glatzel a striker. In terms of Flint and Glatzel, they both came at a fee together of around £12 million, which for Cardiff City is a massive outlay. Flint is a big, physical defender in aerial situations, which seemed a lot of money at the time and even more so now. Cardiff have in their ranks at centre-half, Sean Morrison (a very similar player to Flint), Sol Bamba and Curtis Nelson, so to pay out a figure of £6 million for a defender who struggles with pace and movement a correct decision?

Aden Flint. Picture Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

Glatzel has struggled to date as well for Cardiff. From what I have seen of the player, he appears to be a player who wants balls played in behind defenders for him to run onto, so he requires to get the best out of him a side who are accurate and creative passers of a football – not by any means a strength of Cardiff City. So, you have to ask, was due diligence completed with the player?

The goalkeeper, Joe Day is a competent goalkeeper, but Cardiff already had two goalkeepers on their books in Neil Etheridge and Alex Smithies who are proven keepers at this level so why bring in Day? I have a belief that Cardiff believed that Etheridge was leaving in the summer to a club in the Premier League but this never materialised. One keeper surely will be

moved on, as Cardiff in the position they are do not need three keepers of the playing level they have on their books.

In an ideal world scenario, if I were in charge of Cardiff City, I would be looking to move a few players on, to bring in some funds to then look to make the necessary changes to the personnel. The January transfer window though is notoriously difficult to bring players in of the quality you are looking for, and to move players out and bring players in the time allocated is tight. However, if there were clubs interested for reasonable transfer fees in January or the summer, I would look to sell Neil Etheridge, Aden Flint and Josh Murphy. In Murphy’s case, his form has been a real disappointment. The player has Premier League ability but his performances, combined with a few injuries, have curtailed any progression, and for all parties concerned, I would look to move him on. Cardiff may also look to release a striker with Robert Glatzel, Danny Ward, Omar Bogle on their books and none as yet in the current playing format, seeming to be the goal scoring option regularly to push towards a play-off position. Josh Murphy. Picture Credit: Zimbio.com

Talking of strikers, I find the whole Gary Madine situation bizarre. Madine was bought for £6 million from Bolton Wanderers in January 2018. Madine was a squad player for the club, but even with no real

answer to finding the player who could lead the line in the last year or so, Madine has rarely been seen on a football pitch for the first team. When Neil Harris came in, there was talk that Madine would get more opportunities as Harris liked him as a player; this never materialised and Cardiff have now released the player who still has 18 months left on his contract for nothing! Surely, they could have recouped some money for the player who you paid £6 million for two years ago? Madine has been recruited by Blackpool in Division One and I fully expect him to be successful at that level.

Cardiff City have in Lee Tomlin a very talented and imaginative footballer. Tomlin has the ability to spot a pass for his team mates and score some great individual goals. Without Tomlin, City have major problems in generating goal scoring opportunities out of nothing. However, the challenge is the players around him in the main are physically strong footballers but are not the types to make runs in behind or be on the same wavelength as Tomlin, whose first thought is to look forward and try to spot that killer pass to a quick of thought and of feet player, with the possible exception of Glatzel. Harris has a decision to make, play Tomlin and try to change players styles and modify how they play which will take time, or look at the current setup and decide for the time being to play to the strengths of the majority and not the minority. Play direct, be clinical at set pieces and improve the defensive side of their game.

Currently, statistically, Cardiff are the least accurate passers in the league, with a 63.7% accuracy rate and on average,194 passes a game. To give you something to compare to, top of the accuracy statistics is Fulham, with a pass accuracy rate of 84.7% and 479.4 passes a game on average. A huge difference, being the best passers doesn’t mean you are the best side and will win the league, but the difference in numbers is vast and if Cardiff want to move up the table, then those numbers have to improve. Cardiff also have the worst statistics in the league for having possession of the football, pretty damming findings of the style of play in the season to date.

Bearing the last paragraph in mind and basing it on no new faces coming into the squad from the January transfer window, this would be my starting line-up when all available and fit: Alex Smithies, Jazz Richards, Sean Morrison, Sol Bamba, Joe Bennett, Leandro Bacuna, Marlon Pack, Joe Ralls, Junior Hoillett, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Callum Paterson, playing in a 4-3-3 formation.