Squeaky bum time for city fans is at the start of the season

Aaargh.

Pre season and two draws so far. Against the easiest opposition you can imagine. Forest Green from the conference and Shrewsbury from league one. Remember this is a Cardiff side hoping to chase promotion to the Premier League. Surely those two teams should be fodder for us. An opportunity to try something a little different perhaps. A test of how many goals we can score. But no. In both games we stuck to the 4-4-2 and were fortunate to sneak away with a draw.

Russell as he usually looks watching his midfield get over run by teams with ideas

 

Last season saw a talented Cardiff city team settle in to mediocrity, too good for the bottom three and most certainly nowhere good enough to even tap on the door of the top six. At times we were dreadful, pitiful. Paul Trollop did seem to sort out the defence else we may well have been closer to the league one trapdoor. In fairness the midfield seemed be improve  in the last month or so. But that really is putting a gloss on a ramshackle season.

What drove away the fans in the end was not Malky’s sacking, nor the red shirts, it was simply dour unsuccessful football. In all honesty at times it appeared clueless.

Russell as we hope he looks at the end of next season having just emulated Malky but with exciting footie.

 

Worried?

You should be.

We will get a better picture of our Bluebirds side after the tour of Holland so maybe it is too early to weep tears into buckets or shake our fists. But it’s not looking very promising is it?

We have matches against Watford and Bournemouth to follow the Dutch matches and I fear the worst.

But that gives us a problem. I honestly see why Vince, and the board might want to be fair and principled in allowing Russell a chance to prove himself. The question is how long should this generosity last. I would say as far as a draw against a non-league team and a draw against aLeague One side. But hey! That is just me.

Let us say Russel does ok in the first month. Then we are nestled firmly in the middle of the table, the top 6 in sight but the bottom three, like a snarling dog, only a few steps behind us. By then we will have played 6 matches, including a league cup fixture. So we keep him on and suddenly September is gone, transfer window is closed, mediocrity or relegation beckon and time is the enemy. It is October and a new manager will have to build a team around someone else’s players … yet again.

I am willing Russell to succeed. It may not seem like it from these words but Cardiff is my team and with the buckets of cash on offer in the Premier league it will prove tougher and tougher for sides to achieve promotion against teams who habitually get promoted and then relegated. Each time they go up they get buckets of cash.

If we don’t make it next season then life will be tough. Next season is do or die.

I just wonder what the board will do if we the Dutch tour is as crap as the first two matches and our games against Bournemouth and Watford prove disastrous? Squeaky bum time for city fans is at the start of the season not as Alex Ferguson thought, at the end of the season.

As usual I will conclude with the line … ‘and Neil Lennon actually wanted the job here.’

Legal disclaimer: I also think Russell Slade is a nice guy and would shake his hand and thank him for entering the fires after Solskjaer departure. I think he was unlucky to lose Pilkington so early in his tenure. With Pilkington and Noon he had the wingers necessary to make 4-4-2 work. But great managers turn teams around with the resources at hand.

 

 

 

 

After beating Nottingham Forest: Give a man both hope and bread or just Warburton

Notts Forest 1 Cardiff 2

Give a man both hope and bread.

You had to rub your eyes. It was a dream from heaven. Here were the blue shirts of Cardiff City attacking with pace.  Attacking the Dougie Freeman’s Nottingham Forest With pace? No. Surely not. We know how Cardiff’s team play. Slow, slow, sideways, slow. Always wait until the opposition have plenty of time to compose their defence before doing anything so impolite as to actually launch an attack. Then try and catch them off-guard with a long aimless ball hoofed up to the opposition centre half so that they can attack us with their extra man in midfield.

Mason, in disguise with his new haircut, and Doyle reminding us what it is like to play with flair up field.

 

But, no. City players actually appeared to know who their team mates were and where they might be standing. They even passed the ball to each other in telling areas. Before you start up with the ‘argh if only we had been playing like this since Russell took over,’ let me remind you that this was against Notts Forest who are having a pitiful, gutless run. They were there for the taking. But in fairness City did a wonderful job in taking advantage of this.

But everything in perspective.

It was good to see Russell finish his time at Cardiff with a big smile and applause from the generous fans. We may not think highly of your tactical nous but we appreciate you are a good man dropped into a nightmare with no support. We can see the good traits shining out even when the world was against you. You were noble when the shit was thrown and restrained under fire. Hopefully these qualities will hold you in good stead for your next job.

Russell as I'd like to remember him. Good luck and happier times where ever you end up.

 

I know there may be some in the City boardroom who might just squeak ‘maybe loveable Russell isn’t so bad after all.’

Now hear this: we must have greater ambition. We need a manager who can move us forward.

The new bloke might be a young chappie who has actually watched continental teams playing and said, hey, even my Bournemouth can get results if we play possession football. Eddie Howe has developed a system of 4-4-2 that breaks into a high pressing 2-4-3-1 in attack. They have scored at least once in every game they have played.

http://outsideoftheboot.com/2015/01/14/bournemouth-tactical-analysis-of-the-cherries/

 Certainly they were the best championship team to come to Cardiff City stadium this season and it will be interesting to see how they do in the Premier League- with or without Kenwynne. Is there another Eddie Howe out there?

 

The new guy doesn’t have to be an old boy like Harry Rednap. Rather he could be someone with promise like Brentford’s Warburton. He seems to be getting the vote from many city fans and is definitely  a guy of interest. He is clever, he even worked as a city trader to keep his family going in a style to which his wife would like to remain accustomed. After ten years as a trainer he told his wife he was going on a tour of Europe to see all the different styles of play. (Yes Russell, there are systems other than 4-4-2). Along with this knowledge he developed a reputation as a tough guy, becoming known as a ‘marine’ to the players whose fitness and ability he bruisingly challenged. The result is for all to see. Brentford stormed into the championship and are now, in their first season, in the play offs. Just think what he would have done with that squad of players we had when Solskjaer moved on. I know, it makes me tearful too.


Warburton The Marine ...Cardiff is just over the Severn bridge, just turn right after Bristol. You will find us. We will line the route to the Cardiff Stadium with blue scarves to guide you.

Warburton has said he is leaving Brentford come what may at the end of this season. City fans must hope Brentford do not win promotion in the play offs else surely even he will change his mind.

 

In a nutshell beating Notts Forest 2-1 at their ground with a certain amount of panache brought a grim season to an end with a hefty dose of joy. We share Russell’s smile. But the future will be bleak if Vincent doesn’t raise his sights for a higher quality manager.

 

I will never forget this season’s despair. Not just the results, but the misery of seeing quality players appear inept and dull. Sometimes I left Cardiff City Stadium so full of despondency that I was unable to share my brain addled views on this blog. Mrs Scribe hid all sharp objects until mindless optimism returned on Monday morning. Better though than fans around me who would leave at half time with shaking heads, wondering why they bothered to come in the first place.

In truth, given what happened with Russell Slade, it might have been better to have stuck with Solskjaer and hoped he understood that a team has to defend first and foremost else a hundred attackers on the pitch won’t make a difference. A real shame it didn’t happen for him.

So Mister Tan, cheque book out and point Mehmet Dalman’s purposeful charm at Mister Warburton’s home address. Give us hope. A man needs both bread an hope to survive.

Mister Tan: The bread has paid for a wonderful ground, a reasonable squad and an excellent training ground. Thank you for that. Now give us hope with an exciting new manager.

 

Mister Tan's Meeting with Mister Slade at the end of the season

 

Vincent Tan settles back in freshly dyed Blue leather chair as he strokes his fur ball of a white cat.

Slade shivers before him. They are deep in the underground lair beneath the towering volcano off a secret island near Malaysia, (family holidays available). Far above them the relentless dark seas crash together.

The sharks glide darkly through the blue water around Tan’s throne until at last Tan glances up and speaks.

“Mister Slade, you disappoint me.”

 

Slade swallows, knowing that his every word could be his last. “Please mister Tan you didn’t give me enough time …”

“Dave Jones, he created a team from nothing in one season.”

“y-y-yes. Yes. But he … well I …. I didn’t have enough money. If I …”

A shark fin slices the surface not far from Slade’s mammoth feet quietening him.

“Dave Jones created a team out of nothing. Even with all the players injured and us getting in unwanted players on load. He still got us to the playoffs. And a cup final! Even the man whose name is not uttered in my presence got us to a cup final in his first season!”

“Yes, yes … but you see Mister Tan 4-4-2 is played by all the great teams in the world, like Real Madrid …”

“All the great teams play many other formations too Mister Slade. Even the average manager knows more than one formation.”

“Well yes, yes.” For a long while Slade’s mouth opens and closes searching for the sort of words that usually satisfy the Western Mail and South Wales Echo reporters. “But some managers succeed with just one formation.”

“Oh? Name one!”

Tan eyes the flabby track suited PE teacher before him noticing how his forehead shines with sweat and dread.

 “Well, even Cardiff were promoted playing 4 1 4 1 every week under Malky …”

“Silence!” Tans hand cracks down on the blue chair. “Do not mention his name in my presence.”

“Oh …. No .. no … I just cannot think of any other manager but me who only knows one formation.” Slade’s fingers tighten into sweaty fists. “You see Beckham plays the long ball …erm … Scoles and Bale play the long ball. I have seen Ronaldo play the long ball.”

“Hmmm.” Tan closes his eyes and thinks. “But they do it successfully. They certainly wouldn’t hump a ball up to forwards who are both only 5’9”, only a fool would do that!”
 

“We beat Blackpool.”

“There are teams of blind Eskimos who have never kicked a ball who can beat Blackpool.” Mister Tan’s face wrinkles in disgust. “And Blackpool managed to score twice against us!”

“Aye but Blackpool are dangerous Mister Tan. I did warn everybody.”

“Dangerous? Dangerous! They have only won 4 times all season and one of those was against us!”

“That was before I took over Mister Tan!” Slade nods towards the startled Gabbidon and Young standing trembling and silent as if seeking to make themselves invisible.

“Enough!”

The word echoes around the chamber until all is still save the hum and burble of the sea tank pumps. A fin cuts through the surface before diving out of sight with a gulp of spraying water.

“You task me Mister Slade but I have made a decision.”

Gabbidon and Young hug each other in knowing misery. Slade’s eyes grow Uncle Fester huge as if his head will explode.

“You may leave.”

Slade notices a sly smile on Mister Tan’s lips as the white cat leaps with a shriek from his lap.

Young nudges Slade, whispering under his breath. “Get out of here now. We might still get a job at Port Vale.”

The three men move as one onto the bridge leading to the sanctuary of the lift that can shoot them to the surface and safety. As they reach the hump of the bridge they hear a chuckle and the men freeze. They see Tan has grabbed a lever and tugs it down.

“I do not know failure Mister Slade. So Goodbye.”

The bridge falls open beneath their feet. Too shocked to scream the three men slip into the blue water as it churns red for a long satisfying while.

When at last the water becomes still and the red fades back to Mister Tan’s favourite colour, blue, he lifts the phone.

“Mister Choo! Get me Mister Dave Jones and a plate of the extra-large pies. I know the way forward.”

“Mister Dave Jones as manager again Mister Tan?”

“No Mister Choo. He will be my advisor and do as I say. I will make my mother the manager. We will get to the Premier league!”

"Very wise Mister Tan. Oh and Mister Tan? Should I ship the sharks out to the new tank beneath the Canton stand?"

Mister Tan chuckles. "Indeed Mister Choo. I am sure the supporters will be most respectful next season."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even OAPS can beat Slade's team. Let poor Russell go now and put him out of his misery

 Cardiff 0 - Bolton (over 60s) 3

Aw. It was nice to see Gudjohnsen and Emile Heskey allowed out of the rest home by their nurses. Rather than being slumped in a worn sofa watching Countdown, whilst the staff fed them, they managed to dodder around in a team that scored 3 goals. In fact they scored them against a so called professional footballing club in the Championship.

Gudjohnsen thrilled to remember his name

 

 

heskey woken from his afternoon nap to be told he is playing.

 

The major difference between the sides is of course the manger. One team had a manger and the other didn’t.

Neil Lennon was the man I wanted to come to Cardiff City Stadium. With the resources and players we had way back in the autumn at his disposal Lennon would have put us at least in the top six playoffs if not into automatic playoffs. I cannot say this with hundred percent confidence, but I can declare with hand on heart he would not have been worse than the current management team.

Maybe we will never know why Russell Slade was appointed. But we should be told. I bought a season ticket for this season. Don’t laugh, it gets worse. I travel down from North Wales to see the home games. That’s a four and half hour return trip of misery. I care. So why doesn’t this football club?

Cardiff City should have had a top ranking manager or at the very least one who has experience at this level. 4-4-2 can work but there are umpteen other ways to play that even middle ranking coaches will be aware of. Even 5 year olds with access to Fifa ’96 and an early Playstation will be aware of other systems!

Slade with his thinking cap on. His tactics are worse without it.

 

Without doubt the most miserable season since …. No, it is the most miserable disappointing season ever. A record breaker. There have been worse seasons but never one that began with so much promise and just deflated within a few games.

Slade's tactics for this match ....oh and all the others.

 

If this season was a boxing match the referee would have stopped it after December, simply on the grounds of humanity.

But we still have more matches to come. More misery. More agony. And continue to asking the same question. Why Russell Slade?

 

City winning by 2 goals, what really drives the fans away and the next manager

Is this really the first home win for Cardiff in the championship since January 10^th 2015? It seems longer. It has been an age since I left the ground with a smile.

 

So thanks to the players and, it has to be said, the fans, who have remembered they also have a team to support. Today was a good day all round.

It is interesting to see that the ground appears emptier than at any time throughout the season. So what actually drives away fans is not the colour of the shirt, the thoughtless notions of an owner but poor, dull, unsuccessful play on the pitch.

So the sun shone for us and finally we look solid at the back and just clueless up front.

 

Birmingham lie below us in the league and deserve their position as they were clueless just all over the park.

Why fans demand the head of Saint Peter Whittingham is beyond me. The ball travels via Whitts for everything City do, be it moving out of defence or attacking. Without him we would be dreadful.

But after a season of self inflicted misery let us remind us ourselves of the positives, well the positive: we are not as bad as we have been.

You can also say that whoever replaces Russell Slade has a talented group of players to choose from.

Ralls, Bruno and Fabio are young men capable of true class. Whitts, Gunnarson and Noone can make things happen. Doyle has done enough to show he has potential. Marshall is the real thing in goals.

The rest of the players conform to Russell Slade’s ‘workman’ like toilers and probably out match Solskjaer’s preference for flair. But if we are to do well in the championship we need flair to match the industry. We need pace and ideas up front to match the newly well organised defence.

Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe has shown how it can be done. Their ability to hold the ball and drag the opposition out of formation before playing telling balls through has rocketed them to favourites for promotion. This is how we could have played with the talent available back at the start of the season.

Even a pie and chips championship manager like Ian Holloway could have kicked arses and driven this squad to the promotion door.

This has been a miserable season but there is sufficient promise for next season for Vincent Tan to reserve his seat for the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal of the footballing elite. Just that he needs to book his red seat for the 2016 season not the season starting in 2015.

Nigel Adkins and Paul Lambert are out there. Both men are experienced in this league, know what it takes, know their style of play and have been successful. Qualities we needed in a new manager back in the Autumn when replacing Solskjaer. Unless of course Vincent Tan has cast an eye over the promising mangers of Colchester, Crawley or Yeovil of course. Aaargh!

 

Charlton, my therapist and happy pills for all city supporters and a bit of poetry

For the first 70 minutes City bossed the game, and Charlton were left chasing the midfield tails of Whittingham, macAleny, Noone and Gunnarson. City bossed the game.

The 4 man defence team were solid but it was the the enterprising sharp midfield which controlled the game for us.

The long ball game had been chucked in the dustbin, where it should have stayed in the first place. 

The front two of Macheda and Kenwynne Jones will never get an award for hard work and industry and that is now where the problem now lies. I don’t pretend to like 4-4-2 but if you play it then the two guys up front have to put in a shift. Macheda clearly isn’t the blood and guts Costa type. He is more the cerebral ‘mommy wouldn’t like it if I got my boots dirty’ type. But the guy has scored in successive matches albeit that this goal was due to the perseverance of Kenwynne Jones keeping the ball in play and then placing it in the six yard box. And Jones has scored 14 goals this season despite Cardiff being mindless for most of the season.

Perhaps that is the next area the management team will sort.

While they are looking at that please ask why Peltier is on the left. He is a great right back but every time he gets the ball down the left wing he needs to stop and shift it to his right foot before passing back.

Our domination  made it look like it would finish as a one nil score line.

Then disaster. Slade took off MacAleny for reasons known best to him. Nothing against Kennedy, in fact I like him, but why change someone who is making such an impact? Gunnarson had already limped off in the first half. Noone lost his mojo and Whitts had over five minutes in the recovery room. That left Cardiff looking lost and Charlton suddenly remembered they were here to play football. 

By the time Whitts returned Charlton had belief and City were under pressure. The Cardiff midfield became shambolic and panic set in, or it did in my area of the stand.

Charlton pressed and scored a soft goal before being served up with an even softer penalty.

“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”

So we lost 1-2.

I can no longer recall what it is like leaving the Cardiff City Stadium with a smile on my face.

This was a huge improvement but we are still months away from looking like a Championship football team. Russell Slade has been in charge since the 6^th of October and the advance has been glacial.

Cardiff need to appoint a serious coach and do it right now. Give the guy a chance to learn about the players and, who knows, perhaps give us a bounce that might take us up the table. Not as far as the play offs maybe but certainly so far up we can talk of what might have been.

Yes. Let’s talk of what might have been. What if Cardiff City had more ambition and brought in Neil Lennon or Tony Pulis back at the end of November. Or indeed anyone who has managed a team at the higher levels, someone who knows more than 4-4-2. With this group of players we would surely have been in the playoffs or indeed maybe in one of the top two spots.

The appointment of Russell is among the worst decisions Cardiff have made. Definitely on par with buying Cornelius when we needed a proven Premier League goal scorer, selling Toshack before nailing down Warbouys or increasing the parking charge from £5 to £8, an increase of 62% (I think!).

The Miserable Season continues. I am not sure how much more I can take without either a therapist or some happy pills.

Huddersfield, the Hadron Collider and Miranda.

Huddersfield 0 Cardiff 0

I start with a history lesson:

Cardiff City beat Reading 2-1 on November the 21^st, and in the succeeding 14 games we have only won once, against struggling Fulham. In the meantime Reading came back to beat us at home in the FA Cup in January. I think that fate allowed that to happen just to show us how far we had tumbled.

Teams who are dancing close to the grave of relegation, like Brighton and Rotherham, held us to draws at home and do not forget both had more possession than us.

Now we have people getting out the bunting and dancing in the streets because we have drawn the last four matches. After the last two draws people have sent their footmen to fetch the aged bottles of Brains SA from the cellars in celebration. No wonder Russell Slade compares us to Real Madrid. 4 draws eh?

Those bottles of Brains beer put away for a special occasion - like City drawing two matches.

 

I didn’t see the Blackburn draw when the Trollope effect and the talented Kennedy powered us forward but possession in that match was only 50/50 anyways. Today, against Huddersfield, we only had the ball 39% of the time. Possession has been grim since Mister Slade donned his extra lkarge tracksuit and took to the touchlines - and this from a team full of ball players.

At the start of the season the bookies looked over our squad and ticked the box marked ‘favourites for automatic promotion.’ Now the manager’s ambition is for us to finish in the top half of the table. Yet we may not get high enough up the table to press our noses against the window of the top 6 to look in at the party we didn’t get invited to.

A mediocre team in a mediocre championship.

Despite being bored and ground down by the pitiful displays from Cardiff over the last couple of months I was dreaming of us knocking together the five wins that would propel us back up the table like a Saturn V rocket. I confess I still have that dream, because it remains possible.

Some teams presently in the top 6 will plummet before your missus starts on about this year’s Summer holiday. The championship is always a merry go around across the mad Easter period. Some teams will get momentum and others will collapse. It has always been so.

But that record of a single win in 14 championship matches tells me all I need to know. Solskjaer and Slade were the wrong choices. I backed Solskjaer and was prepared to give Slade a chance but this season will be the worst I have suffered at Cardiff City – ever.

Yes, in the last thirty years we have suffered the ignominy of relegation, we have come close to administration, and we have been toe curlingly disappointing. But never before have we started the season as sure fire winners boasting the best squad in the championship. Even Malky’s Championship topping promotion team was not talked about as favourites at the outset. Nor Dave Jones plucky group of the injured, the lame and the out of favour guns for hire he moulded into a team that came close to winning the play offs.

Dave Jones squad of the injured, old and rejects

 

Dave Jones could have put this squad into the play offs - honest, it is not a gratuitous picture of girls bottoms to cheer up suicidal Cardiff City supporters.

 

This is amongst the most talented squad of footballers I have ever seen here in many years.

It is like paying to see a Bond movie and end up watching Miranda or booking Raymond Blanc’s restaurant and being served cold pie and soggy chips. Actually both those disappointments would be just about bearable compared to the season thus far.

Maybe if Solskjaer had the benefit of Trollope, or someone like him, then the Norwegian would still be here and we would be contenders.

I do feel we are getting better, though surely it couldn’t have become any worse, could it? I do give Slade the credit for bringing in the two Everton youngsters along with the lively Doyle. My heart goes out to the guy. If someone asked me to run the Hadron Collider I would end up looking as distraught as him. “Honest guys, I have never run a Hadron Collider before, don’t you need someone who can do the job? It would be like anyone from the lower leagues trying to manage a talented group of players in one of the toughest leagues in the world. Well ok then, if you think so.”

The Hadron Collider, Russell Slade's next job

 

I still dream of those elusive ‘five back to back’ wins Russell Slade talks about, starting against Malky’s Wigan, but the despair is overwhelming.

It has been a shit season, and I see no reason to feel that next season will be any better.

If by May we are not in the top 8 then Slade must go. We must not make the same generous mistake we made with Solskjaer and give Mister Slade an opportunity to prove himself. We need to get someone in who knows the championship and understands success and give him a Summer to build his squad.

Those that claimed they would be happy to see Cardiff play in Blue in the lower leagues have come close to getting their wish.

 

Please Cardiff, please, prove me wrong, ‘just 5 back to back wins’ against Wigan, Wolves, Rotherham, Charlton and Brentford and then we can see where we  are in the league. Surely it won’t be 17^th!

 

 

 

 

The Russell Slade table of Doom

The Russell Slade table of Doom As of 10 February 2015
 

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Notts Co (caretaker)	15-Sep-94	12-Jan-95	23	6	5	12	26.1
Shef Und (caretaker)	02-Mar-98	09-Mar-98	2	0	1	1	0
Shef Und (caretaker)	23-Nov-99	02-Dec-99	2	0	1	1	0
Scarborough	15-Nov-01	28-May-04	133	50	41	42	37.6
Grimsby Town	28-May-04	31-May-06	105	41	30	34	39.1
Yeovil Town	07-Jun-06	16-Feb-09	137	49	32	56	35.8
Brighton & Hove	06-Mar-09	01-Nov-09	32	9	7	16	28.1
Leyton Orient	05-Apr-10	24-Sep-14	242	103	61	78	42.6
Cardiff City	06-Oct-14	Present	21	7	5	9	33.3
Total			697	265	183	249	38

Russell Slade has managed 9 clubs with varying degrees of incompetence. Only once has he won more than 40% of matches and that was with Orient, the team ready to sack him before Cardiff employed him.

In fact, unbelievably, out of the 9 clubs we offer his fifth best win statistics!

He seems a nice enough guy, maybe if given until the end of the season, or more likely till the end of next season he might learn the game. There again …

Obviously the Cardiff board have a big headache this far into the season. If he were sacked now we could go four or more games without a full time manager –but would that be worse? Then there would be a short period for the new appointment to settle in.

So a gamble.

But to keep Russell Slade risks losing everything and being relegated.

I know which risk I would find most acceptable.

http://cardiffcityfan.blogspot.co.uk/