' CHANCE TO BUILD MOMENTUM '

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' CHANCE TO BUILD MOMENTUM '

Postby carlccfc » Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:12 pm

Dan Lewis

Shoot.co.uk


All attention over the past week may have been firmly focused on international duties, although with the final stretch now in sight at club level, it is time for Cardiff City to begin building ahead of next season.

Just seven games remain in the Championship, six of which will be played in the coming month, with plenty still to play for in the higher reaches of the division. For the first time in some 12 years, though, the Bluebirds have next to nothing to play for in the final throes of the season.

Not in terms of automatic promotion or play-off hopes, at least, with 16 points now the gap between Russell Slade’s men in 14th place and Ipswich Town in that final top-six spot. Ever since Autumn time, this was always likely to be the case. A relegation struggle always seemed to be just two or three defeats away but never really plausible, while a place in the end of season lottery that is the play-offs has barely been in reach all term.

Results in recent weeks had all the hallmarks of a side struggling to find any real motivation. Looking back over Cardiff’s last eight games, the results read: DWLWLWDW. The most noticeable aspect of that particular sequence is the fact back-to-back victories are as hard to come by now as they were at the start of the campaign.

The Bluebirds simply haven’t been able to put together a strong run of positive results, which has ultimately proved to be their downfall. However, what you can also pick up from the last eight games is that things have steadily improved. Not massively – there’s still no cohesion to the side as they sway from one style of play to another – but at least points are now being put onto the board at a faster rate.

In fact, only six sides in the division have performed better than City over the past month, which just goes to show that perhaps Slade is starting to put his spin on things. Now, with just seven games left to play, the target has to be climbing into the top half of the table and steadying things prior to the summer.

A lot of players are expected to depart, much like we have seen over the past few months, but you have to feel that the core group of players will remain the same. Of those remaining fixtures, there is just one more side to face who harbour hopes of reaching the Premier League in the form of Ipswich Town.

Reading, Bolton Wanderers and Leeds United are next up, three teams in a similar situation to Cardiff, while relegation-threatened Millwall and Blackpool must also visit South Wales. The season concludes with a trip to take on Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend of May, and by that stage things will have been made a whole lot clearer.

A strong finish to the campaign will work wonders heading into a summer of unknown, where Slade will look to rebuild a side capable of at least competing for a play-off berth. Just look back to last season when Bournemouth and Middlesbrough, two of the favourites to go up automatically this time around, ended things on a real high.

For Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth, it was just one defeat in their last nine in a run which also included six wins. Boro, on the other hand, claimed the same number of wins in their last eight outings, which set the tone for this impressive season which looks likely to culminate in the Smoggies reclaiming their place back in the Premier League following a six-year absence.

The end of the season can’t come soon enough for the large majority of Cardiff City supporters, but it is in these final weeks of the season where the preparation ahead of next year really begins. Large question marks hang over certain players as the club continues with their cost-cutting drive, but all Russell Slade can do between now and May is put together a solid run to get the supporters back on his side.
NEATH BLUES

My Daughter was the first ever mascot at Cardiff City Stadium --->
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' CHANCE TO BUILD MOMENTUM '

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