' CALAMITY AND CHAOS '

Sunday April 27th 2014

Daily Mail

There was a surreal moment three weeks ago when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was kicking a red balloon around a room beneath the main stand of the Cardiff City Stadium.

‘It’s the best thing you can do to work on your technique,’ he said, before volleying the balloon hard with his left foot. It did not burst, but his Cardiff bubble just about had.

That afternoon, Cardiff had lost 3-0 at home to Crystal Palace and a press briefing that started with balloons ended with Solskjaer questioning the ‘loyalty’ of some of his players.


Testing: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had a tough introduction to management in the Premier League


Scandal: Cardiff have become embroiled in the 'spygate' saga with Crystal Palace


Must-win: Cardiff face fellow strugglers Sunderland on Sunday in a game crucial to their chances of survival


Back in action: Cardiff could be boosted by the return of Craig Bellamy who was suffering with a virus

‘Spygate’, which he maintains was unrelated to that barb, became public that week.

In the context of Cardiff’s season of chaos and calamity it was a surprise but not a shock; in the context of Solskjaer’s tenure, the leaking of team information by an employee did not send out a good message.

These are trying times for the Norwegian, a likeable, hard-working man who needs to prove quickly that he is not out of his depth as a Premier League manager, with his signings, style and selections all open to fair scrutiny.

At significant moments in his four months at the club, Solskjaer, the baby-faced assassin as a Manchester United striker, has often looked like a little boy lost. But four points from two games give Cardiff a chance of survival, with Sunday's fixture at Sunderland a game both clubs admit they must win.

‘A draw is no good for either of us,’ Solskjaer said, and one final roll of the dice will see him most likely call in 34-year-old Craig Bellamy after a recent virus. ‘Craig, because of experience, galvanises everyone,’ said Solskjaer.

‘He keeps it simple and he’s not one who overdoes things any more. The younger heads will try to win game on their own. Craig will do it by know-how. In the last third, I think sometimes we have lacked that injection of pace or cleverness. We are real good until the last little bit we want players to do, that little bit of magic, to be the hero. The fairy-tale will be for Craig to score the goal that keeps us up.’

It is a romantic view, and blinkered in the declaration that Cardiff have been good aside from the final third. The reality is that on-field problems are more widespread.

Significant club sources talk about the ‘mess he inherited’, but there can be no denying there has been a decline in results and performances since the sacking of Malky Mackay.


In charge: Cardiff owner Vincent Tan has been criticised for his hands-on approach to running the club


Axed: Tan replaced Malky Mackay with Solskjaer half way through the Premier League season

A complaint against the Mackay era was the defensive nature of the football, which is largely fair. But under Solskjaer the identity crisis has not been limited to the colour of the shirt, with a squad familiar and adept at defensive play rebuilt and programmed for attacking football.

To assist in this, Kenwyne Jones was brought in on wages understood to be £60,000 a week and Peter Odemwingie was jettisoned to accommodate Mats Daehli.

Daehli has flourished, while Jones has scored just once. Odemwingie, meanwhile, has impressed at Stoke.

Beyond Daehli and Jones, only Fabio da Silva and Juan Cala, a good centre half, have been regular starters among the seven players Solskjaer recruited in January.

Jo Inge Berget and Magnus Wolff Eikrem have been left on the fringes, Fabio has struggled badly and Wilfried Zaha has rarely seemed the right player for a relegation fight, despite his technical qualities.

In the overhaul, the defensive side of Cardiff’s game has gone to pieces (36 goals conceded in 18 games in all competitions), with only 20 scored at the other end.

Solskjaer has continued to tinker and tweak, leaving a side unchanged only once in his 18 games, and an impression persists that he still doesn’t know his best side.

The net result is a return of only 0.8 points per game under Solskjaer — Mackay’s rate was 0.94 points — and a slide into the bottom three. Before this current streak of four points, Cardiff had not gone more than a game without losing since Solskjaer came in.

Influential figures insist that the Norwegian’s job is safe regardless of relegation.

There is a significant desire among the hierarchy to see what Solskjaer is capable of achieving, given a summer of rebuilding, with understanding also given to the poor condition of Cardiff’s training pitches in the crucial first few weeks after his arrival from Molde.

The Sunderland game will go a long way to determining which division Cardiff will be preparing for this summer, and by extension it is crucial to Solskjaer’s reputation as a manager.

Yes he did. Malky wasted loads on players either not up to standard or on inflated fees. The two best players in our team are a Jones signing and a Solskjaer signing IMO and the best young player is an Ole signing.

Excellent and honest article once again by the Mail and they have been all season consistent

Yes he did. Malky wasted loads on players either not up to standard or on inflated fees. The two best players in our team are a Jones signing and a Solskjaer signing IMO and the best young player is an Ole signing.

Yes got to agree. He inherited a good championship team with medel and caulker. Always respect mm for getting us to the prem but he made a total balls up with the money he had at his disposal.

Bit harsh on Fabio. But yes he did inherit a mess, both on and off the pitch.

It's fairly obvious he did, just look at Malky's last game.

Beyond the problems Malky had which were not his fault. Wasted money on players and breeding an inferiority complex into the team was his fault.

Look at palace away ffs.

Yes. he inherit a train wreck of a football club and player material, but with bags of potential

yes, was left with one hell of a mess and needs a season whether it be prem or championship to sort it out.

The whole club is one big mess

Shat one sided article having a go at ole's signings
No mention of being left with a team littered with championship players and malkys 50 million plus spending mess which includes an 8 million dud..

was very one sided but guess it sums up peoples agenda when comes to city! if anyone says ole didnt inherit a mess is biased too the extreme, is ole good enough time will tell, more faith in him being a success in long term than previously regime.

Shat one sided article having a go at ole's signings
No mention of being left with a team littered with championship players and malkys 50 million plus spending mess which includes an 8 million dud..

There was no where near enough quality in the team. Ole was expected to completely sort out the mess with one January transfer window and a lot less money than Malky managed to waste.

The whole club is one big mess

This sums it up for me . Although you can't argue tans mid season meddling has been a disaster for him . 17 points on the board when he sacked MM. 12 points under ole confirms it was an awful decision

We were 16th when MM was sacked .

The whole club is one big mess

very true

We were 16th when MM was sacked .

Great analasys that sums it up

13 goals under Malky
28 conceded

Despite 8.5m on a CB
5m on two RB's
8m on a striker

He did, Ole will have to take some blame of course but he DID inherit a mess

First half of season fixtures were awful and I thought we'd only get 14 points from Malky's games, we got 17. Second half I thought there was a realistic chance of us getting up to a maximum of 29 points. Ole got 12.

Southampton 0-3 at home was the only really awful performance under Malky. 3-1 Fulham was the only good performance I can think of under Ole.

Malky may not have been the right man for Tan but we should have got someone better than Ole. Have zero confidence that we won't be just as disjointed and leaky in the championship.

First half of season fixtures were awful and I thought we'd only get 14 points from Malky's games, we got 17. Second half I thought there was a realistic chance of us getting up to a maximum of 29 points. Ole got 12.

Southampton 0-3 at home was the only really awful performance under Malky. 3-1 Fulham was the only good performance I can think of under Ole.

Malky may not have been the right man for Tan but we should have got someone better than Ole. Have zero confidence that we won't be just as disjointed and leaky in the championship.

Villa 2-0 was a awful performance and Palace 2-0 was an awful performance????

First half of season fixtures were awful and I thought we'd only get 14 points from Malky's games, we got 17. Second half I thought there was a realistic chance of us getting up to a maximum of 29 points. Ole got 12.

Southampton 0-3 at home was the only really awful performance under Malky. 3-1 Fulham was the only good performance I can think of under Ole.

Malky may not have been the right man for Tan but we should have got someone better than Ole. Have zero confidence that we won't be just as disjointed and leaky in the championship.

Villa 2-0 was a awful performance and Palace 2-0 was an awful performance????

at least you agree there are no other good performances under Ole

First half of season fixtures were awful and I thought we'd only get 14 points from Malky's games, we got 17. Second half I thought there was a realistic chance of us getting up to a maximum of 29 points. Ole got 12.

Southampton 0-3 at home was the only really awful performance under Malky. 3-1 Fulham was the only good performance I can think of under Ole.

Malky may not have been the right man for Tan but we should have got someone better than Ole. Have zero confidence that we won't be just as disjointed and leaky in the championship.

Solskjaer hasn't impressed, though it's difficult to judge. What really shows his inexperience/inability though, was the players he brought in. A mixture of un-interested journeymen and weak Norwegians was hardly going to be the basis of a revival in fortunes..

We were 16th when MM was sacked .

Our problem all season has been no goal scorer. The club as a whole was and still is a mess, Palace gate proves that.

We need to regroup see what players stay and get rid of those with no commitment to the manager. Above all we must return to Blue, but I can't see that happening until we have a change of owner.

First half of season fixtures were awful and I thought we'd only get 14 points from Malky's games, we got 17. Second half I thought there was a realistic chance of us getting up to a maximum of 29 points. Ole got 12.

Southampton 0-3 at home was the only really awful performance under Malky. 3-1 Fulham was the only good performance I can think of under Ole.

Malky may not have been the right man for Tan but we should have got someone better than Ole. Have zero confidence that we won't be just as disjointed and leaky in the championship.

Villa 2-0 was a awful performance and Palace 2-0 was an awful performance????

at least you agree there are no other good performances under Ole

We've put in dignified performances against top sides but not put points on the board unfortunately

We were 16th when MM was sacked .

Our problem all season has been no goal scorer. The club as a whole was and still is a mess, Palace gate proves that.

We need to regroup see what players stay and get rid of those with no commitment to the manager. Above all we must return to Blue, but I can't see that happening until we have a change of owner.

Joe Mason is our most natural goal scorer and he never got an opportunity. You would expect Campbell, jones, Mason and Maynard to score plenty in the championship though.

We were 16th when MM was sacked .

Our problem all season has been no goal scorer. The club as a whole was and still is a mess, Palace gate proves that.

We need to regroup see what players stay and get rid of those with no commitment to the manager. Above all we must return to Blue, but I can't see that happening until we have a change of owner.

Joe Mason is our most natural goal scorer and he never got an opportunity. You would expect Campbell, jones, Mason and Maynard to score plenty in the championship though.

That's the one positive in that we have a quality attack force for the championship just need to rebuild the defence and midfield freshen it up and bring in some new blood

First half of season fixtures were awful and I thought we'd only get 14 points from Malky's games, we got 17. Second half I thought there was a realistic chance of us getting up to a maximum of 29 points. Ole got 12.

Southampton 0-3 at home was the only really awful performance under Malky. 3-1 Fulham was the only good performance I can think of under Ole.

Malky may not have been the right man for Tan but we should have got someone better than Ole. Have zero confidence that we won't be just as disjointed and leaky in the championship.

Solskjaer hasn't impressed, though it's difficult to judge. What really shows his inexperience/inability though, was the players he brought in. A mixture of un-interested journeymen and weak Norwegians was hardly going to be the basis of a revival in fortunes..

January is no window to do business and I doubt he had a massive budget on offer to him after what happened in the Summer

We were 16th when MM was sacked .

Our problem all season has been no goal scorer. The club as a whole was and still is a mess, Palace gate proves that.

We need to regroup see what players stay and get rid of those with no commitment to the manager. Above all we must return to Blue, but I can't see that happening until we have a change of owner.

Joe Mason is our most natural goal scorer and he never got an opportunity. You would expect Campbell, jones, Mason and Maynard to score plenty in the championship though.

That's the one positive in that we have a quality attack force for the championship just need to rebuild the defence and midfield freshen it up and bring in some new blood

We need to make a new team though, we can't keep with the old, we may say we have a good Champ team but we need to change our team in order to return to the PL in a stronger position, there's no point going up with the same squad

Yes, he did inherit a mess,,,,which he has subsequently made worse!

Yes, he did inherit a mess,,,,which he has subsequently made worse!

Scored more goals than the previous regime despite spending nothing on a striker, conceded four goals more in defence, the comparisons are uncanny

We were 16th when MM was sacked .

Our problem all season has been no goal scorer. The club as a whole was and still is a mess, Palace gate proves that.

We need to regroup see what players stay and get rid of those with no commitment to the manager. Above all we must return to Blue, but I can't see that happening until we have a change of owner.

Joe Mason is our most natural goal scorer and he never got an opportunity. You would expect Campbell, jones, Mason and Maynard to score plenty in the championship though.

That's the one positive in that we have a quality attack force for the championship just need to rebuild the defence and midfield freshen it up and bring in some new blood

We need to make a new team though, we can't keep with the old, we may say we have a good Champ team but we need to change our team in order to return to the PL in a stronger position, there's no point going up with the same squad

I agree thats why I said we need to freshen up the midfield and defence and to a small extent the attack (although its a position we are strong in, in terms of the championship)