' From bad to worse: Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer '

Cardiff's shame amid shambles as dreadful performances contribute to Bluebirds' fall.
By RIATH AL-SAMARRAI


Daily Mail.
PUBLISHED: Monday 5th May 2014.


The sad reality is Cardiff have perhaps embarrassed themselves as much as any other side to have reached the Premier League.

From bad to worse: Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Cardiff changed the emphasis from defence to attack

That doesn’t just go for the managerial change and whims of Vincent Tan, and the subsequent fall-out and chaos and strangely timed statements.

It’s also about more than the current whinges about Crystal Palace and ‘Spygate’.

From bad to worse: Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Cardiff changed the emphasis from defence to attack

Newcastle 3-0 Cardiff: Bluebirds relegated after one season in Premier League as Shola Ameobi, Loic Remy and Steven Taylor end United's six-match losing run

Purely on a football level, they have been dreadful. It is one of the inevitabilities of football that good people fail. And so it is true of Solskjaer - when you examine his signings, selections, tactics and results, it is hard to find anything positive to discuss.

That is not to say Premier League life was rosy under Malky Mackay. They were a dour side. The merits of his summer signings are also open to valid questioning. But it was often an effective defensive unit and, as Mackay never tired of saying, they never dropped into the bottom three.

Under Solskjaer, they tried to change emphasis from defence to attack, with the consequence that they are poor at both.

Of the signings, Kenwyne Jones has scored once since joining on wages believed to be £60,000 a week, Fabio da Silva has flopped, Magnus Wolff Eikrem and Jo Inge Berget rarely get picked and Wilfried Zaha has not looked like a player for a relegation scrap. Only Mats Daehli has regularly impressed.



Cardiff chaos: The Bluebirds' downfall wasn't solely down to Vincent Tan and the managerial changes made



' Effective: Under Malky Mackay, Cardiff never dropped into the Premier League's bottom three '

In the run-in, it has also been obvious that many of this squad lack the guts for a fight - in their 17 league games under Solskjaer, they took 12 points, scored 16, conceded 40. Abysmal.

The point is, relegation need not have been the only outcome after Mackay was sacked.

Instead, that peculiar decision now takes on greater scrutiny; for that, Tan takes the blame.

His actions have added an overarching feeling of farce to the plot. He believes Mackay wasted his money, but the greater waste has been the season, Cardiff’s first in the top flight for 51 years.

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Repetitive stuff which we are all going ot suffer reading over the next couple of weeks.

The question we should be asking is Ole the guy to take us forward?

Is that written by a journalist or a schoolchild - feck me, makes swansealad look like a literary genius.

Back of the class Riath.

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

Spot on, Ole knew what he was taking on and thats a fact, he told me himself

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

i doubt any manager could imagine a squad this poor or limited tbh.....we had won the championship seemingly at a canter..and spent a small fortune...........im not sure if OGS is the man or not,but to deny he was thrown into a mess is closing your eyes covering your years and shouting lalalala, because its impossible to admit the truth without blaming who is at fault.

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

Malky won 4 games in 20 games ?
Non scoring, one of the worst scoring sides in PL
Non defensive, one of the worst defensive sides in PL

Spent 42m in summer and asked for more thus knowing there was something wrong with the squad

He didn't make a diff cos players didn't pull their weight either, this squad was a mess

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

Spot on, Ole knew what he was taking on and thats a fact, he told me himself

At what point did I say Ole did not know what he was getting into. It's well documented Ole knew he was in for a battle, but like I said who would turn down a crack at the prem, and big wages

It doesn't change the fact that Ole inherited a mess of a team, basically a championship team that had won 4 games in 20 Tan is to blame for hiring an inexperienced manager, and malky is to blame for the shambles he assembled.

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

i doubt any manager could imagine a squad this poor or limited tbh.....we had won the championship seemingly at a canter..and spent a small fortune...........im not sure if OGS is the man or not,but to deny he was thrown into a mess is closing your eyes covering your years and shouting lalalala, because its impossible to admit the truth without blaming who is at fault.

Such a poor squad that they beat man city

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

i doubt any manager could imagine a squad this poor or limited tbh.....we had won the championship seemingly at a canter..and spent a small fortune...........im not sure if OGS is the man or not,but to deny he was thrown into a mess is closing your eyes covering your years and shouting lalalala, because its impossible to admit the truth without blaming who is at fault.

Such a poor squad that they beat man city

Sunderland have taken more points off the top 4 than anyone else, does that mean they are the best team in the league

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

Spot on, Ole knew what he was taking on and thats a fact, he told me himself

At what point did I say Ole did not know what he was getting into. (Quote)

By you stating that ole was thrown into a mess which he was not. He had the choice to turn it down given the circumstances but was confident he could do well which he did not.he can't bitch about what he inherited as he went into it whith his eyes fully open. His attempts to bring in new players backfired and the squad went backwards as a result.

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

Spot on, Ole knew what he was taking on and thats a fact, he told me himself

At what point did I say Ole did not know what he was getting into. (Quote)

By you stating that ole was thrown into a mess which he was not. He had the choice to turn it down given the circumstances but was confident he could do well which he did not He can't bitch about what he inherited as he went into it whith his eyes fully open. His attempts to bring in new players backfired and the squad went backwards as a result.

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

i doubt any manager could imagine a squad this poor or limited tbh.....we had won the championship seemingly at a canter..and spent a small fortune...........im not sure if OGS is the man or not,but to deny he was thrown into a mess is closing your eyes covering your years and shouting lalalala, because its impossible to admit the truth without blaming who is at fault.

Such a poor squad that they beat man city

With their CB partnership being Lescott and Javi Garcia and us scoring from 2 corners, hardly set the world alight

This must be one of the worst articles i have read on this forum.

Jones on 60k a week. Bullshit. All other reports i have seen are range at 30-37k a week. Just like Odemwingie had.

Fabio has flopped? Fabio grew as the season went on and in the latest matches he seemed to be one of few who really took on the challenge of pushing on when we went under.

Berget? No news said that Berget was signed as a first 11 player. Not even a squad player. What was written and said by Ole was that he was too cheap to let him go elsewhere and because of his potential it was worth taking him in for such a low fee.

Effective defensive unit? 2 wins in the last 12 and 7-21 in goal difference. 1,75 goals against in every match aint what i call an effective defensive unit. And that was BEFORE we were going to meet Arsenal,City,United away.
The Malky effect with form dropping after a good start came earlier than usual this season.

Now cut the bullshit and if you want to write articles do that from a neutral standpoint next time as this was a useless post.

Malky failed, Ole failed..Easy as that. Magath could not save Fulham with the great squad he had available so lets not claim Malky would suddenly picked up a magic tactic from his boxers to save City who was in free fall towards the bottom.

This must be one of the worst articles i have read on this forum.

Jones on 60k a week. Bullshit. All other reports i have seen are range at 30-37k a week. Just like Odemwingie had.

Fabio has flopped? Fabio grew as the season went on and in the latest matches he seemed to be one of few who really took on the challenge of pushing on when we went under.

Berget? No news said that Berget was signed as a first 11 player. Not even a squad player. What was written and said by Ole was that he was too cheap to let him go elsewhere and because of his potential it was worth taking him in for such a low fee.

Effective defensive unit? 2 wins in the last 12 and 7-21 in goal difference. 1,75 goals against in every match aint what i call an effective defensive unit. And that was BEFORE we were going to meet Arsenal,City,United away.
The Malky effect with form dropping after a good start came earlier than usual this season.

Now cut the bullshit and if you want to write articles do that from a neutral standpoint next time as this was a useless post.

Malky failed, Ole failed..Easy as that. Magath could not save Fulham with the great squad he had available so lets not claim Malky would suddenly picked up a magic tactic from his boxers to save City who was in free fall towards the bottom.

Excellent post.

I'm grateful for what Malky did and got us to the Prem, but it looks like he did waste the money he had trying to sign a few big players rather then covering the whole squad, maybe build a Norwich type team.

I think Ole come in and just tried to get us scoring goals but its never going to work with our team, Fabio did get better, think he only play 3 games in 3 seasons or something at Man UTD?

I'd get out Medal & Caulker and try rebuild. We still got a decent team to build around their, but i hope we keep Marshall

Cannot disagree with a word of that. Malky and ole were both shit, but for me malky takes the brunt of the blame for his poor signings and tactics. Malkys trams also got worse as the season progressed, history proves that.

Ole was thrown into a mess and was to inexpereinced, but you cant exactly blame him for wanting.a crack at the prem, tan is at fault for picking him.

Bollox, Ole was not thrown into a mess at all and took the job knowing all the pitfalls and challenges and thought he could make a difference which he could not.

i doubt any manager could imagine a squad this poor or limited tbh.....we had won the championship seemingly at a canter..and spent a small fortune...........im not sure if OGS is the man or not,but to deny he was thrown into a mess is closing your eyes covering your years and shouting lalalala, because its impossible to admit the truth without blaming who is at fault.

Such a poor squad that they beat man city

after how many games in premier? and what happened after man city? 4 wins in 20 mmmm brill record dont you think?