Ole wasn't the right choice, but is he the right one now?

Tue May 06, 2014 1:47 am

I've followed Cardiff closely since OGS's appointment, and wanted to share my opinions so far.

First of all I am very pleased to see the 19:27 protest. I am a big fan of protests like these when fans feel the club has done them wrong. There seems to be a lot of disturbing actions going on off the field, and I hope things calm down, wheter Tan stays or not, and that Cardiff can once again return to your true identity, Blue. You will never be able to completely focus on the thing that matters on pitch as long as there is that much drama off it, keep the protests going and stay strong!

Now to the footballing matters.
I don't think Ole was the right choice for a relegation battle. Through his whole life he has been competing for titles. As a player, coaching the Manchester United Reserves and latest with Molde. With there still being a clear lack of experience at the highest level as a Manager, it was always going to be a risky project. The rotating style of Ole, and what I think is overthinking tactics at times viewing his team sheets, clearly hasn't worked out as he hoped it would. It was the same style he employed during his success with Molde, more suited for a favourite team, rather than the underdog. Too much rotation, a couple of weird starting line ups and such has made a lot of people judge his managerial abilities and label him as out of depth already.

Now, the results could indicate that he is out of depth, but have a look at the squad he took over. There are very, very few quality players in the squad. Marshall is the only class act on the team in my opinion. Medel and Caulker are fairly big names, but neither are living up to it. Mutch and Noone are potentially good Premier League players, but they could all fare well with one season in the Championship before getting at it in the Premier League again. A Frazier Campbell runs his socks off, but he doesn't have the most important quality of a striker, which is the finishing. The rest of the squad he inherited simply are not good enough.

Most of his own signings were hit and miss as well. As a Manchester United fan it pains me to have watched Zaha in Cardiff. How we paid 15 million for him I will never understand, and I honestly don't think he will ever be a good player for us. There's potential in his feet, but I do not see a football brain there that would ever be developed to make him a top player. He's been extremely disappointing, along with Jones, two players that were supposed to contribute right away. I would put Cala and Fabio in the same boat as Mutch and Noone. They are both good footballers and potentially good Premier League players. Eikrem and Berget both have potential, but will definitely need the Championship football and time to adapt before having another go at the highest level. Daehli is already a gem, and I still don't understand how United let him off so easily. He's already performing better than most of the current Cardiff team, and if he sticks around I am sure he will tear the Championship apart and hopefully stick around for a year or two in the Premier League as well, should you get there. Javi Guerra looks a good signing as well if he comes. Some good signings, some bad, but if Ole stays around, his name and network should make the transfer window very interesting.

Something that has disappointed me the most though, is that one match your players can seem like they are ready to die for eachother, the fans and the club, while entering the pitch 7 days later they look uninterested, as if they coulnd't care less. Now it's normal that performances vary, but there's been a too many of the matches where I've felt like slapping some life into some of your players. One could argue it's the Managers job to motivate them, but when half the team is dedicated and tries their best, while some are slacking off, looking uninterested, I feel it's more down to the players themselves. The players need to pick themselves up and learn to find their inner motivation and urge to bleed for Cardiff. Without that burn, they were never going to make it in the Premier League. There is a limit to what a Manager can do with certain material, and I don't think many Managers would have been able to keep Cardiff up with the players you had, but of course Ole still has to take a big part of the blame for going down.

In the media, Ole has always been aware of praising his team, even when they have played bad. I think this is a trait he has learned from Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson would never single out individuals or speak poorly about his team in public. Even though he has been all smiles and positive in the interviews, I am sure that he has given his players stick and dealt with the negatives behind the scenes, as Ferguson always would.

But, as the title asks, is he the right man now? Being relegated, I see many of you asking for him to step down. I think that would be a huge mistake. In the Championship Ole will be in his right element again. He will be in charge of a team that will be favourites in most of their matches, and will be expected to get promoted to the Premier League again. It's as one of the better teams in the league where Ole has showed his brilliance as a Manager so far, and I do think if he is given the chance to steer the team towards promotion, you won't regret keeping him. He has had 5 months now to get to know his team, he should now know what he needs to strengthen, and will have more time to adapt the team towards his style of playing football. I also think a lot of you will enjoy the offensive style he will bring to the table. He hasn't had much of a chance to show it so far, given how Cardiff has been underdogs in most of the games and forced into a defensive style, but in the Championship the chances of being the dominating team are much better.

Now you could ask, what if you get promoted again, Ole would be out of his comfort zone again. Sure, but he has had a couple of months extra experience from this year, plus another whole year in the Championship and will have his own team. That is much more promising than when he took the reigns earlier this year.

He wasn't the right man then, but I think he is now. Give him time, and Cardiff will benefit!
Good luck, Bluebirds! :thumbup:

Tue May 06, 2014 5:59 am

Seems a gamble like last year, the obvious choice for a low quality team was an experienced organiser like Allerdyce or Pullis, both will get stick after two seasons at a club but know what to do to keep up a poor squad.

The obvious choice to get back up would be someone like Warnock who has won Promotion many times and knows what it takes, we should easily have enough quality players, but they will need a good Manager to get the best out of them, and twenty plus clean sheets is probably the best way to go....