Tue Oct 14, 2014 4:20 pm
I have to agree, the task ahead of Slade is a lot tougher than many fans realise,the pressure will be immense.
Slade’s task is tough
October 14th 2014
By Dan Lewis –
' Russell Slade '
The former Leyton Orient boss, whose lack of experience in the higher reaches of the English game has made him an easy target of unjust criticism, takes over one of the finest groups of players ever assembled at this level. Or at least one of the finest groups of individual talent, with the biggest problem facing the Bluebirds right now being that millions of pounds worth of undoubtedly gifted professionals are unable to come together and fight as one.
The key word there being fight, because if there is one thing that Slade has got to do in the first couple of weeks in his new job, it is to instil a collective belief among this group of capable, but ultimately underachieving, group of players. Get them fighting for the shirt. Make them earn their right to stay in the team.
Malky Mackay’s promotion winning squad of two years ago may not have been as gifted as some of the other sides to have won the Championship in recent times, but they certainly did not lack fight. Players such as Don Cowie, Mark Hudson and Craig Conway – all three of which have been shipped out of the club since promotion to the top tier – represented what the club were all about.
A lack of options certainly can’t be used as an excuse by the new man in charge, although as we have seen in the early stages of this campaign, a large squad can often work against you. Slade must trim the squad, ruthlessly pushing aside certain players who have no part to play, bringing to the forefront outsiders who can make the difference. Javi Guerra, a regular scorer in La Liga last season, surely has more of a part to play.
Kagisho Dikgacoi, signed from Premier League Crystal Palace in the summer having been a mainstay in an Eagles squad that put Cardiff’s group of misfits to shame last season, has yet to reach full fitness. Visa issues and niggling injury problems have seen him restricted to minimal game time, yet he could very well be the key, missing ingredient to this Bluebirds side.
There is no denying that City’s midfield is failing to click at the moment, with Friday night’s defeat at Blackpool highlighting that the Aron Gunnarsson-Peter Whittingham axis in central midfield just doesn’t work. That said, calls for the latter of the duo to be dropped are wrong. Without Whittingham’s set-pieces, City would be even further devoid of ideas in an attacking sense.
Any sort of width, too, is missing. Craig Noone was arguably the Welsh outfit’s only outfield player who could hold his head up high from January onwards last season in the Premier League, yet he has understandably failed to get up to full speed following a damaging injury. The former Brighton man’s game is all about pace, but until he returns to something close to full fitness, he will make little of the desired impact that we now expect from him.
On the other flank, Anthony Pilkington has not lived up to his billing since joining from Norwich City, another Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signing that has ironically seen the club go backwards, even further beyond the point that City were at 18 months ago even. What supporters would give for the leadership of Hudson right now, the mixture of hold-up play and goals in abundance from the previously profligate Rudy Gestede, and the countless assists from Conway out wide. Each dismissed, all overlooked for lesser talents, like £4m signing Sean Morrison who provided Reading with the finest piece of transfer business of the summer. Some transfers can be excused, such as that of the aforementioned Gestede, for example, yet the deadline-day dismissal of club skipper Hudson on the cheap looks even worse a decision now than it did at the time.
It is not just on the field where the problematic issues currently arise. A broken fanbase has yet to be fused together, an issue that no manager will be able to resolve. Mackay came close to doing so by winning promotion, but that was merely a temporary solution to a somewhat permanent hindrance.
Slade must get his forward players working in tandem, as a team rather than individuals, getting the best out of Kenwyne Jones who has shown more than a glimmer of hope this season. The Trinidadian will not score by prowling around the area as witnessed at Bloomfield Road, he must instead get in the box and capitalise on crosses from the widemen.
The good news for Cardiff supporters is that the season is still in its infancy, with another seven months to go before anything is won or lost. The Bluebirds aren’t the first side to have suffered from a Premier League hangover after dropping down to the second tier, and they certainly won’t be the last. This is an unrelenting league in which every side can challenge, whether placed sixth in League 1 last season or having finished in 18th place in the top flight, it is very much an even playing surface. Transfer funds mean little if the team cannot work as one.
Temporary management duo Scott Young and Danny Gabbidon looked to have steadied the ship with five points from nine during their time at the helm, but as the defeat at previously winless Blackpool highlighted, it was merely papering over the continuously growing cracks.
Slade certainly has his work cut out when he walks through the Cardiff City Stadium doors this week, and whether or not he is the right man for the job, we don’t yet know. What he will be given, however, is plenty of time. He may very well need it if he is to turn the Bluebirds’ fortunes around and guide them into the upper reaches of the division. Right now, relegation is looking far more likely than any sort of promotion battle. Good luck, Russ.