' BOOM OR BUST '

Cardiff City boss Russell Slade set for boom or bust month after stamping his mark on the Bluebirds in January window

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Wednesday 4 February 2015

By Terry Phillips

Slade is expected to field five new captures in his Bluebirds side to face Sheffield Wednesday ahead of a pivotal run of games



The pressure is on for Russell Slade. It’s boom or bust time this month.

The Cardiff City manager has got his own players in and shifted out ones who don’t fit the bill for the Bluebirds.

And he has six matches during February to show owner Vincent Tan he is the right man to be at the helm.

After an initial rise under Slade’s leadership, Cardiff have slumped into the bottom half of the Championship table - and their play-off hopes look forlorn at best.

Further failure this month would see the gloom and talk of a relegation battle grow - and surely stretch Tan’s patience to the limit.

The fans have already expressed their discontent at Slade’s management and the style of football being adopted under him.

Those who do offer support to Slade point to the fact that he should be judged after the January transfer window.

Well, that has window has closed and it’s time for better results. Slade’s line-up for Saturday’s clash away to Sheffield Wednesday will probably feature FIVE new transfer captures.. Full backs Lee Peltier and Scott Malone, midfielder Stuart O’Keefe and a new strike duo of Alex Revell and Eoin Doyle are all set to start.

With Simon Moore in goal, Bruno Manga returning at the back and Kadeem Harris likely to feature, the Cardiff side has got almost a completely new-look about it.

Slade worked hard to slash £12m off the wage bill after the owner demanded he should cut costs and trim player numbers.

Mats Daehli, Ravel Morrison, Juan Cala, Javi Guerra, Kim Bo-Kyung, Adam Le Fondre, Guido Burgstaller, Etien Velikonja and John Brayford are amongst those who have gone.

Former Manchester United duo Fabio and Federico Macheda, plus top scorer Kenwyne Jones, were only substitutes against Derby at the weekend.

Everton youngsters Matthew Kennedy and Conor McAleny have joined the clutch of new faces as Slade looks to put his own imprint upon the team and performances.

But the newcomers need to provide an upturn in fortunes with immediate effect. In the last nine games, Slade’s men have taken just five points out of a possible 27.

That’s relegation form... and the last thing the Bluebirds need is to be sucked even further down the table.

The momentum has to be gained from the February fixtures because some of them are eminently winnable matches.

After the trip to Hillsborough, Cardiff meet 21st-placed Brighton at home next Tuesday. They also clash with Malky Mackay’s 23rd place Wigan and lowly Huddersfield during the month, as well as Blackburn and Wolves at home.

There are 18 points on offer and Slade needs a double figure points return to ease the pressure he is facing and to carry the full confidence of Tan.

By the time March dawns, the Bluebirds must be a lot chirpier with a points tally of 44 or more - and well on their way to making talk of a potential relegation fight look silly.

Slade has his own men in. They must deliver results because there are no excuses left any more.



' SLADE’S NEW-LOOK TEAM '


Goalkeepers

Simon Moore will play a fifth successive Championship match at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

First choice David Marshall is still a week or so away from fitness after a groin surgery and will miss the trip to South Yorkshire.

Marshall, one presumes, will walk straight back into the starting line-up. However, Moore made a brilliant stop from a penalty against Derby and will be looking for another top showing to give Slade food for selection thought.


Defenders

Slade has nine defenders in his first team squad, but new duo Lee Peltier and Scott Malone can expect to be first choice full-backs. What Fabio makes of that is anyone’s guess, but he only made the bench at the weekend before coming on when Cardiff were already two down.

Peltier could well be Cardiff’s captain with Ben Turner and David Marshall injured. Aron Gunnarsson could be left out of the starting line-up at Wednesday.

Bruno Manga is ready for his first Championship appearance of 2015 and will play next to one of Sean Morrison or Matt Connolly.

Midfield
Slade still has 10 midfield players to perm from, but the energetic and athletic O’Keefe will probably become an automatic choice.

He showed glimpses of what he can do when he made his City debut against Derby, but badly needs matches for fitness.

He looked leggy in the closing stages against the Rams, which maybe wasn’t surprising in his first Championship appearance of 2015.

O’Keefe will start at Wednesday, probably next to Peter Whittingham in a 4-4-2 with Gunnarsson having to make do with a place among the subs.

Craig Noone is a certain starter after Slade rejected Norwich’s £2m bid to sign him, while Kadeem Harris or Tom Adeyemi are likely to complete the midfield four.

Kagisho Dikgacoi and Anthony Pilkington are ruled out injured, while Joe Ralls won’t make the starting line-up.

Young loan signing Matthew Kennedy is likely to be among the substitutes.


Slade caused controversy by omitting top scorer Kenwyne Jones against Derby, but that may happen again given the capture of Eoin Doyle to go with that of Alex Revell.

Doyle, 26, was snapped up from Chesterfield for £600,000 and is likely to take the place Slade reserved for the most part for Adam Le Fondre.

Revell started against Derby and will probably do likewise against Sheffield Wednesday.

Jones can put up a strong argument after scoring 12 goals this season, 10 in the Championship, but Slade seems to believe Revell can produce a more consistent 90-minute performance.


The question is can Revell, next to Doyle, provide the goals Cardiff so badly need?

Doyle netted 21 league goals for Chesterfield in 26 starts - and four more in cup ties.

Can the Revell/Doyle partnership bring the goal potency Slade needs to lift the current gloom?

Or will Cardiff continue to struggle to create opportunities for their front runners and be far too reliant upon set pieces?

on the whole not a bad piece but any football pundit would no that it will take 2/3 games for the new players to gel
just another example of setting slade up for a fall imo

This forum makes me cry every time I see an article saying "I wonder what Fabio thinks of this." He's awful. He's a liability. He was a let down vs Reading. Slade actually knows what he's doing with Fabio.

on the whole not a bad piece but any football pundit would no that it will take 2/3 games for the new players to gel
just another example of setting slade up for a fall imo

Bust for me.
I've no confidence in Slade whatsoever,if we had Messi or Ronaldo he'd bench them.

Bust for me.
I've no confidence in Slade whatsoever,if we had Messi or Ronaldo he'd bench them.

Couldn't agree more. After a month on the bench, he'd probably rip up Messi's contract and let him go to a rival for free.

if a miracle happens... and we survive the big drop by one point no doubt, slade will be praised as a hero by tan, and that he kept us in the division with a cut price team

C'mom lets think about what has happened so far since Slade has been here.

1. He's cut down and unbalanced and unstructured squad
2. He's reduced the wage bill to make us a more financially viable club
3. He's brought in some new players who WILL take take to gel

I love Cardiff City they are my team and that will never change, yes I agree that we've lost some quality individuals however that's what they were individuals! I want my team to play for Cardiff as a team and if that's what Slade is doing then give him time.

Come the end of the season if we are in the top 10 in the table and have a positive run to take us into next season then I will be a happy man.

C'mom lets think about what has happened so far since Slade has been here.

1. He's cut down and unbalanced and unstructured squad
2. He's reduced the wage bill to make us a more financially viable club
3. He's brought in some new players who WILL take take to gel

I love Cardiff City they are my team and that will never change, yes I agree that we've lost some quality individuals however that's what they were individuals! I want my team to play for Cardiff as a team and if that's what Slade is doing then give him time.

Come the end of the season if we are in the top 10 in the table and have a positive run to take us into next season then I will be a happy man.

You've put a positive spin on slades tenure so far but the facts are we're playing like a park side who could get relegated if we carry on as we're going.
Slades out of his depth.

C'mom lets think about what has happened so far since Slade has been here.

1. He's cut down and unbalanced and unstructured squad
2. He's reduced the wage bill to make us a more financially viable club
3. He's brought in some new players who WILL take take to gel

I love Cardiff City they are my team and that will never change, yes I agree that we've lost some quality individuals however that's what they were individuals! I want my team to play for Cardiff as a team and if that's what Slade is doing then give him time.

Come the end of the season if we are in the top 10 in the table and have a positive run to take us into next season then I will be a happy man.

You've put a positive spin on slades tenure so far but the facts are we're playing like a park side who could get relegated if we carry on as we're going.
Slades out of his depth.

Jaws I agree the quality of football has been poor and its a run of form that is pretty scary if its carries on. I have faith that we will have that win, possibly a 2-0/3-0 result on Saturday that will bring belief back to the team and we can push on.