Mon Jun 01, 2015 1:11 pm
By Brentford FC
Cardiff City
Mon 01 Jun 2015
Author: Mark Chapman
Reviewing Brentford's league opponents for 2015/16: Cardiff City
" CARDIFF CITY "
League Position: 11th (Premier League 2013/14: 20th)
Average league attendance: 20,945 (2013/14: 27,430)
Top league goalscorer: Kenwyne Jones (11)
Cardiff City go into 2015/16 with the intention of building on their mid-table Championship finish.
The Club has been through a difficult 18 months, which as a feature of this series, resulted in replacing their manager during the season.
Their start was solid enough, with four wins in their first six games, but manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær left the Club after a 1-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough. Danny Gabbidon and Scott Young were caretakers until Russell Slade arrived from Leyton Orient on 6 October.
Results improved, but The Bluebirds faced Brentford, Watford and AFC Bournemouth in December and lost each match, which started a poor run of form – their only league victory until the end of February was over Fulham.
Results picked up towards the end of the season, with wins in the last two matches that lifted The Bluebirds to 11th in the table. Keeping clean sheets was The Bluebirds problem in the first half of the season but Slade tightened up the defence with six shut outs this calendar year.
Slade will be looking to take advantage of the close season that will see some Cardiff City players out of contract so he can bring in new faces. However, he is dealing with a large squad - a hangover from their Premier League campaign of 2013/14 - so it will be down to his expertise in moving players on to freshen the side up.
Having reclaimed their beloved blue strip as first choice midway through the season, Cardiff fans will be hoping for an improved season this time round - on and off the pitch.