" Last season, the summer and next season "

" Last season, the summer and next season "


I've waited a while to write this, as I wanted the dust to settle on the 2014/15 season first. I'll be giving you my personal opinions on the season just gone, what could happen this summer and the season ahead.

Let's first go back to the start of August 2014. Cardiff City were being billed as one of the favourites to secure an immediate return to the Barclays Premier League. And why wouldn't they be? Despite the relegation, the general consensus was that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer deserved the chance to take Cardiff City up. It was his one and only chance to manage in the English divisions, and he failed.

But what went wrong? Solskjaer signed players who were capable of performing at Championship level. Players such as Adam Le Fondre, Anthony Pilkington and Sean Morrison. There were the others, too, of course. Mats Daehli, Kenwyne Jones and Fabio who he'd brought in during the 2014 January window as well as bringing in players from overseas last summer. Bruno Manga being the most notable of those.

As we all know, due to his tactics and a dreadful start to the season, Solskjaer would soon be relieved of his duties. Out of all the names linked, Leyton Orient boss Russell Slade would be the man that Vincent Tan would ultimately appoint - his first personal appointment as the owner of the club.

That appointment left the majority of supporters bemused, it didn't make sense to many people. Having said that, you can not argue with Slade's first few home games. He picked up 12 points from his first four at the Cardiff City Stadium. But the away form wasn't so good.

As the season went on, and it was clear that the club would be finishing somewhere in mid-table, the form changed. The away results improved, but the home results suffered. This coincided with some of the top earners leaving the club in January to be replaced with the likes of Eoin Doyle, Lee Peltier and Scott Malone.

What else is there to say about the season? It was one that promised much but failed to deliver.

On to this summer then, and I think we all know what's likely to happen. We can expect the high earners to go, to be replaced by more lower standard players. We know that Slade is targeting a few big signings as well, but will he get them? I'm not so sure.

Next season will be more of the same I feel, I struggle to see us getting anything more than a top half finish. And that's being optimistic. But there are players I have high hopes for next season. Eoin Doyle finished the season strongly, and he could well be someone who can score plenty of goals for us. The return of Joe Mason was encouraging too. Lee Peltier's work-rate has been good to see. There are others who need to show more, such as Stuart O'Keefe.

Feel free to put your own opinions below, whether you agree with a single word of that or not.

Fixtures are released two weeks today which will begin the countdown to the next season, and of course the Wales match next Friday which should be a great occasion - especially if it results in a home win or draw.

See you all next season and thanks for reading

Sounds about right! The only thing that I would add is that I thought that expectations were far too high at the start of last season. We had just had a farcical season in the PL, and the idea of getting promoted with OGS's 'pick and mix' squad seemed optimistic. In a strange sort of way, I'm more optimistic now than I was this time last year. Honestly felt that we could do a Wolves. Clueless Norwegian manager, (nice bloke, and all that), and a lot of seemingly disinterested players.

I felt it was time for Ole to go at the time but thought we would get a manager in to replace him. Looking back I wish we kept longer.

Next season will be about staying up

Setting your standards low Luke ? And im assuming hoping for a lot better ?
I'm hoping for either we bring through a lot of youth players and finish in a similar position. Or keep the big earners and a playoff spot id expect. All depends who stays and goes i suppose. To early to assume yet

Setting your standards low Luke ? And im assuming hoping for a lot better ?
I'm hoping for either we bring through a lot of youth players and finish in a similar position. Or keep the big earners and a playoff spot id expect. All depends who stays and goes i suppose. To early to assume yet

Always hoping for the best but I have zero faith in slade as a manager. If someone offered me 4th from bottom next season id take it in a flash.

Excellent Read Ned

I think that we'll finish in 5th place next season if we have a good start and bring good players in and Slade has the promotion attitude for this season and if not, we should bring a big name in as the gaffer after the first few games.

The original post is a pretty accurate assessment. I agree with most of the other posts as well. Except I didn't think from the start that the squad Ole assembled was anywhere as good as it was cracked up to be. Secondly, despite my misgivings over Slade he did keep us up whereas I am certain Ole would have ensured we "did a Wolves" and gone straight down. And thirdly we will be nowhere near the top next season.

I'm more excited about this season than I was about last season. One thing Slade is bringing into the squad is more balance. That was Ole's main problem. The individual signings he made were far from poor. However, he just signed the wrong type of players needed. I still think Ole could do well in management but he needs to be more versatile. He tried using the same approach to managing Cardiff that he used at Manchester United academy level and Molde.

I was one of those that could not believe the appointment of Slade and he's not really changed my opinion. I don't think we will ever go up under him but I don't think we will go down. Not this season anyway. I would take a finish anywhere in the top half of the table. I would see any improvement on this year's league position or points total as progress.

I'm also very excited at the prospect of players such as Doyle, Kennedy, and John settling into the team more. I've not been thrilled by the alleged transfer targets. I'm not saying I want big money signings, I just want signings that will add pace and hunger. I'm also nervous about who leaves. Marshall we can replace. If Manga goes then we have some issues. Even if all his transfer fee is re-invested in the squad. Quality Championship centre backs are hard to come by these days.

It's all a challenge though. I feel Tan is actually learning as our owner and even though I won't forget what he did with the re-brand, I'm willing to forgive and move on for my own sanity mainly. We could be in a much worse position and there was half of the Championship that wished it could have finished where we did last season.

By all means, hold no expectations for next season but that's better than expecting success and achieving nothing. Who knows? With the right additions, we could well gate crash the playoff party this season. Now that would be interesting.

Much of what is posted on this is very fair and a good outlook.

I think the factor everyone is not getting their heads around is the Fair Play rules. We are have to cut our cloth to suit and everyone of the other 23 clubs willhave to do the same. We are still on parachute payments which in theory should give us an edge over most of the other clubs. I would also state that if the form of the last 10 games was picked up in this coming season then that projection would put us into 5/6th place.

I think there are grounds for hoping a better season lies ahead based on the following players:
1. Doyle could be a 20+ goal striker next year.
2. Ralls is emerging as a powerful player.
3. Kennedy could be a very exiting player.
4. Whits cannot have another season as bad as the last.
5. Manga needs to stay as the lynchpin of the defense.
6. I like Marshall to still be here, however in Moore we have a good replacement and should Marshall go there will be a tidy some to re-invest in the squad.
7. Our weakness in the side for a number of years (Fullbacks)has now sorted with Peltier, Malone, John and maybe Fabio nailing those positions down.
8. we are strong in defense with Turner, Connelly and Morrison in there alongside Manga.
9. we have good squad player such as Gunners, the southafrican, Pilks, Ameiobio Mechada and Revel

With LeFondre, Jones, Noone, French Kev and a few others being moved we are not weakening the squad.

YES MY CUP IS HALF FULL

Much of what is posted on this is very fair and a good outlook.

I think the factor everyone is not getting their heads around is the Fair Play rules. We are have to cut our cloth to suit and everyone of the other 23 clubs willhave to do the same. We are still on parachute payments which in theory should give us an edge over most of the other clubs. I would also state that if the form of the last 10 games was picked up in this coming season then that projection would put us into 5/6th place.

I think there are grounds for hoping a better season lies ahead based on the following players:
1. Doyle could be a 20+ goal striker next year.
2. Ralls is emerging as a powerful player.
3. Kennedy could be a very exiting player.
4. Whits cannot have another season as bad as the last.
5. Manga needs to stay as the lynchpin of the defense.
6. I like Marshall to still be here, however in Moore we have a good replacement and should Marshall go there will be a tidy some to re-invest in the squad.
7. Our weakness in the side for a number of years (Fullbacks)has now sorted with Peltier, Malone, John and maybe Fabio nailing those positions down.
8. we are strong in defense with Turner, Connelly and Morrison in there alongside Manga.
9. we have good squad player such as Gunners, the southafrican, Pilks, Ameiobio Mechada and Revel

With LeFondre, Jones, Noone, French Kev and a few others being moved we are not weakening the squad.

YES MY CUP IS HALF FULL

I do love your optimism. Only sorry that I cannot share it. For as start I cannot see Doyle scoring 20 goals; Ralls is not a powerful player; Kennedy is not exciting'; Fabio is a hopeless full back, defensively at least; Pilkington and Ameiobi are never fit; Macheda is worse than useless... I could go on,

Much of what is posted on this is very fair and a good outlook.

I think the factor everyone is not getting their heads around is the Fair Play rules. We are have to cut our cloth to suit and everyone of the other 23 clubs willhave to do the same. We are still on parachute payments which in theory should give us an edge over most of the other clubs. I would also state that if the form of the last 10 games was picked up in this coming season then that projection would put us into 5/6th place.

I think there are grounds for hoping a better season lies ahead based on the following players:
1. Doyle could be a 20+ goal striker next year.
2. Ralls is emerging as a powerful player.
3. Kennedy could be a very exiting player.
4. Whits cannot have another season as bad as the last.
5. Manga needs to stay as the lynchpin of the defense.
6. I like Marshall to still be here, however in Moore we have a good replacement and should Marshall go there will be a tidy some to re-invest in the squad.
7. Our weakness in the side for a number of years (Fullbacks)has now sorted with Peltier, Malone, John and maybe Fabio nailing those positions down.
8. we are strong in defense with Turner, Connelly and Morrison in there alongside Manga.
9. we have good squad player such as Gunners, the southafrican, Pilks, Ameiobio Mechada and Revel

With LeFondre, Jones, Noone, French Kev and a few others being moved we are not weakening the squad.

YES MY CUP IS HALF FULL

You have every right to be optimistic Whistler and I applaud you. I on the other hand am mired in pessimism, largely due to the incompetence (and maybe impotence) of our management set up.

I'll add my own take to your points if I may:

1.Doyle is highly unlikely to score anything like 20 goals. He wont get the support for a start.
2. Ralls already is a powerful player but he wont get picked often enough.
3. Kennedy already is an exciting player but ge wont be allowed to play in the correct set up
4. Whits can and is likely to have a bad season like the last but he'll still be picked regularly.
5. Manga will be sold
6.I agree with this.
7. Our weakness has been midfield and Slade will not change it.
8.Turner is strong in defence, Morrisson is debatable and Connolly and Manga will leave.
9.Gunnar and Adeyemi are central to us not fringe players, the others are expendable.

I would have kept French Kev but not the others.

My Cup Is Empty!

Maybe its just me but I usually cant wait for the summer to end and football to start again however this summer I feel different. I dont know why but Im dreading the new season. I thought the last 10 games we were simply hit or miss I can't see us building up any momentum and come Christmas we will be looking at mid table mediocrity.

Is it just me but I am dreading the new season!

Ps im usually a glass half full kind of guy!

Excellent Read Ned

Thanks Annis