' Slade inherited a good squad/He will fail promotion Says '

Nathan Blake: I still believe Cardiff City will finish around eighth... but I hope Russell Slade proves me wrong


14 SEPTEMBER 2015

BY NATHAN BLAKE


I still believe Cardiff City will finish around eighth in this season’s Championship, but I really hope they prove me wrong and I don’t say that very often.

They seem to be going about it the right way too, remaining unbeaten after seeing off Huddersfield on the weekend and rising to second in the table.

Of course it is way too early to read anything into the standings currently, but it’s better to be up the top than down the bottom whatever anyone might say.



If I had to come up with one word to describe the victory over The Terriers, I would have to say ‘efficient.’

Again it was an unspectacular performance from Russell Slade’s side and Huddersfield, for me, were poor.

I know they’ve had a pretty bad start to the campaign, but I really was expecting more from them than they showed at the Cardiff City Stadium.

But, as they say, you can only beat what is in front of you and thanks to goals from Anthony Pilkington and Joe Mason, the Bluebirds did just that and you have to say they were good value for the three points in the end.


I’ve not really been surprised by the start the Bluebirds have made under Russell Slade.

Let’s be honest here, the manager inherited a good squad, it was a huge one at that and we always knew there was talent in there.

The challenge Slade had when he arrived was finding his best XI and getting them working together.

It took him time, in truth, but he seems to have done that now and he deserves a bit of credit for it.

I’m not the type really to criticise managers, it’s a very hard job as we know.

But right now I feel Slade may have quietened his critics, but I don’t think he has silenced them.

Cardiff City fans: Are you now feeling more confident in Russell Slade?
YES
NO


The results his side are picking up now are going to lessen any criticism, but it won’t have gone away yet.

A run of bad results and the knives will be back out for Slade - that’s all part of being a football manager.

I must say I was surprised at Slade talking about how many people thought he would have been fired by now.

A manager needs to rise above all that, never get too up or too down.

I know it’s hard because the abuse can get rather personal, but it is a bit early to say that to your critics.

Getty ImagesJoe Mason celebrates scoring the second goal against Huddersfield
Russell Slade full of praise for Sammy Ameobi but says he'll only look at table after 12 games
It is way too early yet to suggest Slade has proved his critics wrong, there is still an awful lot of football to be played yet.

Come May and if the Bluebirds are in the top six, then Slade can say he has proved those who doubted him wrong.

What you would have to say right now is that he is building a side on very solid foundations.

The Bluebirds are very hard to break down and confidence is building in the camp.

I don’t want to go on about it, but I really hope the results they are picking up and the momentum they are gaining really sees a big boost of confidence run through the side.

What I hope then is that things are taken to the next level when it comes to the manner of the performances.

I would like to think maybe come November or December, if things continue as they are, the Bluebirds might start to play with a bit more style, a bit more swagger and start really putting one over on the opposition.

Fans want their side to win of course, but they also want that done with a brand of football which is worth shelling out your hard-earned money to watch.

It is an entertainment business after all.







Does Russell Slade actually know what he's doing?!

I know I keep urging more from the Cardiff players, but I would not do it if I didn’t believe they were capable of reaching those standards.

There’s some talented guys in that side.

That lack of entertainment on the pitch is probably one of the reasons why the crowds are so bad at the Cardiff City Stadium this season.

The less than 14,000 who watched the Huddersfield game meant Cardiff had the lowest attendance of all the games in the Championship played on Saturday and I never thought that would happen.

It’s hard to say why the fans are not turning up in their numbers particularly with the good start the Bluebirds are having.

Last season there were 20,000 there.

This time around there were 14,000 and I think you would get 6,000 different reasons why people have stopped going.

Last season, everyone was pointing out how the attendance figures put out by the club didn't properly reflect the actual number of supporters in the ground. This season, those "artificial" figures are now being used to demonstrate how many supporters we've lost since last year. People just love to try and find negatives, even if they have to pretty much make them up...

In regards to Blake's comments, couldn't disagree with him more about style of play. I think we've played some really good football this year, and a sluggish first 30 minutes against Huddersfield shouldn't be used to judge our performances in all the games before that. Last year was dire after OGS left (for style of play I mean, or style ATTEMPTED at least), but this season HAS been significantly more enjoyable to watch so Blake can't bloody use that as an excuse for why people aren't coming to games.

Blake is an absolute tw*t, shit pundit and commentator and one of the most negative people I hear speak.. I'm sure he's one of those sad jealous footballers who just can't let go if the fact they don't play anymore.. Entitled to his opinion but negativity is not welcome at the club at the moment

Blake doesn't know anything

Says someone who said we'd get automatic promotion last year.

more negativity


some people cant help themselves.

I would have thought Blake knows as much as any of us on here, unless we have other forum members who have played at the highest level as well as at international level. He is expressing his personal opinion, and while a lot of us may not agree with him, i would'nt go as far as to say he knows nothing.

Blake said on radio after the game on saturday that he was nt at the game and could nt comment on a point that a caller made, so where does this dross come from.

I can be a negative tw*t from time to time, but even I am starting to believe.

I think the time has come to give Slade a break and get fully behind him. We are in the best position we have been in a long time

Now if we can only sort out the shit atmosphere down the ground

also... was there any need to add the "he will fail promotion" part... honestly, the negativity on here

Not the type to criticise managers? It's all he does with Slade.

Why do you persist with putting this numpties articles on Annis he's a tw*t. Great footballer but shite journo.

Blake said on radio after the game on saturday that he was nt at the game and could nt comment on a point that a caller made, so where does this dross come from.

There's an old 1970's song by The Temptations (frequently sung in Steve Tucker's Office at Media Wales) called "It was just my imagination, running away with me..."

I think it's gotten embedded into Nathan's head, a little like "It's a Small World" at Disney; you don't 'like' it but you can't help singing it for a week afterwards!

8th would be a decent season

Not the type to criticise managers? It's all he does with Slade.

Why do you persist with putting this numpties articles on Annis he's a tw*t. Great footballer but shite journo.

Neil, I agree with you about Blake,but I put all articles out on City good or bad.

also... was there any need to add the "he will fail promotion" part... honestly, the negativity on here

Paulh again blaming this forum this is Blakes article, not ours,if you read all my match reports I've been very very positive this season

more negativity


some people cant help themselves.

Blake wrote the article Paulh

Blake doesn't know anything

Wez,I rated him as a player as avfootball pundit,total crap

I like Blake but I totally disagree with him here and he is entitled to an opinion and does say that he wants to be proven wrong so fair enough.

Can never understand why the Echo keeps giving him a regular column, he either talks a load of rubbish or just states the obvious.

But then that is exactly the same as the rest of their reporters so I guess they feel he's doing a good job.

They could argue it got me talking about it, but as I'm not on their website it won;t benefit them

more negativity


some people cant help themselves.

Blake wrote the article Paulh

I know he did... and its yet more negativity from him

Nathan is my favourite player of all time. However by his own admission on live radio HE DID NOT ATTEND SATURDAYS GAME.
He was in the BBC studios with Leighton "the jack" James.
Not sure how on earth he can make those statements.

Blake, like the rest of the press is too self- important to admit that Slade is well on his way to making them eat their words.

It would be nice if a few of them fronted up and said he is proving them wrong as has early our respect