How astute Neil Warnock has mirrored Burnley and Huddersfield Town in Cardiff City transfer policy
By Tom Coleman
Monday 2nd July 2018
Four transfers down and a few more to go, Cardiff City's quest to follow the lead of previous promoted sides has started in reassuring fashion.
Neil Warnock, more determined than ever to prove he can succeed in the Premier League, has stuck with what he knows. His transfer policy has been well-documented: signing hungry, committed players whose stars are on the rise.
As the veteran manager said before the promotion celebrations had barely started, he wouldn't sign 'big time Charlies', refused to overspend on wildcard luxury players like the Bluebirds did last time they went up.
However, the arrivals of Josh Murphy, Greg Cunningham, Alex Smithies and Bobby Reid have not convinced everyone .
There is a worry that Warnock, now a Premier League manager, is still shopping in the Championship, all four new boys coming from that division.
Some have demanded 'proven' Premier League names, with Cardiff's signings so far boasting precious little top flight experience: just two cameos by a young Cunningham for Man City in 2010 and a string of mainly substitute appearances for Murphy in 2013/14.
That's not to decry Cardiff's transfer business whatsoever, nor the reaction which has greeted them, especially from avid Cardiff fans with a good knowledge of how Warnock works.
The examples of promoted clubs from previous years also reinforce the Bluebirds' strategy in the transfer market...
The Burnley model
Warnock has admitted taking inspiration from Sean Dyche's Burnley and how the Clarets built steadily to the point where they finished seventh in last season's Premier League.
"I look at Sean Dyche, who I speak to quite a lot, and I admire him and he's done the things that I would do," Warnock said.
"Get a good group of lads working hard together and it's amazing what you can do.
“Burnley went down the first year (after they got promotion), but they used the money, the infrastructure of the club changed, they got everything done and then they came back up stronger."
That's not to say Cardiff will finish seventh next season.
But if they go straight down, Warnock will hope his team are well set to bounce back, the way Burnley did in the 2015/16 campaign after relegation in 2014/15.
Smithies, Reid, Cunningham and Murphy have all 'done it' in the Championship and Cardiff have been smart in tying the quartet down on three or four year contracts to safeguard their future.
Cardiff have also not been afraid to spend money the same way Burnley did after their promotion in 2016.
That summer, they too went shopping in the Championship, securing Jeff Hendrick from Derby (for £10million), Ashley Westwood from just-relegated Aston Villa (£5million) and Nick Pope from League One Charlton (£1.1million).
They then added Robbie Brady (Norwich, £13.5million) in January and the priority was to survive playing functional, effective football.
After staying up, Dyche didn't waver from his transfer policy, adding Chris Wood and Charlie Taylor, both from Leeds for a combined £15million. Following a seventh-placed finish, it's hard to argue with that strategy.
Inspiration from Huddersfield and others
Before last year, in 25 years of the Premier League there had only been two seasons in which all three promoted clubs stayed up.
Huddersfield, Newcastle and Brighton were all impressive in both their transfer activity and tactical set-up on the pitch.
Warnock will expect to have a grasp of the tactics and work-rate needed to grind out results. He's been doing that at Cardiff for nearly two years already.
But is he mirroring his friend David Wagner in the transfer market?
When Huddersfield's marquee signings after an unexpected promotion in 2016/17 included former Cardiff reject Scott Malone (from Fulham, £4million) and the perennially under-performing Tom Ince (Derby, £9million), many scoffed.
The Terriers would need much more, many claimed. Yet they only added Alex Pritchard in a £12million January move and still managed to stay up.
Wagner's unerring belief that his team — having been predicted to finish rock bottom, just as Cardiff are in 2018/19 — would defy the odds, was proven correct.
You can argue the (low) quality of the Premier League bottom half last season gave Huddersfield a helping hand, but try explaining that to delirious Terriers fans after their side's remarkable escape.
The myth that you need proven and experienced Premier League players was also debunked by Newcastle and Brighton, who like Huddersfield and Burnley cast their nets further afield.
Chris Hughton brought in Davy Propper and Jurgen Locadia from PSV Eindhoven and found a gem in Ingolstadt's Pascal Gross.
Newcastle meanwhile were criticised for an underwhelming summer of transfer business, but they did well to snatch Jacob Murphy from Norwich among others.
Cardiff now have his twin, another pacy young winger who will only improve.
What next?
History shows that promoted teams often need a boost in January to ensure their safety. Pritchard to Huddersfield and Brady to Burnley are both expensive recent examples of when that has worked.
And Warnock hasn't been shy to splash out on a vital mid-season acquisition during his time in South Wales. Gary Madine's £6million move from Bolton at the start of 2018 didn't directly yield goals but it got Kenneth Zohore firing. January 2019 may bring more additions.
Still Cardiff might go on to sign those proverbial experienced players. Robert Snodgrass is one they've been linked with who seems to fit the bill.
But even if they don't, there's a body of evidence to suggest Warnock is getting it right in the transfer market.
Smithies and Cunningham, signed as much to get the best from current stars Neil Etheridge and Joe Bennett, may prove to be masterstrokes, while you can't help but get excited by the promise of Murphy and Reid, even if they are 'unproven' — whatever that means.
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