'Middlesbrough were Warnocked by proxy' - how Cardiff City's stunning win is being reported in the north-eastBy Glen WilliamsThe Bluebirds took one big step towards the play-offs with a crucial victory up on TeessideCardiff City produced one of their most dominant displays of the season up on Teesside this weekend, thumping Neil Warnock's Middlesbrough 3-1 to take a huge step towards the play-offs.
The Bluebirds are just one point away from ensuring they finish in the top six this season, with South Wales rivals Swansea City the only team who could mathematically catch them on the final day of the season.
But Neil Harris' side certainly have the momentum, Saturday's performance must have been the most pleasing for quite some time for the City manager.
Because, against his Cardiff predecessor Warnock, the Welsh club looked composed, controlled and every bit a play-off team.
And that is certainly the view shared up in the North East, with the Sunday paper verdict lauding City's sharp and slick play in the emphatic triumph for the Bluebirds.
"Middlesbrough were well and truly 'Warnocked' by proxy," the Middlesbrough Gazette reported after the match.
"A Cardiff team deeply imprinted with the DNA of the Riverside boss clinically dismantled a shoddy, cobbled-together Boro.
"That Cardiff display - the solidity, the potent set-plays, the quick balls down the channels to turn the defence - is exactly what Neil Warnock demands of all his teams.
"The yawning chasm between a creaky collection of disparate individuals in red and a sharp, incisive and organised Cardiff team was frightening."The verdict on Warnock's Boro themselves, meanwhile, was scathing.
"The defending for the opening goal was so slack and ad hoc it was embarrassing," the Gazzette report added.
"No wonder Warnock was in meltdown on the touchline. Being so submissive against a former team must sting.
"Boro offered very little. Movement forward was timid and tentative, slow and predictable and the final delivery telegraphed and so easy to defend against.
"There were spells of tentative, toothless possession but it lacked urgency and made it easy for Cardiff to drop deep gobble up the final ball.
"Frighteningly, several times they launched a raid from the breakdown of a Boro attack. The second came when a corner fizzled out and Lee Tomlin - obviously - sent a dagger of a pass forward for Josh Murphy to zip forward almost unchallenged.
"A similar rapid counter had knocked the stuffing out of Boro against Bristol City. A repeat is deeply worrying.
"It flagged up Boro's lack of concentration, organisation and pace. And you can't coach players faster.
"Warnock, if he stays, will be looking to transform the Boro squad physically, mentally and tactically. On that showing he will have quite a task on his hands. He lacks almost all the component parts."
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