NEIL HARRIS: " I AM LOST FOR WORDS "

Neil Harris 'lost for words' and makes damning promotion point after Cardiff City 'threw three goals into their own net' vs Brentford


The Bluebirds manager has berated yet more individual errors as Cardiff relinquished a lead to lose 3-2 to Brentford at Cardiff City Stadium



By Glen Williams


Saturday 26 Dec 2020



Cardiff City manager Neil Harris was left speechless after his team threw away a lead against Brentford

Cardiff City manager Neil Harris believes his side can kiss automatic promotion goodbye if they continue to play in the manner they did against Brentford.

The Bluebirds gave up a 1-0 lead to lose 3-2 against Thomas Frank's high-flying Bees, capitulating in the second half with a number of individual errors which led to Sergi Canos bagging a hat-trick.

It means Cardiff have now lost three or their last four matches and that momentum which had built up at the start of this month appears to have quickly evaporated.

City chairman Mehmet Dalman said upon the closure of the transfer window that he expected Cardiff to be in the top six by January, but now, with only one game left in this calendar year, Cardiff are way off the pace in 12th position at time of writing.



And Harris believes it would be unrealistic to even entertain the notion of achieving automatic promotion this season now, with top six the ultimate aim come May.





NEIL HARRIS:

"Look, we are not going to make the top two, are we? Lets be realistic," Harris said.

"The way we are going at the moment we are not going to be make the top two. The aim at the start of the season was to make the top six. That's where we want to be.

"But it grew last year and we had to close the gap and go past teams and we will go past teams this year.

"But you can't let teams get away from you. We lost to Norwich, who were a far superior team to anybody in the league.

"Today, we threw three goals in, that's the bottom line of it. But we have to respond against Wycombe on Tuesday and Rotherham on Saturday, because we want to build momentum and consistency.

"Other than winning four games in five, we haven't had any consistency all season. We have to address that quickly."

It was a hugely frustrating afternoon for Harris, his Cardiff City players and Bluebirds fans, who watched their team implement a perfect game plan for the first half.

But, as Brentford gained momentum, Cardiff became jittery and gifted their opposition a number of chances and, ultimately, it was Canos who took them.

And the manager was extremely disappointed by the manner in which his side crumbled in the second half, especially when a positive result, against a top side in this division, will have provided a very welcome boost heading into Wycombe

"For 49 minutes I thought we were bloody excellent," he said.

"I thought our discipline without the ball, game plan was excellent. We contained Brentford, a very good attacking side, to next to nothing.

"We were comfortable in the game, scored a worldie goal from Will Vaulks on the stroke of half-time and started the second half really well, pressed the ball and forced it in good areas.

"And then, we threw three goals into our own net in the space of 20 minutes and leave ourselves with a mountain to climb.


"I said after Norwich about turning the ball over at the start of the second half against Norwich, which they didn't need because they are a good side, well, I repeat those words today against Brentford, but even worse because we have actually thrown three into the goal.

"I am lost for words, really."


Cardiff had actually done well to contain Brentford, known for their free-flowing football and who have now gone 15 games without defeat, and had carried out their plan to a tee.

Canos' three strikes, however, undid all that positive early work from the Bluebirds and Harris believes individual errors led to each of the goals.

"If you watch the goals back, the first one can't go in the back of the net," Harris said.

"The second one was just too easy to get a shot in, one against two defenders and we don't go close enough to block the shot.

"And the third one, we have just got to save it.

"We are masters of our own downfall, without a shadow of doubt, individual errors have cost us today."

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We have been making errors from the first pass of the season.

Here's a word for you Neil: Resign. You are simply not good enough to be Cardiff City manager. There is no sentiment in football as you well know. When it was 1 v 1 you needed to react but you left it too late until we were losing. Always no plan B. You are so lucky that stadiums are empty at the moment as many would have stayed late after games had finished this season to tell you in person you are not good enough.

Last edited by EastleighBlue on Sat Dec 26, 2020 7:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

‘We were excellent’....until Brentford got out of first gear.
We offered nothing before Vaulks goal and very little after imo.

Hell he is a defeatist.

Inspiring? NO.

He’s lost for words,and definitely lost of any ideas on how to manage this side,his comments are bizarre,why does he say,we can’t compete against these sides?have Brentford been in the premier league lately ?,have Brentford received the money from being in the premier league and the parachute payments we ve received??

I’m lost for words this guy calls himself a manager.

He keeps saying that defenders mistakes need to be learnt from and he then picks the same back four over and over again.

Here's a word for you Neil: Resign. You are simply not good enough to be Cardiff City manager. There is no sentiment in football as you well know. When it was 1 v 1 you needed to react but you left it too late until we were losing. Always no plan B. You are so lucky that stadiums are empty at the moment as many would have stayed late after games had finished this season to tell you in person you are not good enough.

Sounds like a man on borrowed time.

Sounds like a man on borrowed time.

Yep. Got to admire him for being honest but its not going to do him any good.

This reminds me of an old job I had about 8 years ago. I was a project manager and had targets to meet. 6 months into the job I came to the conclusion I was not going to be able to deliver so gave my boss a list of things I needed to stand a chance. I got ignored by him and was used as an excuse for the company failing. My time was up and you just know it. I wonder if Harris is feeling that way?

I don’t solely blame him.

He’s just realised we are a big club, currently sleeping through the season and he’s taken on more than he can chew.

We have to look at the top 3 VT, Choo and Dalman. They have hired the managers and the failures all come under their stewardship. The exception being Warnock who is a wily old fox and knows the ins and outs of how a club runs and could control those 3. All the other managers couldn’t and the virus within the club continued.

Harris inexperience has cost him, who goes into a season stating we’ve got a strong squad and only has one RB who is young in his squad? Then plays probably his most energetic midfielder at RB.

I’ve said for a long time a lot of the players don’t play for him and something is not right. The central pairing have been poor over months but they continue to play. The recent crap about Benkovic doesn’t add up, give the lad a chance if he’s no good it will show but not playing him is weird.

I’m sure Harris will go with the same team for Wycombe but for the first time I really think if we lose he will be sacked.

The worrying part is will those 3 make the right selection, that’s debatable and they may be rich from great businesses however running a machine like a football club highlights their weaknesses. That’s why the virus still continues within the club.


Watch this space it’s never a dull moment in the life of Cardiff City.

‘We were excellent’....until Brentford got out of first gear.
We offered nothing before Vaulks goal and very little after imo.

Is he for real? He’s as bad as that clown on City TV who just before Vaulks opener said he was really pleased with our performance to then.
What? No effort on goal? No possession. Is our only ambition a 0-0 at home? It was only because Brentford hadn’t turned up.
Another team light years ahead of our club.

Got be honest, I've stopped watching all together.. I don't believe we have bad players. But we do have a shit manager that makes them look poor.. Whole club needs to be overhauled.. Start again by employing a young football manager who at least wants to play possession football. Not one that pretends to want to

SSDD

Got be honest, I've stopped watching all together.. I don't believe we have bad players. But we do have a shit manager that makes them look poor.. Whole club needs to be overhauled.. Start again by employing a young football manager who at least wants to play possession football. Not one that pretends to want to

Agree, compare our managers against the Jack's over the past ten years !! How do they manage to find them and we end up with a succession of lump it merchants. I firmly believe our squad can play a hell of a lot better than they do under Harris must be demoralised before stepping on the pitch !