MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

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MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby Sven » Mon Oct 18, 2021 2:37 am

Mick McCarthy's Cardiff City tactics are managerial madness, it's hard to see how Vincent Tan can let this carry on after South Wales derby horror show


By Paul Abbandonato


Monday 18th October 2021




Cardiff City's owner Vincent Tan gave Mick McCarthy time and backed him to get it right against Swansea City, but the manager let down the passionate Bluebirds supporters - and indeed the Board - with his team selection and tactics

It was the legendary German physicist Albert Einstein who is credited with saying the definition of insanity is 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.'

Fast forward to 2021 by asking any Cardiff City fan what they think is managerial madness in football parlance and it's a fair bet the resounding answer will be on the lines of repeating the folly of playing five centre-halves.

Certainly after that particular tactic saw you thumped 4-0 at home against West Brom last time it was tried.

Yet hey presto, what does Mick McCarthy deliver for those Bluebirds supporters against their arch-rivals Swansea City in the South Wales derby?

You've got it. Five centre-backs once more, meaning negativity from the start, no goals again, six losses on the trot. A 3-0 thrashing.

I could go on.

A static midfield once more, Leandro Bacuna picked again despite him continuing to offer little, and poor Kieffer Moore left so isolated up top on his own that he understandably ended up looking a hugely frustrated figure.

I can forgive Kieffer for throwing his arms out in bewilderment at times. He tried manfully, certainly in the first half, but as per usual received scant service and support directly as a result of the ultra-negative approach adopted by the manager.

Then, seeing things so obviously wrong, what did McCarthy do to address these clear issues at half-time? Nothing. The substitutes were left on the bench, his under-performing and at times out of position favourites remained on the field.

It was alarmingly bad and begs the question of whether Cardiff owner Vincent Tan will be prepared to put up with this much more?

Despite their woeful run, the batterings, and the appalling football played, Tan backed McCarthy and afforded him the opportunity to right the wrongs from previous games.

Frankly I'm utterly astonished that a manager of McCarthy's immense experience and proven track record should make such fundamental errors again.

It's almost as if he has thrown Tan's loyalty back in his face and what happens next remains to be seen.

Cardiff's fans, the club's paying customers, have already delivered their verdict.

One of their most fervent supporters, a season ticket holder for almost 50 years, tells me this is the worst run of form since the dark old days of Alan Durban during the mid-1980s.

"The football is just as bad too - the only difference is that it's in the Championship, as opposed to the old Division Four," he says.

When people like that, and Bluebirds followers everywhere, talk in such negative terms, it's hard to see where McCarthy can go from here as Cardiff City manager.

He has evidently lost most of the supporter base. Even those backing him will have been alarmed at the naivety Big Mick showed in defending his tactics for the Swansea game.

The West Brom loss, he claimed, was down to an early goal throwing the game plan out of synch and it becoming something of a 'goal of the season' competition due to the quality of the Baggies strikes.

It was nothing to do with five centre-backs, he reckoned. Hence the same approach for Swansea.

Stubbornness can be a commendable quality at times, but at others it can be a terrible trait.

Listening to those claims in McCarthy's pre-match Sky Sports interview, City fans can't have known whether to laugh, cry, or just beat a fist on the table in anger.

Bluebirds supporters are among the most passionate, fervent and loyal in the UK and they deserve way, way, way better than the utter dross they are getting at the moment.

To be fair to McCarthy, he deserves a lot of credit for rescuing the Bluebirds from a spiral towards relegation last season, even momentarily challenging for the play-offs.

But surely he needs to start seeing reality on this one?

The hiding by West Brom was everything to do with his team selection and tactics and the same applied against Swansea.

The defenders were way too deep for Jamie Paterson's opening goal and the midfield in front too slow to close down.

Credit Paterson for a great strike, but from Cardiff's perspective that goal should have been avoidable.

Ciaron Brown then played Joel Piroe onside for the second, whereas a proper wing-back, one who was prepared to get forward, would have been 10 yards further up the pitch.

Swansea's duo Ethan Laird and Jake Bidwell did just that. They were liberated, surged forward and linked with the midfield and Piroe up top, making Swansea look a proper team with cohesion, whereas Cardiff's played like centre-halves. Which they are.

This is no slight on Mark McGuinness, I must stress. He looks a real player and should be first pick at centre-back from here on in.

It's also unfair on Brown to suddenly expect him to morph into Roberto Carlos.

But Cardiff once again looked lop-sided, limited and lacking in energy, invention and pace because McCarthy's team selection set them up that way.

Learning from the errors of West Brom, he could easily have played Perry Ng or Joel Bagan, even Joe Ralls at left-back (he did well there in the 1-0 derby win last season), but preferred the so-called greater defensive solidity of five centre-halves.

Plus Marlon Pack in front of them, hardly the most mobile and athletic of midfielders, compounding the problems further.

Cardiff haven't scored a single first half goal this season. Not one. That is an alarming stat.

You would think any manager would look at that, accept a fundamental change in approach is required, and actually address the clear issues staring everybody else in the face.

But no, we had same old, same old.

Cardiff have one of the Championship's most potent weapons in Kieffer Moore. Not utilising him properly borders on the scandalous.

Credit to Swansea for their win, indeed the scoreline could have been even heavier in their favour, but Cardiff are making opposition like them, Blackburn and indeed West Brom look better for 90 minutes against them than they actually are.


So what happens from here on in?

McCarthy was supposed to be a short-term appointment to bail out a team in crisis under Neil Harris.

He did the job required, stabilised the ship, but the moment Celtic came sniffing Cardiff signed him up on a permanent deal. It's been downhill since then.

Errors are coming home to roost. Like his refusal to address clear midfield issues during the summer, letting a creative spark like Josh Murphy leave, loyalty to some senior stars who are under-performing and could do with being taken out of the firing line.

The club could also have done more to help Big Mick address the loss of Harry Wilson and Seyi Ojo, particularly as Murphy wasn't wanted and Lee Tomlin wasn't working out.

To a degree McCarthy's hands were tied, but he hasn't helped himself in recent weeks.

This was always a season in transition for Cardiff, trim the wage bill, bring through the young guns. No-one really anticipated a relegation fight, did they?

Despite the cutbacks, I still thought Cardiff would be hard to beat. They may lack flair, but they'd possess defensive resolve, work harder than most, draw lots of games and win some thanks to set-piece power.

On the contrary, they have been way too easy to beat and the manager has to take responsibility.

The fans seem to have had enough. With the paying customer having turned, many are questioning whether Big Mick can have a credible future in the Welsh capital - although who Cardiff might replace him with is another matter entirely.


However, if Tan does decide enough is enough and deem the time has come, arch rivals Swansea might just have done a massive favour to Bluebirds fans wanting that change.

That would be one of football's biggest ironies.
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MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby Igovernor » Mon Oct 18, 2021 4:06 am

Chris I could have written this article as it is what I and many other city fans have been saying for a while, the sooner Wilder is in the better, not Flynn :thumbup:
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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby Bigmarkw » Mon Oct 18, 2021 5:26 am

I refer to him as “mick the prick” had done for a long time this was clear from very early on. I’m gutted I was priced right but a new manager can change things for the better but we need one quickly.
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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby Bluebird1977 » Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:09 am

Soon as he got a new contract I knew it was downhill from there tbh. I know his hands are tied in who went out on loan and who stays but Jesus wept there's no excuses playing 5 center halfs which hasn't worked so far. Bizarre after the reading game playing 4 4 2 although we still lost from reading's only chance :shock:
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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby maccydee » Mon Oct 18, 2021 7:08 am

Bluebird1977 wrote:Soon as he got a new contract I knew it was downhill from there tbh. I know his hands are tied in who went out on loan and who stays but Jesus wept there's no excuses playing 5 center halfs which hasn't worked so far. Bizarre after the reading game playing 4 4 2 although we still lost from reading's only chance :shock:


His Decision to loan out Murphy, Wintle and Whyte.
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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby castleblue » Mon Oct 18, 2021 7:42 am

For those of us who followed City during the 80's and of course the "Durban" years our worst run during the Durban tenure was in season 1985/86, which was in old division 3, where we had to endured a run of 7 defeats in 8 games. One of the games was an FA Cup 1st round match away at Exeter.

Yesterday MM equalled that dreadful run of 7 defeats in 8 games, if you count the Brighton defeat in the 2nd round of the caraboa cup.

Back in in 1985 that terrible run actually extended to 12 defeats in 13 games between September and November 1985. MM and his "Class" of 2021 have now equalled one aspect of that dreadful run and in my opinion VT cannot allow this to carry on for a second longer. Somethings in football never change and back in 1985 that run resulted in relegation the same WILL happen this season if nothing is done.

MM time at our club MUST be brought to an end TODAY.


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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby ccfcbiker » Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:11 am

The biggest game of the season - two f u c king weeks to prepare and what does he dish up? enough said.
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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby Fairblue27 » Mon Oct 18, 2021 10:54 am

If my memory serves me right I think it was Exeter away that the police had to provide protection for Alan Durban as he was in danger of being attacked by his own supporters.
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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby Escott1927 » Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:54 am

Summed up pretty well. As soon as I seen the lineup I knew we wouldnt get anything out of the game. Cant imagine the players are happy with how he is setting us up - to lose essentially. If We were drawing games or not conceding goals, I could see why he was doing it. But we've conceded 15 goals in 6 games and scored once! Really don't expect to see him do anything differently Wednesday either.
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Re: MICK McCARTHY'S TACTICS ARE MANAGERIAL MADNESS

Postby Bluebird1977 » Mon Oct 18, 2021 2:15 pm

maccydee wrote:
Bluebird1977 wrote:Soon as he got a new contract I knew it was downhill from there tbh. I know his hands are tied in who went out on loan and who stays but Jesus wept there's no excuses playing 5 center halfs which hasn't worked so far. Bizarre after the reading game playing 4 4 2 although we still lost from reading's only chance :shock:


His Decision to loan out Murphy, Wintle and Whyte.


More down to money saved in my opinion another puppet in charge is what we got. Although we are talking about the same bloke who says we played well for abit after getting smashed in yet another game :shock: the board pull every string there the supposed manager just faces the media and has to say the right things like most on a payroll
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