CITY QUICKLY CLOSING THE GAP?

[b]Cardiff City are quickly closing the gap on the Championship's top teams as optimism grows over next season


By Glen Williams junior reporter



The Bluebirds lost narrowly to league leaders Fulham at Cardiff City Stadium but will have been disappointed not to win it

Cardiff City's defeat by Fulham was a game of small margins and big moments.

James Collins, rusty and brought in from the cold owing at the last minute to sickness in the Bluebirds camp, had the hosts' best chance of the game, a one-on-one with Marek Rodak, which he utterly butchered.

By contrast, Fulham have arguably the best striker the Championship has ever seen, a man who has broken the goalscoring record in this division with 13 games still left to play, and when the chance was presented to him he stuck it in the back of the net.

That, ultimately, was the difference, because Cardiff made the Cottagers look pretty ordinary. Those not in attendance might see the possession stats and think that was not the case, but, generally, Cardiff posed far more threats than Fulham and it is testament to just how far they have come in such a short space of time.

It was a brave and valiant performance by a side whose build-up was utterly decimated by an illness bug which left as many as six players stricken in the hours leading up to the match.

In the reverse fixture, by contrast, Cardiff blown away in west London. A 2-0 loss in the middle of that dire eight-game losing streak under Mick McCarthy. Granted, things could hardly get any worse, but the contrast between then and now, just four months on, is night and day.

Cardiff have gone toe to toe with table-topping Fulham and the form team in the league in Huddersfield Town in the last two days and can count themselves extremely unlucky not to have gotten anything out of either game. It's not overstating things to say they could conceivably have won both.

Since Steve Morison took charge, Cardiff has lost by more than a one-goal margin only once, against Bournemouth on December 30. By contrast, five of the previous six defeats before Morison took the reins were lost by more than one goal.

They are proving far more difficult to beat, the defence, by and large, has markedly improved and they have been far better in front of goal, generally speaking. The building blocks are certainly there.

If we are to push that on further, the Fulham game should be one that Cardiff are hugely disappointed not to win next season. While this season now is about measuring strides made, next term will be about going one further, beating the best teams and challenging for those top-six spots again.

Make no mistake, this is all gearing towards a huge summer rebuild. With loan players returning to their clubs, as many as 15 players could be out the door in just a few months' time.

While that is a potentially frightening prospect for a club with a rookie coaching staff at this level, the results and performances over the last few months have given optimism for what the future could potentially be, if Morison and Co are given the keys this summer.

It's clear, though, that Cardiff's base level has risen markedly in a few months and if the recruitment in the summer is as successful as the famously more frantic January window, it could be an exciting time for the club and its fans.

There will be a new-look team next season and Cardiff need additions all over the pitch. Let's not pretend it will be an easy task.

If every out-of-contract player leaves, which is not a completely unthinkable prospect at present, the Bluebirds will need a new goalkeeper, three centre-backs, three wing-backs, three central midfielders, potentially a couple of wingers and two new strikers.

The recruitment will have to be spot on, of course, given the sheer volume of bodies heading out the door and the little money City will undoubtedly have to play with, but the football generally and the transfers have been a big improvement to what we have seen of late.

Plus there will be the likes of Perry Ng, Mark McGuinness and Ryan Wintle already in situ, along with burgeoning talents such as Joel Bagan, Rubin Colwill and Isaak Davies, all of whom will be all the better for another season of Championship football under their belts.

It's now about getting the summer recruitment right and further closing the gap on the likes of Fulham and Huddersfield, which, as we've seen in recent days, is not a million miles away.

Fulham are a team which have blown away countless teams this season and City valiantly stood up to the task, failing to seize their big chances while Mitrovic buried his.

But it does offer real hope that the chasm between Cardiff and the top teams in the league is getting smaller and leaps are being made in a positive direction.

A summer of opportunity awaits and it should represent genuine excitement and provide optimism, not only on the back of that recent winning run but because of the last two performances against top sides in this division.

There is a platform now from which Cardiff must springboard next season in order to avoid another underwhelming campaign. But there is growing confidence they just might be able to do it.

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Don't see it quite yet; but the potential is there and a summer of support and clever decisions could see the 'Play-offs' a reasonable expectation

The mood is certainly lifting

Don't see it quite yet; but the potential is there and a summer of support and clever decisions could see the 'Play-offs' a reasonable expectation

The mood is certainly lifting

Totally agree. I believe we hit our low point and we will be improving constantly from now on.

Don't see it quite yet; but the potential is there and a summer of support and clever decisions could see the 'Play-offs' a reasonable expectation

The mood is certainly lifting

Totally agree. I believe we hit our low point and we will be improving constantly from now on.

Don’t forget we’ve got a first X1 with several loanees who won’t be here next season.
Can’t see us getting the quality of Dramah and Doyle in particular.

City need a right back, central defender, winger, creative midfielder and centre forward.

Need also to say good bye to Vaulks, Collins, Pack, Bacuna, Nelson at least.

Let’s get safe and then play players who will be here next season.

Don't see it quite yet; but the potential is there and a summer of support and clever decisions could see the 'Play-offs' a reasonable expectation

The mood is certainly lifting

Totally agree. I believe we hit our low point and we will be improving constantly from now on.

Don’t forget we’ve got a first X1 with several loanees who won’t be here next season.
Can’t see us getting the quality of Dramah and Doyle in particular.

City need a right back, central defender, winger, creative midfielder and centre forward.

Need also to say good bye to Vaulks, Collins, Pack, Bacuna, Nelson at least.

Let’s get safe and then play players who will be here next season.

What a team with around 9 youngsters who certainly wont all be at club or in 1st team next season... you forget can lose around 9 experienced players from squad we simply need to carry on this season and hopefully plan for next season in the knowledge that we can play decent football and compete with the correct players brought in..

Don't see it quite yet; but the potential is there and a summer of support and clever decisions could see the 'Play-offs' a reasonable expectation

The mood is certainly lifting

Totally agree. I believe we hit our low point and we will be improving constantly from now on.

Don’t forget we’ve got a first X1 with several loanees who won’t be here next season.
Can’t see us getting the quality of Dramah and Doyle in particular.

City need a right back, central defender, winger, creative midfielder and centre forward.

Need also to say good bye to Vaulks, Collins, Pack, Bacuna, Nelson at least.

Let’s get safe and then play players who will be here next season.

What a team with around 9 youngsters who certainly wont all be at club or in 1st team next season... you forget can lose around 9 experienced players from squad we simply need to carry on this season and hopefully plan for next season in the knowledge that we can play decent football and compete with the correct players brought in..

I completely accept that we won't have Drameh or Doyle themselves next season, however, who's to say that we won't have loans of similar quality ? Last season we had Harry Wilson, Osei-Tutu (very unlucky with injury) and, to a lesser extent, Ojo.

We do seem to be building a reputation as a club that looks after these well thought of loan players.

I think this forms part of the model for a number of Championship clubs now. It allows you to bring in quality that otherwise you just couldn't afford e.g. Wilson, Drameh, Doyle, etc.

That said, we will need to stabilise by extending some of the contracts and making a few permanent signings on top of the youngsters and loans. That will take money, not huge amounts, so I agree with those who have said that we will need some additional investment in the summer.

Don't see it quite yet; but the potential is there and a summer of support and clever decisions could see the 'Play-offs' a reasonable expectation

The mood is certainly lifting

Love your positivity Chris - you’re certainly not Barclay in disguise

With the strong possibility of losing so many it’ll take a lot of luck besides a really good recruitment process to achieve that but - hey we’re Cardiff City, never a dull moment

I, for one, really hope we hold on to Ralls at least.

Who’s to say we won’t get Doyle , Drameh and Doherty again next season?
Doherty less likely than the other two. Doyle will not play for Man City.

Who’s to say we won’t get Doyle , Drameh and Doherty again next season?
Doherty less likely than the other two. Doyle will not play for Man City.

I hope you're right Doyle might be a possibility if Man City want him out playing again although they may want him to be tried at Prem level next.

Drameh I just think is too good for this level. But if Leeds get relegated, and it's looking more likely by the game, they may well want to hang on to him if others leave.

Doughty is the intriguing one. He looks a really good player and I'm amazed that Stoke wanted to loan him out. Surely they haven't got another left back as good as him ? I'd sign him in a heartbeat.

Don't see it quite yet; but the potential is there and a summer of support and clever decisions could see the 'Play-offs' a reasonable expectation

The mood is certainly lifting

Under MM we won a little over 21% of the points on offer and since SM has taken over we have won over 41% which is a massive improvement, but winning 41% of points on offer will not get our club into the playoffs where history will tell you the target is 54% of the points on offer.

January has shown SM understands what is needed for the team to play the way he wants and I'm sure given the chance he will, with no money available, do another decent job.

The potential is there but it's over to the club to decide if it will be SM in charge and as you say Chris with a little support and some clever signings who knows. I'm certainly not writing next season off.

People see the out of contract players as a problem. Personally, I see it as a good thing. The majority of them are currently offering nothing to the team anyway so won't particularly be missed and others limit us on how we can play. The massive wages are also crippling the club.

We will be in a position where the manager can truly reshape the squad. With decent recruitment We could have fewer players on a fraction of the wages who will contribute more to the squad and play better football. Id be happy to see morison's contract extended. I think he has done very well since he came in, given the state of the squad he inherited. He's turned performances and results around and had a brilliant transfer window. If we sign a few out of contract players and supplement the squad with a few prem loans we should be in a position to have a much better season.

Seems an odd time to write this article. A couple of weeks ago maybe but we have just one point from the last four games and were maybe a bit lucky to get that. If not getting stuffed but still losing is a benchmark for improvement then maybe we are doing ok but we didn’t exactly shine against ordinary Millwall or Blackpool.

Don’t want to be too negative but one point from the last twelve is crap form. It would have us relegated bottom of the league next season. Think we really need to be a bit more realistic about this rather than look at things through rose tinted spectacles. Playing nice passing football won’t cut the mustard when you are losing all the time.

Malky’s first season we had I think only 10 first team players on the books when he arrived, decent recruiting put us in the play offs that season

Seems an odd time to write this article. A couple of weeks ago maybe but we have just one point from the last four games and were maybe a bit lucky to get that. If not getting stuffed but still losing is a benchmark for improvement then maybe we are doing ok but we didn’t exactly shine against ordinary Millwall or Blackpool.

Don’t want to be too negative but one point from the last twelve is crap form. It would have us relegated bottom of the league next season. Think we really need to be a bit more realistic about this rather than look at things through rose tinted spectacles. Playing nice passing football won’t cut the mustard when you are losing all the time.

And the 4 games before that it was 9 points from 12. That form would have us in the automatics. Both are ridiculous statements as you cant base a season off 4 games.

There probably isn't a single stat that has got worse since morison came in. There is no argument to say we havnt improved, really. Morison inherited a completely unbalanced squad and has significantly improved us. I dont expect us to be top 6 next season but im looking forward to the rebuild.

Seems an odd time to write this article. A couple of weeks ago maybe but we have just one point from the last four games and were maybe a bit lucky to get that. If not getting stuffed but still losing is a benchmark for improvement then maybe we are doing ok but we didn’t exactly shine against ordinary Millwall or Blackpool.

Don’t want to be too negative but one point from the last twelve is crap form. It would have us relegated bottom of the league next season. Think we really need to be a bit more realistic about this rather than look at things through rose tinted spectacles. Playing nice passing football won’t cut the mustard when you are losing all the time.

And the 4 games before that it was 9 points from 12. That form would have us in the automatics. Both are ridiculous statements as you cant base a season off 4 games.

There probably isn't a single stat that has got worse since morison came in. There is no argument to say we havnt improved, really. Morison inherited a completely unbalanced squad and has significantly improved us. I dont expect us to be top 6 next season but im looking forward to the rebuild.

Don't see it quite yet; but the potential is there and a summer of support and clever decisions could see the 'Play-offs' a reasonable expectation

The mood is certainly lifting

Totally agree. Vast improvement since Morison took over .

Mick was trying to get sacked when he didn't fancy it anymore, so we were never really that bad. If you remember some on here were taking the piss out of the jacks after half a dozen games and we thought we were play off candidates.

We still pretend to pass it. One for the stat boys, which player turns over possession the most? My guess its Flint, so it will be the same stat as the last two seasons.

A ball playing centre half is a must, we have McGuiness and he is a unit who will only get better so we can afford to sacrifice height for technicality.

We still play with an out and out target man, i can only think Burnley and now the Geordies (until they loan out woods) at the top level who start with one. Its an EFL thing.

We still smack it long and hope the drameh can nick possession and create something on the break.I am not against it, its just the style isn't that much different to Harris, we just had a bit of a scare and appreciate life more now.

It’s half time at derby, still think we have changed styles?

5 at the back is not 352 like SM states