CARDIFF FANS DESERVE AND WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING AT THEIR CLUB:
Mark Hudson is Cardiff's fifth manager in three years and he is not even permanent yet. It would be surprising if that is not the case after the arrival of Whitehead, but never say never. A year ago to the day Cardiff lost to QPR in Morison's second game as interim boss, a defeat which saw City drop to 22nd in the league. Wednesday night's loss to Watford, Hudson's eighth as interim manager, saw Cardiff slide back to 18th, two points off 22nd-placed Wigan Athletic.
It would be remiss not to mention the continued struggles currently facing the club, it seems never ending . Lawsuits, losing, and then appealing again, the Emiliano Sala Court of Arbitration for Sport decision, Vincent Tan massively reducing his spending and slashing the wage bill. More than one report of Tan wanting to sell the club has surfaced this year, too. It is not an easy climate and the club are fighting battles on many fronts and that must be understood.
Won win in City’s last five matches is also very worrying for City fans once again as they find their club not far of the bottom.
By Glen Williams
The falling attendance figures at Cardiff City Stadium have been noted, with that number only just staying above 17,000 for Wednesday night's defeat by Watford. The same was the case on Saturday for the win over Rotherham United. That should be alarming to the Bluebirds' top brass, who have a potentially huge, largely untapped, fan base on their doorstep, with football currently at the forefront of everyone's minds in this country ahead of watching Wales at their first World Cup in 64 years.
That attendance figure is no slight on Hudson nor the players, at least that is what can be gleaned from fans. The supporters simply feel they are being left in the lurch, disillusioned with the 'project' and are feeling a disconnect owing to a lack of communication from above.
Whenever Hudson is asked about it, all he can say is that he hopes more clarity is provided in the coming days or weeks. It's not a new issue. The same shroud of doubt surrounded the permanent appointment of Morison, who was considered too much of a risk at one point, with Cardiff staring at the face of relegation following the doomed end of Mick McCarthy's reign.
But many have noted the disconnect is similar to what it was like pre-Neil Warnock, the man who single-handedly proved a uniting force at Cardiff City Stadium. Now, of course, managers like Warnock don't exactly grow on trees, he is one of a kind, and white knights are not so readily available to rescue such situations.
It takes more than one larger-than-life manager to make a club whole again and times like these - fraught with uncertainty and trepidation - highlight that.
It would be remiss not to mention the continued struggles currently facing the club, it seems never ending . Lawsuits, losing, and then appealing again, the Emiliano Sala Court of Arbitration for Sport decision, Vincent Tan massively reducing his spending and slashing the wage bill. More than one report of Tan wanting to sell the club has surfaced this year, too. It is not an easy climate and the club are fighting battles on many fronts and that must be understood.
But it must also be recognised that the supporters are the most important people associated with the club. They deserve clarity on issues big and small and that is not the case at the minute. Cardiff appear to be asleep at the wheel while the radio silence from above continues. Supporters are getting restless and want to know what happens next. What's the plan a year from now? Three years from now? Five years from now? It's not that simple, of course, in such an ever-changing environment, but some sort of vision would be gratefully received by supporters.
Uncertainty is not conducive to a successful environment.
More than one person has said that over the last month. It doesn't help the supporters, the manager - or interim manager as it were - or the players. Perry Ng tried his best to say the lack of permanency didn't have an effect, but if you read between the lines during his press conference this week it is pretty evident that it does impact the playing squad.
"At first it's business at usual, but the longer [not having a permanent manager] goes on, we are all a bit more in the middle ground," Ng said. "But we've just got to take it as it comes."
It wouldn't have been the ideal scenario for the 17 players who were brought in during the summer window, nearly all of whom cited the club's vision and so-called 'project'.
Cardiff fans just want to know now. They are a loyal supporter base and if Hudson is the man to take the reins permanently, they want to be told that so they can throw their backing behind him and the team.
The last we heard from Cardiff's hierarchy was an 82-word statement which signalled the end of Morison's time in charge six weeks ago, which concluded with the sentence: "Mark Hudson will oversee first team affairs at this time, assisted by Tom Ramasut, whilst the club considers options for the position."
Has the club now had enough time to consider?
Is anyone else actually on the radar?
There has been nothing to suggest yet that other candidates are being sounded out or interviewed. And Hudson continues to say conversations are taking place over his long-term future.
The natural break of the World Cup after next Saturday's game with Sheffield United appears to be being used as some sort of target for Cardiff to get to unscathed before a long-term solution is announced. But by then Hudson will have taken charge of 11 games, a quarter of the season having gone by under this cloud of mystery.
Hudson is doing his best under the circumstances. It will be a big boost for him to have brought in Whitehead, a person he knows well and stamp of approval, of sorts, from the board.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.