Well - the season is over for the Bluebirds and a final finish of eighth is probably a fair enough position for our form this season. I hoped at the start of the season that we might have made it into the playoffs, and despite a great deal of pessimism from many of our so-called fans we were still in with a chance of doing that when we went into the 45th game of our 46 game season. Ultimately it was our away form that wasn't good enough, as only 2 home defeats all season compares favourably with almost every other team in the division.
Inconsistency was our biggest problem. In addition to that, the financial shackles placed on us by the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations in January also made it difficult to press on with one or two more key players to get us over the line. As I have said before in the blog this season, we were nearly a good team and overall I'd rate the season as about a B, with a B+ for home form.
Results since my last post :-
CARDIFF 2 DERBY 1
BURNLEY 0 CARDIFF 0
FULHAM 2 CARDIFF 1
CARDIFF 0 QPR 0
BRENTFORD 2 CARDIFF 1
CARDIFF 2 BOLTON 1
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 3 CARDIFF 0
CARDIFF 1 BIRMINGHAM 1
I'll not go into the disappointing details of those games. Most of us were quietly confident after the win against Derby, and the point away at eventual Champions Burnley, but the late defeat against Fulham, followed by a poor performance at home against QPR meant that the writing was on the wall. the defeat against Brentford should have sealed it, but Sheffield Wednesday wobbled for a couple of weeks themselves. We went to Sheffield where a win would have kept our hopes alive, but were never really in the game and were comfortably beaten to effectively end our season.Th
Nothing stays still in football.
On the eve of the final game of the season, the club announced that manager Russell Slade was being "kicked upstairs" and was relieved of his role as manager to become "Director of Football". (For my friends in the US, this is similar to the GM role at a baseball club!). As I compose this a new first team coach has not been appointed, with countless rumours circulating about who that might be. A lot of fans want a big name manager from outside the club, but I'm not sure that this is the way Cardiff City does business these days, and an appointment from within, possibly Russell Slade's deputy Paul Trollope, is a distinct possibility - watch this space.
There is a lot of work to be done over the summer, but a number of our higher earners should be off the books or leaving. Exciting times, and the club has made the change at exactly the right time.
An Important Point
Following the last game of the season, it was quietly announced that the transfer embargo placed on the club by the FFP regulations had been lifted, meaning that the club could now get down to doing business over the summer. There has been much work going on behind the scenes at the club over the last 18 months to stabilise the club financially, and the work now seems to have paid off. The club is now more united between fans and management than it has been for some time, and it is to be hoped that this translates itself into bigger crowds next season.
The first new signing for the club has been Lex Immers who has been on loan to the club since January, but his deal has now been made permanent. He has been very influential since his arrival, and I'm not sure we would have got as close to the playoffs as we did without him. Also, he was injured and unavailable from the QPR game onwards, which may have has more of an effect on the team the many give credit for.
Lex Immers is a Bluebird!
The Fat Lady can wait awhile yet!
There is a bit more of the season yet. The playoffs start this week, and the Premier League finishes this Sunday. We now know that Norwich, Aston Villa and Newcastle will be joining us in the Championship next year following their relegation last night. Then there is still the FA Cup final and both European finals to be played. And following that the European Championships where Wales play in a big tournament for the first time since before I was born in 1958! The tournament finishes on the 10th July, and 4 weeks later the Championship season begins all over again. Bring it on!
