The Invisible Season.

Despite the best of intentions, I made no further blog posts for the 2020/21 season after October 2020. The constant absence of spectators from games just wore me down after a while, and it was difficult to get a good impression of how the team was really doing without seeing them in front of me through my own eyes, rather than on a TV screen. 

I've never paid for subscription services to watch on the club streaming service, and chose not to spend money on it last season. I don't know if it sounds better when there are fans in attendance, but I found the commentary very poor and dispiriting last season, and made an early decision to only watch those games televised live by SKY. The Cardiff City Player is always about a minute behind real time (the SKY 'red button' too), and it is infuriating to see that a goal has been scored via some other form of media so long before you see it on the screen.

I wouldn't say that I have lost my enthusiasm for the game or for Cardiff City - its just not the same without fans. Here's hoping that we'll be allowed back in the Cardiff City Stadium next season.

Performance Rating for the season? 7/10.

It was an up and down season where at different times we flirted with the playoffs, relegation and mid-table obscurity. We got rid of 1 manager and brought in a new one. We had two major winning runes and one major losing run (which cost Neil Harris his job). Our final position of 8th was probably a true reflection of our performance - 10 points away from the playoffs but the best of the rest.

What can we expect next season?

Firstly, there is a reasonable chance that we may actually get crowds back for the start of the new season. At the time of composing this post (27June 2021) it seems unlikely that full crowds will be allowed, but I'm pretty sure that season ticket holders at least should be able to have some sort of access to home games at the start of the season in August. Of course, this depends on the progress of the pandemic which remains impossible to predict accurately.

What about the progress of the team? Well, this too is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. The financial pressures on the club (and most other teams in the Championship) mean that there is not a huge amount of cash to splash around on new players. However, we have made a few signings already of some out of contract players, notably the experienced Luton Town striker James Collins, and former Crewe Alexandra midfielder Ryan Wintle who had been identified as one of the best free agents in the lower leagues. Let's hope he has the same impact as Perry Ng who we signed from Crewe last season. Also signed was Mark McGuiness, a former Arsenal youngster who played last season at Ipswich Town in League One. 

James Collins at Luton

Ryan Wintle

3 notable players from our promotion season will be leaving the club following the end of their contracts Sol Bamba (now thankfully over his cancer scare), Joe Bennett and Junior Hoillet. All of these players will be remembered fondly by Bluebirds fans, although my own favourite memory from these 3 is Hoillett's goal against Wolves in the Premier League - my favourite moment from that season.

Junior Hoillett scores against Wolves.

The main opposition to the team will, as usual, come from teams relegated from last year's Premier League. Perpetual yo-yo teams Fulham and West Brom will still be difficult to beat, and despite a dreadful season Sheffield United still have an experienced group of players. Manager Mick McCarthy has a lot of experience in this league and so could move us up into the playoffs or promotion, but equally it could all go badly wrong! But, the excitement for football fans remains the same in what appears to be the most open Championship season for many years.

Good, Bad or Ugly?

The unusual season continues with our customary not good but not bad start. 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses sums up how we have played for the last couple of seasons. Difficult to beat, but too many draws. The absence of spectators from stadia seems to have removed a lot of home advantage from games - both of our wins this season have come away from home, with 2 defeats and 2 draws at the Cardiff City Stadium. Lets hope the team can get over this, as it seems unlikely that any fans will be attending games until at least 2021.

The Transfer Window.

This has finally ended (until January), and it has been fairly successful for the club. In addition to the previous acquisitions of Keiffer Moore, Sheyi Ojo and Jordan Osei-Tutu, the club has also done a very useful piece of business in getting Liverpool player and Welsh international Harry Wilson in on a season long loan. Wilson was at Bournemouth in the Premier League last year, and at Derby County in the Championship in the season before that. His left foot has a little magic in it, and he also has a good bit of pace. He should take a little of the creative pressure off Lee Tomlin and it is always nice to have current Welsh internationals in the biggest club side in Wales (Moore, Wilson and Will Vaulks). It's a long time since we had 3 current Welsh internationals in the side.

Harry Wilson celebrates his first Cardiff City goal .

In addition to Wilson, the club also signed Phillip Benkovic on loan from Leicester City - a young and promising central defender who drew good reviews whilst on loan at Bristol City last season.

Fillip Benkovic.

CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:

Cardiff 0 Sheffield Wednesday 2

Nottingham Forest 0 Cardiff 2

Cardiff 1 Reading 2

Preston 0 Cardiff 1

Blackburn 0 Cardiff 0

Cardiff 1 Bournemouth 1

Cardiff 1 Middlesborough 1

A slow start to the season, but I also feel that we have already played 2 of the best teams in the division already, including the only 2 teams in the league who remain unbeaten after 7 matches. Bournemouth have been better than I expected after letting go some of their better players following relegation from the Premier League. Reading are 5 points clear at the top of the table already. They have been a bit of a surprise, but were showing signs of improvement towards the end of last season. There's a long way to go in this strange season, but it is quite conceivable that they could go all the way.

The games come thick and fast, with 2 games a week over the next few weeks, Unfortunately there have been a few injuries at both left and right back for the team, but there have now been 2 complete games for youth team product Joel Bagan who has stepped up in a capable manner at left back and is likely to have a successful career in front of him. 

Joel Bagan (on loan at Notts County last season).

For what it's worth, I'm still in a fairly positive mood to suggest that we can finish in the top 6 again this season. Let's watch this space.

Here we go again!

Well, just 43 days after we completed the 2019/20 season, its time to start 2020/21! The continuing influence of the COVID-19 virus means that there still won't be fans in stadiums for a while - at the time of writing this blog it seems likely to be 2021 at the earliest. We just have to carry on with the "new normal" for the time being.

So what can we expect from the new season?

There have been 3 new signings to the club during this limited off-season so far. Welsh international Kiefer Moore has joined from Wigan to increase our attacking options. His form for Wales in two international matches last week looks encouraging, especially with him scoring the winning goal in the game in Finland. As mentioned in my last blog, Moore is a bit of a late developer but first indications are encouraging.

Jordi Osei-Tutu at Bochum

We have also signed two young players from Premier League clubs on a season long loan - Jordi Osei-Tutu from Arsenal and Sheyi Ojo from Liverpool. Osei-Tutu is a right back - an area where the club definitely needed help following the departure of Lee Peltier and Jazz Richards last season. He scored 5 goals in 21 appearances on loan at Bochum in Bundesliga 2 last season which is a pretty good scoring rate for a fullback - lets hope he can defend too!

Sheyi Ojo at Rangers last season.

Sheyi Ojo has played a dozen or so games for Liverpool over the last 4 or 5 years but has spent time out on loan at Wigan, Fulham, Wolves and last season at Rangers in Scotland. Its difficult to fully assess his ability as he is 23 now but has recently been given a new contract by Liverpool prior to his loan so presumably he is still rated there.

The transfer window extends for another 4 weeks yet so there may yet be some more comings and goings within the squad.

Kiefer Moore scores the winner for Wales against Finland.

The Big Question

Can we get promotion back to the Premier League? I would rate our chances about the same as last season - we should be good enough for a top 6 finish at least, and are capable of getting an automatic spot. Of the 3 teams relegated from the Premier League I would only think that Watford have a good chance of returning straight back to the Premier League. Both Norwich and Bournemouth have had their best players "cherry-picked" back to teams in the Premier League and must be considered as only outside chances of a top 6 spot although Norwich always seem to do it when least expected. Of the teams already in the Championship I fancy Stoke to perform better this season with a new manager in place, and from experience we shouldn't rule out what Neil Warnock might achieve at Middlesborough.

So here are my top 6 predictions for the Championship this season ( in no particular order) :-

WATFORD

CARDIFF

STOKE CITY

MIDDLESBOROUGH

BRENTFORD

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

I'm hoping that as we have been able to keep the bulk of our team together from last season while other teams have had to sell some of their better players (eg Ollie Watkins from Brentford) will give us a good chance of making the top 6. However, a lot rests on the fitness of Lee Tomlin and perhaps the club needs to find a near equivalent player to take some of the work off his increasingly injury-prone body.  

But, this is the Championship where anything can happen where almost any team can get promoted or relegated. If I had to pick a team from "left field" then Coventry City might be a team that will do unexpectedly well. Football is back!

What a Season THAT was!

I had the best of intentions last season to update this blog regularly and put lots of deep meaningful insights into the state of our Championship season. But due to a combination of health issues, holidays and the COVID-19 crisis I didn't manage to do any of this! But I refuse to give in and will do my best to keep up with things this next season, which is only just over 3 weeks away (we think).

I'm pleased to say that I successfully managed to predict 4 of the top 6 teams before the start of last season (Fulham, Brentford, West Brom and ourselves). I was a little surprised how bad Stoke were, but I think that with a new manager in place that this coming season could be their chance to get back up to the top of the division. Bristol City flattered to deceive again with a poor second half to their season, especially after the lockdown break.

Neil Harris.

Of course, we now find ourselves with a new manager following the departure of Neil Warnock last November. Many fans were underwhelmed by the appointment of former Millwall boss Neil Harris, but as the season progressed he has gradually on the fans over, and after the resumption of the season following lockdown he had clearly been able to impose his own ideas on the team and they were much improved. This means that we can look forward to the coming season with confidence.

Lee Tomlin - key to the attack.

Our final position of 5th in the Championship table was probably deserved. As we were under Neil Warnock, the side became very difficult to beat under Neil Harris, but unfortunately we were unable to turn enough drawn games into wins. Without Lee Tomlin in the team, we lacked a creative edge and couldn't give sufficient support to our strikers. Despite being at his fittest for many years having lost 2 stone in weight during last off season, Lee still suffered some knee, ankle and hamstring injuries which kept him out of the team for a while. The lockdown actually helped us from this point of view as the delayed resumption to the season meant that he was able to return to the team when he would otherwise have been out for the last 10 games of the season. But that's another season in the books and only a short break until the next one. I wonder if we'll get to go to a game this season?

Kieffer is a Bluebird

We have made our first signing of the new season - Welsh international striker Kieffer Moore has joined from Wigan. He has had a "slow burner" of a career playing at low levels in the west country until his breakthrough season with Barnsley 2 years ago.He now has a few Wales caps to his name too, and appears to be a shrewd signing. We certainly need a regular goalscorer .

Full season preview to come before opening day of 12th September 2020.

B minus or C plus?

Well, the first flurry of fixtures are over and the start to the season has been OK. Nothing startling like our last Championship season when we started with 5 straight wins, but a solid 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses from our opening 6 league fixtures (and one Carabao Cup  loss). I know there is little to differ between a C plus and a B minus, but I'm going to award the team a  B minus so far and will attempt to explain myself below.

Results so far this season:-

WIGAN 3 CARDIFF 2

CARDIFF 2 LUTON 1

READING 3 CARDIFF 0

CARDIFF 2 HUDDERFIELD 1

BLACKBURN 0 CARDIFF 0

CARDIFF 0 LUTON 3 (Caraboa Cup)

CARDIFF 1 FULHAM 1

The opening game at Wigan was finally disappointing (especially as Wigan have not won any more league games and only scored one more goal) with a 3-2 defeat after Joe Ralls had given us the lead after 20 minutes. The team still had a bit of a makeshift feel to it, with new signing Aden Flint starting in the centre of defence alongside captain Sean Morrison. Up front, Gary Madine started the game as new signing Robert Glatzel had to serve a one match ban acquired at the end of last season's Bundesliga 2. The team was further disrupted when goalkeeper Neil Etheridge had to go off with a serious hamstring injury after 26 minutes, meaning that new signing Joe Day suddenly had to make his debut for Cardiff. Unfortunately, he was in goal for the 3 Wigan goals but could not be blamed for any of them - the defence seemed to lose a bit of organisation once he left the field.

Joe Ralls - best player of the season so far.

One week later, the team had a much different feel to it against newly promoted Luton Town. At the end of the transfer window deadline we had signed midfielder Marlon Pack from our Severnside rivals Bristol City. Also, Bobby Decordova-Reid had left the club to go to Fulham on an initial loan, with a transfer to be completed for £11.5m at the end of the season. Pack immediately took his place in from of the back 4 previously occupied by Aron Gunnarsson last season and looked at home. The newly promoted Luton team had some good individuals but eventually the pressure told and we got a deserved win from a  stoppage time winner from Isaac Vassell, another player signed (from Birmingham City) on Transfer deadline day. A deserved win if a little late in coming.

Isaac Vassell heads a late winner against Luton

The following away game at Reading was an awful experience, captured live on Sky TV. On reflection, the game seemed to be going well until Marlon Pack went off injured in the 23rd minute. Reading had a couple of new signings who looked to be very useful acquisitions and caused the defence problems for the rest of the game. Leandro Bacuna had started at right back but was moved into central midfield, and new signing Curtis Nelson then had to play at right back. Although this was a poor performance, I think we may ultimately find that this is quite a good Reading team who are much improved on recent seasons.

The home win against Huddersfield was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests, with one moment of individual brilliance supplying their goal, but it could't disguise that Huddersfield looked rather lost and may struggle this season. The appointment of Danny Cowley as their manager this week may well help their season.

An away point at Blackburn provide the team with their first clean sheet of the season, although reports suggest that this was a game we should have won if we had taken the chances created.

A midweek loss in the Caraboa Cup to Luton was once again disappointing, but a side made up almost entirely of fringe squad players and members of the under 23 team shows what Neil Warnock thinks about the EFL cup.

Josh Murphy scores against Fulham.

The final game before the International break was at home to Fulham, relegated (below) with us from the Premier League last season. It is the performance in this game which made me feel that the team is worthy of a B minus instead of a C plus. Fulham are one of the favourites to get promoted back to the Premier League this year, and yet we easily matched them during the game. But for one momentary lapse in concentration, we would have won this game. Fulham tried to play lots of pretty football but mostly with no end product. Indeed ,  in the second half they barely got a shot at the Cardiff goal. The sending off of Harry Arter, a Cardiff hero from last season, should have meant a Cardiff win but ultimately a draw against one of our main rivals is acceptable. Considering we were missing a number of key players, this was a  good performance and very encouraging.

HOT OR NOT? PLAYERS WORTHY OF A MENTION.

JOE RALLS: Has easily been the most consistent player this season and playing as well as ever. The season in the Premier League seems to have improved his game.

ROBERT GLATZEL: The tall and lanky German striker is undoubtedly talented and quite a handful, but the disruptions in midfield have meant that he has had limited goal scoring opportunities. The jury is still out on him.

LEANDRO BACUNA: Finally starting to win people around despite being made the scapegoat for poor team performances by a minority of disgruntled fans. Bacuna isn't a flashy player, but does a lot of the midfield ball winning and tackling. His extended run in the team following the injury to Marlon Pack is definitely improving his game (and popularity).

Marlon Pack.

MARLON PACK: This was a surprise signing just before the transfer deadline. Still only 28, he has been admired at local rivals Bristol City for a few years and we were really surprised that they let him go. Unfortunately injured for a couple more weeks, he could be a major influence if the  team is going to be successful this season.

LEE TOMLIN: It has been well publicised that Tomlin is in the best physical shape he has been in for a number of years. Has basically forced Warnock to give him another chance, and the departure of Bobby Decordova-Reid to Fulham has given him that chance too. When at his best, his passing and creativity can't be equalled in our squad. A very good performance against Huddersfield, where you could see his confidence increasing in from top your eyes suggests that he could be a really key player this year after 2 years of invisibility.

Lee Tomlin is now slimmer than this!

ONWARDS:

The international break ends this weekend, and we have the privilege(?) of being in the first game back with a Friday night fixture at Derby County (live on TV again). Hopefully, this will be better than our last TV match at Derby where we lost 3-1 late on in our promotion season. I'm a natural optimist, and so I'm not yet downhearted about this season. Onwards and upwards!

Same Again? Season Preview 2019-20.

It's that time of year again. The excitement is building, and just 12 weeks after the last season ended (less for the big teams), then the football season is here once again! Despite the Cricket World Cup, The Open Golf, Wimbledon, etc etc etc, all football fans have been aware of something missing in their lives since the end of May (especially as there was no major international tournament this year). But football is back with the first game of the Bluebirds' season at Wigan just a day away.

We all really wish we could be having another season in the Premier League, but unfortunately we just missed the chance to stay up with the big teams. So its another season back in the topsy-turvy world of the Championship. I feel that I should point out to my American friends here just how big the Championship has become, as despite being the second level of the English football pyramid, it is now the 4th most watched league in Europe , and probably one of the most competitive in the world. Out of the 24 teams in the league this year, there are probably only a handful that you might say are incapable of gaining promotion to the Premier League, and equally there are few teams that you might rule out as being incapable of relegation!

INS AND OUTS - the outs

There has been the usual turnover of players to the Bluebirds' first team squad during the closed season. The outs include the enigmatic Kenneth Zohore to West Bromwich Albion. I saw a quote about him recently which summed him up completely when they said that he would be remembered "as a scorer of great goals rather than as a great goalscorer". He is only 24 and may yet become a big star, but if the reported £8m fee paid by West Brom is true then that was too good an offer to turn down - its about twice what he's worth in my opinion.

A further departure was Bruno Ecuele Manga. Bruno will be remembered as a classy footballer who exuded a great level of calm. It was quite widely stated that Bruno wanted to return with his family to France and has a transfer to Dijon in Ligue 1. Like all defenders he had the odd mistake in him, and he was clearly a better centre back than right back where he played a lot of his football over the last 2 seasons, but most fans will look back fondly on his time here and he owes us nothing.

Bruno Ecuele Manga - fondly remembered by all.

Another major departure was Aron Gunnarsson, who had agreed to a one season extension to his contract for another season in the Premier League. Another player who will be fondly remembered by fans and will be remembered as a club legend. He has gone to play in Qatar for a very lucrative contract.

And the final departure of note was Kadeem Harris who never quite seemed to be good enough to have a regular place in the team despite showing lots of promise. Another player who may yet come good, following him signing for Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

With 7 days to go until the transfer window closes, it is likely that more players will leave.

INS AND OUTS - the ins

There have been 5 confirmed first team squad signings in the closed season and the possibility of a 6th to finally be confirmed today.

Joe Day. A successful season last year at our League 2 neighbours Newport County has resulted in Joe moving to our club. However, I don't think he's been signed to be a third choice keeper and I'm pretty sure one of our 2 senior keepers will be moving on. At first this looked like it might be Neil Etheridge returning to the Premier League at Aston Villa but as I compose this blog that deal is off, and so I think it likely that second choice keeps Alex Smithies may move on in search of regular first team football. 

Will Vaulks. Signed from Rotherham where he was a stand out player in a struggling team last season. Already a full Wales international, he certainly didn't look out of his depth when playing for Wales and so I see no reason why he shouldn't do well in a stronger Championship team.

Curtis Nelson. The first of two players signed from Oxford. A central defender or central midfield player who may yet be one of Warnock's excellent signings from the lower leagues. will be needed to provide cover while Sol Bamba returns from injury but may be the future of the club. May yet fill the defensive midfield role previously occupied by Aron Gunnarsson.

Curtis Nelson.

Aden Flint. Bought after only one season at Middlesborough despite considerable EFL experience. Did very well in a couple of seasons at our close rivals Bristol City. Tall, imposing defender who will also have a vital role to play with Sol Bamba missing in the early part of the season

Gavin Whyte. The second player signed from Oxford in League 1. A Northern Ireland international, at the age of 23 his career has been a continual climb, with this being the next logical step. Basically a winger, but played up front as a striker for Oxford in one game last season and scored a hat trick!

Gavin Whyte celebrates a goal for Northern Ireland

Robert Glatzel. Almost completely unknown in this country as he has been developing his game in the Bundesliga 2 for Heidenheim ( amongst others). 17 goals in 29 games for Heidenheim last season is a good return for the 6'4" striker - lets hope he can do it at Championship level. He is rumoured to have been Neil Warnock's number 1 target . Unfortunately, Glatzel will not be available for the season opening game against Luton as he has to finish a 2 match ban following a sending off for Heidenheim at the end of last season.  

Could he be a 20 goal striker?

Can we bounce straight back?

That's the big question. The simple answer is that Yes, we can! But this is the Championship, probably the most competitive and evenly matched League in Europe. We appear to have a better squad than when we got promoted 2 years ago - but this was the  case the last time we were relegated from the Premier League and that didn't work out at all.  I think we are good enough to go back up, and we clearly have a manager who knows all about promotion to the top level. 

The Neil Warnock factor!

But although it appears we have a good chance, the problem is that there are many other teams who will also fancy their chances. Teams such as West Bromwich and Stoke are almost certainly going to be better this year. Fulham continue to invest heavily, and Leeds United are also expected to do well this season after narrowly missing out last year. In addition to these teams, there is nearly always an unexpected team which comes from nowhere to claim promotion. In fact, last season you could argue that both Norwich and Sheffield United were unexpectedly promoted. I think Brentford might fall into that category this season. So here are my top 6 predictions for this season:-

Cardiff

Stoke

West Bromwich Albion

Brentford

Fulham

Bristol City

But I could be wrong! That's what makes the new season so exciting! A Happy New Season to football fans everywhere!

Yes! Yes! Yes! We are Premier League!

We did it! The Bluebirds are going back to the Premier League! After a long season of ups and downs (mainly ups, to be fair!), promotion to the Premier League was accomplished with a final 0-0 draw with Reading at the Cardiff City Stadium at around 2.30pm on Sunday 6th May 2018!

After all the worry and stress of the previous week, wondering whether the team would perform on the big day, it was actually our closest rivals Fulham who finally cracked on the last day of the season by ending a 23 match unbeaten run with a loss at relegation threatened Birmingham City. Cue wild celebrations!

The final moments of the game as we clinch promotion to the Premier League - excuse the shaky pictures but it was quite emotional while I was holding my phone!

There's no point in an extended blog post for this event - I'm still savouring the moment from 4 days ago. Here's a few pictures, courtesy of Walesonline, to express the joys of the occasion.

This may be my last blogpost here for a while, as after almost 4 years of inactivity I will be re-activating my other blog - Premierleaguebluebird.blogspot.com ! Once the dust settles a little, i'll post there my views on what needs to be done to the squad for next season and our prospects for staying up this time for more than one season.

In the meantime - lets enjoy it!

Club captain Sean Morrison and manager Neil Warnock with the promotion trophy!

Owner Vincent Tan expresses his joy with manager Neil Warnock!

The squad at the End of Season Awards dinner!