City find themselves 19th in the Championship table, just one point above the relegation zone
CARDIFF CITY are back in action this weekend as they face a trip to Stoke City in the Championship after a four-week break due to the World Cup.
Since the Bluebirds’ last league game on November 12, the club has announced that interim boss Mark Hudson will take charge of the club until at least the end of the season, a decision that has split opinion in the fan base.
Hudson took over after predecessor Steve Morison was sacked on September 18. Results since then have been a mixed bag as the club find itself just one point off the relegation zone approaching the halfway point of the season.
The Bluebirds have picked up just 13 points from 11 games since Hudson’s appointment, an average of 1.18 points per game. A slight improvement in fortunes from his predecessor Morison who averaged 1.1 points a game from his 10 games this season.
Cardiff are in serious danger of relegation this season and appointing an inexperienced manager to try and steer them away from relegation is huge risk. It’s the second season in a row Cardiff have sacked a manager mid-season and replaced him with an inexperienced coach from within.
In recent years, Cardiff have become one of the most short-sighted, unstainable clubs in the division. The club have sacked managers mid-season for the last four years and have continually dropped down the league table year on year.
Steve Morison was given the task of rebuilding the squad in the summer and he did just that, bringing in 17 players, lowering the age of the squad and the wage bill significantly. He was then sacked just two weeks after the transfer window closed.
This type of short-term thinking means that Cardiff face a fight for their Championship survival in the second half of the season and there would no real surprise if we see another man in the dugout at some point before the season ends.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Bluebirds, the congested nature of the Championship means that despite being in 19th place, they are only seven points off the top six and the play-offs. A run of wins could propel Cardiff up the table and change the entire mood around the club.
There are further positives for the club, with promising youngster Issak Davies playing for the U23’s after recovering from injury, while Rubin Colwill has put his injury problems behind him to feature for Wales at the World Cup.
Ex-skipper Sean Morrison has also been featuring for the U23’s after recovering from an ACL injury in February, while Kion Etete is starting to find form, netting twice in a friendly against Aston Villa last week.
The next two games could define Cardiff’s season, Saturday’s opponents Stoke are just one point ahead of the Bluebirds while Blackpool, who come to Cardiff a week Saturday, are in the relegation zone. A return of three or four points from these two games will create space between themselves and the relegation zone and set them up for a good tilt at 2023.
Anything less than that and Cardiff could well find themselves in the relegation zone come the new year.
