It’s time for Cardiff to start growing their own managers
If, as expected, Steve Morison is named Cardiff’s manager for the foreseeable future, then the academy is indeed truly having a breakthrough year. With a raft of youngsters all stepping up to the first-team, and none of them looking out of their depth, Cardiff are benefitting from unexpected strength in depth when they need it […]
VFTN x James Rowberry
James Rowberry was a staple at Cardiff, until he recently landed his first managerial post at his hometown club. Newport County. James was kind enough to speak to VFTN en route to Morecambe last week, on his time at Cardiff and his new vocation. Congratulations on the new job. I went to a Newport County […]
Mehmet Dalman may be honest to a fault, but don’t shoot the messenger
My first encounter with Mehmet Dalman was on January 8th 2015, at a meeting arranged to discuss a return to Cardiff playing in blue. In many respects, it was a masterclass. The wheels were clearly already in motion and Dalman himself, while never admitting as much, did concede that he never attends a meeting that […]
VFTN x James McCarthy
James McCarthy recently departed his role as the head of Cardiff’s academy and he was kind enough to spend some time with VFTN recently to chat about his time at the club, the academy structure and the current crop breaking through to the first-team. To begin with, can we just talk about your background. I […]
The way we talk about footballers needs to change
I’ve seen a few programmes recently highlighting the cruel, harmful way celebrities, and women in particular, were treated during the late nineties and early noughties. Some of the questions they were being asked and the way they were being written about now makes you gasp, with 20 years or so distance. You would never get […]
Is there any way back once you pick five centre backs?
Oh Mick, You’ve really gone and done it now. Where do we go from here? It beggars belief that he looked at the Blackburn game and reasoned that what this increasingly dire situation required was more centre backs. At a time when everyone was crying out for less defenders and more midfielders, he went one […]
Why super-sub may currently be the best role for Rubin Colwill
Rubin Colwill is a notable, undoubted talent. On that I’m sure we can all agree, but what happens next? That is a little bit trickier and more divisive. Cardiff are out of practice in nurturing talent through the next phase of their development, from prospect in to first-team staple. Some people want him in the […]
Why Marlon Pack and Leandro Bacuna may need to take a step back
Sometimes you need to take a step back in order to move forward. I’ve thought this on several occasions already watching Cardiff this season. They’ve made a solid, unspectacular start, which is exactly as you would expect from such a solid, unspectacular side, but they need to be better if they have any designs on […]
“My mood diminished in this period. I felt like a different person. I wasn’t getting any enjoyment from football.” Fabio on his struggles at Cardiff
In an exclusive extract from Wayne Barton’s new book, the autobiography of Rafael and Fabio Da Silva, Fabio talks about his struggles at Cardiff and how he overcame them. “We started the next season in the Championship quite well, but had a bad run of form when we lost in the last minute against Wolves […]
Joel Bagan needs patience from an impatient club
In the 69th minute on Saturday, Barnsley hit a diagonal ball from deep in their own half, 50 yards from left to right. Joel Bagan was nowhere to be found and despite James Collins’ best efforts to track back, Toby Sibbick was through on goal and struck across Dillon Phillips to equalise. Now had that […]