We’re cursed! There’s no other way to process the news that Callum Robinson is sidelined for the next month. Cardiff’s mini revival suddenly feels in jeopardy and their best player will be sorely missed between now and the international break.
Robinson’s time at the club to date has been slightly mixed. That’s hardly surprising having already played for four different managers in five months, but missing two pivotal penalties and receiving a red card in the South Wales derby has counterbalanced the impressive goals and assists he has already notched up.
What is clear though is that Cardiff are a very different beast with him in the side. Robinson plays with a rare self-confidence. Rare for Cardiff, at least. He may not be the most clinical striker you will encounter, but his misses do not weigh heavily on him. If you compare him to Max Watters, who started the season as Cardiff’s primary striker, one miss and he looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.
Robinson could squander a succession of chances, but he never hides and you would back him to put one away eventually. For that reason, I feel he may prove to be the 20-goal striker that Cardiff have coveted for so long.
I still think he drops far to deep at times, when his services are needed higher up the pitch, but you can understand why Robinson feels the need to drop off to try and make things happen. Recent impressive assists for Kion Etete and Sory Kaba have also demonstrated that he’s equally as adept at creating as he is at finishing.
The prospect of five games without him makes me edgy because there is no way of suitably replacing him, but Cardiff do have different options to play with.
I assume that Connor Wickham will deputise and it’s a great opportunity for him and extended terms may depend on how he fares. He offers something a little different, being big enough to hold up play and powerful enough to turn his man and charge forward. Wickham has a history of fitness issues though, so you wonder how much football he is ready to play.
Kion Etete has also impressed in recent cameos and is pressing his claim for a place in the side.
I feel a bit sorry for him in that because he’s tall, he’s expected to dominate in the air, but that is not his game. Like Robert Glatzel before him, another misunderstood striker from Cardiff’s recent past, Etete has great feet and prefers the ball on the ground. Having said that, he may need to bulk up, or at least use his body better to protect the ball, if he is to thrive in the Championship and fulfil his undoubted potential. He’s currently far too easy to dispossess.
For me, the jury is also still out on Sory Kaba. He takes up the right positions and scored on his debut as a result, but he is not especially quick or physical. He sometimes looks a little bit overawed, but I appreciate that he has been dropped in at the deep end and a gradual introduction might have helped, but Cardiff do not have that luxury.
I’m hoping that, if nothing else, Robinson’s absence opens a door to Isaak Davies.
Cardiff’s academy graduates have found themselves relegated back down to the Under-21’s recently, at a time when the hope was that Davies and Rubin Colwill, finally fit and available, might have featured more prominently. Maybe it’s a case that pragmatism has to win out over development and long-term succession planning, but maybe Sabri Lamouchi just doesn’t rate them. That is the fear anyway and time will tell which is correct, but their prospects of playing in the foreseeable future looked grim. Maybe that is about to change though.
Better news regarding the fitness of Callum O’Dowda was a relief. Robinson may be more influential, but O’Dowda is probably the one player that Cardiff really can’t do without. Both Cardiff’s best left back and winger, he is surely a shoo-in to be the Player of the Year and keeping him fit is of paramount importance.
Robinson will be missed, but Cardiff have plenty of options and a manger that has already proven to be more than willing to change shape and personnel. Robinson’s absence presents a problem, and allowing him to hobble around for 10 minutes against Reading due to a lack of subs now looks as reckless as it felt at the time, but opportunity now knocks.