As 2024 fast approaches, Cardiff are in a sticky spot. They’ve overachieved until now, but they’ve starting to stall. Whether that’s due to gravity, an accumulation of factors or all of the above, they’re starting to tumble down the table a bit and need to find a way to arrest their slide.
It feels like hopes have been pinned on the opening of the transfer window ever since the last one closed, but if you’re relying on the January sales to revive your fortunes, you’re probably asking for trouble.
Clubs are increasingly reluctant to part with players of significance mid-season because the numbers often don’t add up. If you sell the sort of player a buyer would want and your fortunes then plummet, you potentially lose morale, goodwill and potentially more money than you might have made. With footballers playing more footballer than ever before and injuries spiking, holding on to players has increasingly become the sensible option.
Embed from Getty ImagesThere’s also a certain irony in Cardiff suggesting that they will spend if in and around the top six and for long stretches occupying those spots, before starting to fall away in the final few weeks. Its as if they tempted fate and fate responded accordingly.
There currently appears to be two competing schools of thought at play. There usually always is in fairness. The glass half full outlook, which suggests that Cardiff have come a long way, were always going to struggle at some stage and that faith should be kept. The other is varying degrees of Cardiff have been found out, the manager is a fraud and none of the players are good enough.
I guess this take is natural due to the trauma and shared pain of last season. Some recent performances have had all the hallmarks of Cardiff’s previous struggles and the fear is that 18th place is inviting them back. They’ve once more become easy to play against again and one goal in five games is a fair indication of the number of chances created in those games.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt starts at the back, where Erol Bulut has chopped and changed the goalkeeper so much that he has given the distinct impression that he fancies neither of them. Alex Runarsson was brought in for the quality of his distribution, but he slows play down so much that opponents are ready and waiting by the time Cardiff look to build an attack. He has also struggled to command his six-yard box, let along his whole area.
Manolis Siopis is running on fumes and dearly misses the presence of Aaron Ramsey, much like the rest of us. Jamilu Collins has done brilliantly in playing so much since returning from such a serious injury, but the sheer number of games have now caught up with him and he’s likely heading off to the African Cup of Nations for more football in the new year.
It always felt like a reluctance to rotate would eventually take its toll and you can’t help but think that throwing the occasional bone to a fringe player would have helped. Ramsey and Joe Ralls, who both have long-standing injury concerns, played too much and broke down. There is a clear hierarchy in place and there may be a drop off in quality, but sometimes a fully fit fringe player is a better bet than a 50% fit first-choice player.
Embed from Getty ImagesSurely Andy Rinomhota or Ebou Adams could have been useful for the last 30 minutes of the odd game. We know how effective Mahlon Romeo can be at this level, but he only features every few months, looks understandably rusty and it only serves to hinder his chances of more minutes.
I also feel that Cardiff have maybe wasted the bond between Callum Robinson and Kahlan Grant. At West Brom, Grant was the central focal point of the attack, with Robinson tucked in behind and it proved a very fruitful partnership. Despite Cardiff’s struggles up top, Bulut only views Grant as a winger and he’s done a sterling job there, with no viable alternative, but in Ramsey’s absence, an opportunity may have been wasted.
It will be interesting to see how Bulut tackles four games in little over a week during the Christmas period. He may be forced to rotate more than he has been comfortable with until now, but if he doesn’t, it may prove a real grind. Cardiff just need to stay afloat for the remainder of 2023 and hope that January comes equipped with a lifeboat.