" WHAT DO CARDIFF NEED TO SECURE AUTOMATIC PROMOTION? "

" WHAT DO CARDIFF NEED TO SECURE AUTOMATIC PROMOTION? "



By Jake Jackman

Sunday 8th April 2018

Despite Wolves loss, Cardiff City supporters should be confident of promotion

Three wins/One draw from remaining six games

Cardiff City have been in the automatic promotion places for a number of weeks now, but their gap to Fulham is narrowing after a couple of poor results.

Earlier this week, they had to rely on a late goal from Anthony Pilkington to take a point from their away match against Sheffield United.

They then dropped points to top-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers, despite being awarded two penalties in stoppage time.

If they had scored one, they would have earned another point, but neither found the back of the net.

At this time of the season, every disappointment is felt more harshly as it could be the missed opportunity that costs a club promotion or relegation.

Cardiff remain in second position and have a five-point cushion to Fulham in third.

However, the Cottagers have been in rampant form, with their last loss in the league coming back in December. They have won six of their last seven matches.

There will be a lot of nerves among Cardiff supporters heading into the final six matches of the campaign, but they should remain confident that their team can win promotion to the Premier League for only the second time.

The loss against Wolves was only their second Championship defeat in 2018 and it came against the only team above them in the league table.

The players will be more affected due to missing two penalties in stoppage time, but if they reflect on what the result represents, it shouldn’t hit their confidence too hard.

Prior to the Wolves defeat, Cardiff were unbeaten in 13 matches in the Championship and had won ten of those. That is the form of a team destined for promotion.



That run of wins came after four successive defeats in the league that momentarily derailed their season.

There will be fears that a similar run could be incoming, but Neil Warnock is an experienced manager who regularly delivers success. He will have made sure the players learned from that period and their form since suggests that they did.

Another reason for optimism is the defensive record sustained by the club.

The Bluebirds may not have the attacking talent possessed by either Wolves or Fulham, but Warnock has made sure they are difficult to break down at the back.

They have conceded only 34 times, which is the best defensive record of any team in the division.

It is often said that defences win championships and the solid foundations that have been built at the Cardiff City Stadium give them a great chance of maintaining their five-point lead.

Last season, Brighton, who finished in second, earned 93 points over the course of the season. That number will only be reached by Fulham if they win their remaining six matches.

Despite their good form, that remains unlikely as the Championship is a very competitive division. It is much more likely that 90 will be enough to reach the Premier League without going through the play-offs.



That means that Cardiff need to be targeting at least three wins and one draw from their remaining six matches.

They have some difficult matches against Aston Villa, Norwich City and Derby County, but this season has shown that the Bluebirds should go into each match with confidence of winning.

The other fixtures will see them face Nottingham Forest, Hull City and Reading.

The past week has shown that promotion is far from secured yet, but with a five-point cushion and four matches to play against teams in the bottom half, Cardiff should remain confident that they will finish in the automatic promotion places.

Warnock has a good promotion record and it would be a surprise if they are surpassed by an in-form Fulham team.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Win 4 games and that will be good enough . Im not confident! !!!

Cardiff 92
Fulham. 91 (if they drop 2 points out of possible 15)

Milwall is our only hope. Help us obe one.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

I doubt 10 points will be enough as even if Fulham only win 4 of their remaining 5 games (they have 3 at home) that will put them on 90pts.

Should we also reach 90 with only 3 wins and therefore 2 defeats it is highly likely that they will top us on goal difference as they are already 2 ahead. So we will need 3 wins and 2 draws from our last 6 games (4 away) - not impossible but extremely difficult.

If Fulham win their last 5 which wouldn't surprise me, then they get 93pts so again due to goal difference we would need to win 5 or 4 plus 2 draws.

I wish I was optimistic but I'm resigned to the play-offs lottery which will still be a great achievement and I'm not counting ourselves out of winning them.

Come on City, beat Villa and Norwich and prove me wrong!

Milwall is our only hope. Help us obe one.

Another way of looking at it Brentford is a derby and are fighting for outside chance of playoffs they will be up for it, Sunderland have been better away from home and are fighting for survival wont be an easy game , Birmingham last day away Birmingham may need something to survive

I'd hoped Wednesday might have thrown a spanner in their works yesterday, but no dice. Being very optimistic I think we will get to 90 points. (Villa 1, Norwich 1, Forest 3, Derby 1, Hull 1, Reading 3.) We obviously need to turn 1 or more of those away games to 3 points, but I honestly think it's a big ask now. I think we would have beaten Derby on the day it was called off, but don't think so now. I can only see Millwall possibly troubling them but they could even afford to lose that one as long as it wasn't a "Preston" score and still top us on goal difference. The team has been incredible all season, but now I fear for the playoffs. Onwards & upwards though & I'd love to see City to prove me wrong.

Most teams are fearing fulham, therefore will park the bus for most games and counter them and hopefully drop points that way, I believe there'll be a few twists and turns before the end of the season

Fulham have London derbies. Millwall is no easy game. There are twists and turns yet - it’s still in our hands, plus a game in hand helps! Derby need payback for snowgate! If Fulham had that extra couple of points we’d be much worse off. Come Bluebirds, stuff them stinky villains in their own back yard. I hate Grealish, the greasy little get.

We have a solid defence thats the best in the league so gaining points is more likely than losing points. Just need our attackers to start scoring. The game in hand is massive

He's based 3wins draw on them being 5 points behind but they're 2 points behind !!!

I think 12 will do it and that's not impossible for us to achieve. 2 home wins an away win and 3 away draws. I've just got a feeling Fulham will come up short somewhere and will draw in at least 1 match. Let's start by claiming 3 points at Villa and get on the front foot!

Looking at Fulham's run in, we need Brentford to win their next game to keep them in playoff hopes for when they play Fulham the game after, but it's clutching at straws really as I don't think they are good enough to trouble Fulham. Reading look as though they have enough to stay up as Burton & Sunderland are all but down, but again I doubt they will trouble Fulham. Sunderland will be down by then. Maybe pressure off etc. but I don't think there's any hope there. Millwall could be a banana skin, but I think Fulham are just too good for them. Birmingham COULD be a sting in the tail IF they are still fighting the drop, but don't count on them. Things will be much clearer @ 10pm Tuesday. I think we are still in with a shout, but I genuinely think we are going to need more than 93 points.

Win all of our remaining games, basically!

Not quite, but close to it. 4 wins 2 draws will do, but if any side can do that it's this one, starting Tuesday!!!

Last edited by BLUE54 on Sun Apr 08, 2018 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Win all of our remaining games, basically!

Win 4 and draw 2 and there's not a team in the world that can catch us!

I still think 91 points will be the magic number.

Basically win the rest of our games and draw the odd one.

Basically win the rest of our games and draw the odd one.

We could even lose ten nil at Villa, and just match Fulham over the remaining games and we are easily up two points ahead!!!

Keep the faith we are in the driving seat and will do this

Basically win the rest of our games and draw the odd one.

We could even lose ten nil at Villa, and just match Fulham over the remaining games and we are easily up two points ahead!!!

Keep the faith we are in the driving seat and will do this

Basically win the rest of our games and draw the odd one.

We could even lose ten nil at Villa, and just match Fulham over the remaining games and we are easily up two points ahead!!!

Keep the faith we are in the driving seat and will do this

Its all mental this stage. Loose at villa and things may fall apart quick.

A lot of people on here have based their opinions on the other teams in the top ten playing better football than us which is true.We,ve got where we are by playing hoof ball and sheer guts and determination.

Basically win the rest of our games and draw the odd one.

We could even lose ten nil at Villa, and just match Fulham over the remaining games and we are easily up two points ahead!!!

Keep the faith we are in the driving seat and will do this

Its all mental this stage. Loose at villa and things may fall apart quick.

People are panicking, I was just making a point we don’t eve. Have to match Fulham, we can lose one and match them and we are up, and we’ve more than matched them all season

Basically win the rest of our games and draw the odd one.

We could even lose ten nil at Villa, and just match Fulham over the remaining games and we are easily up two points ahead!!!

Keep the faith we are in the driving seat and will do this

Its all mental this stage. Loose at villa and things may fall apart quick.

People are panicking, I was just making a point we don’t eve. Have to match Fulham, we can lose one and match them and we are up, and we’ve more than matched them all season

4 more wins

I honestly don't think Fulham will all the remaining games, if they do fair play they have a good chance of going up if we cant get the points needed.
Anything can happen, they may drop points against reading then how will they react to that? Maybe they will pinch 2nd off us Tuesday then that's another new pressure. if we drop out of 2 how will that effect us. Still 5-6 games to play so still quite a few points. Its really annoying when I hear people saying Cardiff have bottled it, well not really of our last 10 games we have won 8 drawn 1 and lost 1, that's hardly bottling it.

I honestly don't think Fulham will all the remaining games, if they do fair play they have a good chance of going up if we cant get the points needed.
Anything can happen, they may drop points against reading then how will they react to that? Maybe they will pinch 2nd off us Tuesday then that's another new pressure. if we drop out of 2 how will that effect us. Still 5-6 games to play so still quite a few points. Its really annoying when I hear people saying Cardiff have bottled it, well not really of our last 10 games we have won 8 drawn 1 and lost 1, that's hardly bottling it.

people love reverting to cliches thats why. bottling it is the go to. but its not true. losing home to reading and forest would be bottling it i guess.

Nothing to do with bottling it. The way the fixtures have worked out means Fulham played the "stronger" teams twice, earlier than we did, so it's understandable they may well have trailed us in the points total. They now have the opportunity to improve their points total, which only seems natural. It just depends how long they can keep their run going. Hopefully not another 5, but to be honest I won't be holding my breath.

They will draw at least one game, might even lose one, law of averages etc, a point tonight is no disaster and neither is a point on Saturday, but we have to win the rest and get at least a point off Derby. Any extras is a bonus sadly any less and it’s hoping Fulham slip up, if they do win their remaining games credit to them.

We have to aim for 92.

Hopefully that loss to wolves and the feelings the players had after will kick start another run.

Visit from Moses