The changes Cardiff City fans are now calling for
By Ian Mitchelmore
Tuesday 2nd October 2018
Neil Warnock could not hide his disappointment as Cardiff City's winless start to the 2018/19 season continued with a 2-1 defeat at home to Burnley.
The Yorkshireman bemoaned his side's defensive errors in the loss to the Clarets and conceded that the Bluebirds were "lacking a little bit of quality".
Defeat to Sean Dyche's troops means Cardiff remain in the relegation zone with just two points from their opening seven league fixtures.
Cardiff travel to the English capital on Saturday to face Tottenham at Wembley in what will be their final chance to pick up some much needed points before the international break.
And ahead of the clash with Mauricio Pochettino's side, we asked the Cardiff faithful what they think needs to change for the Bluebirds to start getting positive results.
Fans had suggestions on everything from team selection to tactics.
So here's a closer look at what supporters think Cardiff need to change to put an end to their miserable start to the season.
Stats compiled by The Times revealed Sean Morrison took 20 throw-ins during the loss to Burnley, with each one taking an average of 25 seconds.
It meant a total of eight minutes and 15 seconds of the game were taken up by Morrison's throws.
And it's safe to say the fans weren't impressed.
Becky Richards questioned the Bluebirds' use of the long throw tactic.
She commented: "Our defending has to be better.
"Two scrappy goals conceded which is not like us. Why Sean Morrison is taking throws I don't know... Callum Paterson should be taking them and put Morrison in the box."
Cardiff City's long throw tactic has angered a lot of fans
Ryan David Roberts echoed Becky's views on Cardiff's use of the long throw-in, stating that Morrison should be on the receiving end of the deliveries rather than taking them himself.
He said: "Those long throws, what a waste. Should play them short and then cross, Morrison is more useful in the box."
Twitter user Matthewblue1103 believes Warnock needs to persist with the same starting XI for a run of fixtures, adding that he's also unimpressed with the overuse of the long throw tactic.
"Stop the stupid predictable long throw," he said.
"It’s not working, let the defenders concentrate on defending, and keep the same starting 11, stop changing the team."
The tactical tweaks
Cardiff have often been labelled as long ball merchants under Warnock.
And it seems plenty of fans feel the Bluebirds should be more willing to keep the ball on the turf, with Gareth Dix urging the Bluebirds to have more confidence on the ball and not be afraid of taking the game to their opponents.
"Just don’t be afraid to play football," he said.
"When we did, we scored yesterday, so why resort to all those tedious long throws that at best can only lead to a scrappy 50/50?"
Rob Lay and Steven Christopher both want to see Cardiff keep the ball on the deck more, with Rob referencing the slick move that saw Josh Murphy score the equaliser in the defeat to Burnley as a moment where the Bluebirds showed they do have the quality to harm sides.
"Great seeing the boys play the ball on the ground for Murphy's goal, other than that watching the ball up in the air is a recipe for disaster, no control up there," said Rob.
And Steven simply commented: "Stop the long ball strategy."
The team selection call
Joe Bennett has arguably been one of Cardiff's best performers since the Bluebirds gained promotion from the second tier.
But he has not featured in the last two games, with summer recruit Greg Cunningham starting at left-back in the losses to Man City and Burnley.
And it seems a lot of fans want Bennett back in the side.
Andrew Smith commented: "I said it from day one, strikers are not good enough.
"And need a new right back or start Jazz Richards. Joe Bennett should be starting too as gives us a bit more flare going forward with the runs he makes."
Ryan David Roberts added: "Bennett was missed today. Cunningham just doesn't look up for the job."
And Becky Richards said: "Cunningham is no Bennett, he just defends, he doesn't add anything going forward."
The Bluebirds will be without injured duo Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Lee Peltier for the clash with Spurs while Aron Gunnarsson is continuing to recover after suffering a setback ahead of the 5-0 defeat to champions Man City.
But elsewhere, Warnock has no major injury concerns.
The Warnock question is raised
Warnock worked wonders to achieve his eighth promotion as a manager last time out as he got Cardiff into the promised land on a shoestring budget.
But some supporters have been questioning his ability to manage at the highest level in the wake of the loss to Burnley.
Andy Williams said: "As much as I love Warnock, a lot of our problems are of his making.
"We will have to sack him him at some point this season as recent history shows that is how clubs who time the sacking correctly and pick the right successor usually are the ones who stay up.
"He invested too much time and effort in chasing Marko Grujic but there's a long way to go and plenty more games to play.
"I really do hope he is eating his words but we're now seeing Warnock's limitations as a Premiership manager." (sic)
And responding to our question of what needs to change, Dave Roberts commented: "The manager. Great at getting promotion from the Championship. Struggles at the top level."
Alfie Westwood delivered his assessment of the Bluebirds' precarious situation, stating that the club have some big calls to make in January.
"A Championship team out of their depth, but throwing money at it did not help the last time either so a few big decisions to be made in January," he said.
On Warnock, Louis Ross commented: "If you change manager and we go down, we’ll want Warnock back to attempt to go back up.
"If we’re going down, and board accept it. Stick with Warnock.
"If we want a crack at staying up, a tough decision might have to be made in regards to him. But it’s a gamble, look what happened with Solskjaer etc.
"All depends how long Warnock sees himself as a manager as he’s nearly 70 now."
But Michael Roach feels Warnock is doing his best to ensure Cardiff are in good shape for the future, regardless of what happens this season.
"Listen, what we did last year was amazing, Warnock is no fool we were always going to go down, but he's assembled a good group of lads that can get us back up," he said.
"What do you expect us to sign when players now are going for 30 mil+ we can't compete so let's build a team that will grow season by season."
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