' EIGHT POINTS CLEAR/BUT SLIGHTLY CONCERNED '

Nathan Blake: Lack of invention is concern for Cardiff City


Nathan Blake


WORRIED would be too strong a word to use about a side eight points clear at the top of the Championship.

But I have to admit to being slightly concerned at the way in which Cardiff are playing at the moment.

That’s not because they didn’t beat Ipswich. Not at all. They are not going to win every match and it was a hard fought clash between two well organised teams.

But where is the free-flowing football City were playing not so many weeks ago?

They have been having quite a struggle in a lot of the matches recently and with 19 games to go that is a slight concern.

Personally, I feel one factor in the lack of attacking flow is that City are sticking to their 4-4-2 system too much. I would rather see them play 4-5-1.


Peter Whittingham is key and I’d love to see him given a free role in midfield. If they play three through the middle that would allow Whitts to be the floater and get things going for the team.

Plenty of fans have asked me recently why Whitts has gone off the boil a little. I believe he has to do far too much work in that central role because he is one of only two in there.

He works hard alongside Gunnarsson, who also puts in a good shift, but I’d like to see Whitts given more freedom.

Thankfully, though, the Bluebirds are maintaining consistency while clubs around them are faltering.

Crystal Palace, Hull City and Middlesbrough all lost on Saturday. I would be worried if they were all winning but that’s not the case.

It was good to see that former Bluebirds manager Dave Jones did his old club a favour by steering Sheffield Wednesday to a 3-1 win at Hull, who had been on a really good run up to that point.

For me Watford and Leicester are still the teams to watch. They are going to be dangerous – and that Cardiff v Leicester clash next month is going to be a tense occasion for both teams.

They splashed out £2m to sign Chris Wood and what a bargain that could prove to be. I said last season, when he was playing for Birmingham City, that Cardiff should sign him – and I said it again when he was on loan from West Brom from Millwall. It’s a real pain that he has signed for one of Cardiff’s biggest rivals.

He’s a New Zealander, still only 21-years-old, who has a great eye for a goal. I would have loved to see him in a Bluebirds shirt, but that won’t happen now. Mackay, though, needs somebody will real quality.

There is still too much pressure on Whittingham to produce, while we seem to be dragging every ounce of energy out of Craig Bellamy. He’s a real talisman for the Bluebirds, but he needs help and didn’t get enough of that against Ipswich.

City need a striker and probably a defender as well. We all know it and it’s down to the manager to find the right guys. He needs to freshen things up just a little. There is nothing wrong, but help in the right areas would be a boost.

I remember when I was younger Kenny Dalglish signing a striker for Blackburn Rovers. He hardly played for Blackburn, but was in rich scoring form and Dalglish wanted to make sure he didn’t go elsewhere and cause his team problems. Wood is in that category – he will come and cause Cardiff problems in a couple of weeks.

What about Connor Wickham on loan from Sunderland? He would be a good acquisition at this stage.

City seem to be stuck in a bit of a rut and something needs to change as they kick on. It’s something the manager has to fix.

The team don’t seem to be pressing as much as they were a month or so ago. Maybe it’s fatigue from the hectic festive season programme, but we need to step it up.

Defensively, of course, City are sound. Four clean sheets in the last five matches shows that. If the team don’t click back into flowing form that sound defence could see them over the line anyway, but I’d love to see my team do it in style.

I’d just like to see some bold action from Mackay. I like the fact that he is patient and waiting for the right man, but we need to see movement over the next couple of weeks.

And knowing Mackay, he’ll come up with the right moves. He leaves nothing, absolutely nothing, to chance and he’ll pounce for the right players at the right time.

IT’S Blackpool away next and I fancy Cardiff to do well by the seaside.

They are without a manager right now and have been inconsistent so far this season.

When you think of how Blackpool have fared compared to the change at Ipswich it underlines how important a really good manager can be. Mick McCarthy has transformed Ipswich, who were all over the place when Paul Jewell was in charge.

Now they look decent and will be a good bet to challenge next season.

Blackpool have not looked the same club since Ian Holloway left. They weren’t at their best even before he moved on to Crystal Palace but they were top eight and looking a reasonable bet.

They lost Holloway to Palace and now Michael Appleton has gone to Blackburn Rovers.

Who is next in line for the Tangerines?

That’s not clear yet, but I can’t see it being a really big hitter.

Blackpool aren’t a club who throw money around and I think it will be a young, hungry manager.

If somebody is appointed this week it could give Blackpool a lift, but Cardiff are solid enough to go up there and continue their decent run of results.

Sigh Blake is such a hypocrite! I remember with the game against the robins where he said 4-5-1 was why we were losing games.

Sigh Blake is such a hypocrite! I remember with the game against the robins where he said 4-5-1 was why we were losing games.

Agree there. 4-5-1 and we were being attacked. 4-4-2 and we are defending in attack.

Agree with him on the attack situation. We do need someone helping Bellamy. Helguson looks tired now, Mason is not quite ready and Gestede will never be ready. Never thought of Wickham but why not.

I think we should play form up like the mighty ducks to confuse the opposition and then everyone just launch forward and destroy everything in their path.

i do think it feels like the owners are showing a little complacement with our position and seem in no rush to get any new blood in quick

I think blake is right what he has said there.

But where is the free-flowing football City were playing not so many weeks ago

Sorry Blake, but bar a couple of games, We haven't been playing free flowing football at all, but nobody cares when you win .

I think as we get ever closer to the final steps, we will see our method of playing change from free-flowing to caution.

It's only natural really, same as when you are 1-0 up with 15 minutes to go you don't go gung ho for the second goal.

If we carry on winning 1-0 and drawing matches we'll go up.

Most of that was lifted from polo's "Whitts is going backwards" thread

I think as we get ever closer to the final steps, we will see our method of playing change from free-flowing to caution.

It's only natural really, same as when you are 1-0 up with 15 minutes to go you don't go gung ho for the second goal.

If we carry on winning 1-0 and drawing matches we'll go up.

Your last sentence is taking "stating the obvious" a bit too far

My concern is that our defence cannot always be expected to keep clean sheets. Millwall eg had enough chances to win if they had taken some very presentable chances.

My concern a few weeks ago (and still is) is to turn the 1-0, 2-1's into more comfortable wins with a decent fox in the box striker; but now an added concern is to score enough to ensure City don't lose games.

City's lack of attacking play in the games from peterboro at home to last saturday has been patent.

City need to get a better central midfield player in to allow Whitts to play just off the top 2, and a striker to bang in some goals. HH & Gestade are not going to score anywhere near enough.

Our ten point lead can shrink as easily as it happened if we hit a blip.