Morison: I want to change the narrative of Cardiff City
Steve Morison insists he wants to "change the narrative" around what a Cardiff City side looks like with his transfer business this summer. The Bluebirds are set for a major squad overhaul and could sign as many as 15 players in the off-season. Some of that business has already been done, according to the manager.
STEVE MORISON:
"We have done lots of good work, got lots of stuff over the line already," he told the latest episode of the BBC's EJFOF. "Just got to wait until the time we are allowed to release stuff. Once all registered and signed, the season's over, the window opens. Everyone here knows if they are getting a contract or not.
"We are all clear and concise about what we want to do and hopefully we get it all done."
What that means, Morison says, is building a squad which can be adaptable and moulded to suit different styles and, importantly, not require more upheaval if a different manager is employed further down the line.
He added: "We will try and do as many permanent transfers as we can, the majority will be free transfers. We will use the loan market to add those bits to it if we need it, because you can handpick that a bit more from what you can't get, free transfer-wise.
"I don't see this as me going and picking the team I want. This is me working in collaboration with the club into the way we want this football club to go; more sustainable, attractive, a place where people want to come and play football.
"We don't want to get bogged down with the same old narrative every week of 'Oh they are just a physical team' and it's just the same every single week. It's a collaborative approach from the top down. We need to give the academy a platform to be able to bring players through because we are playing in a way that allows the players to come through.
"The recruitment team and the analysis they are putting into players so that within a playing style we are creating, we can go and pick players based on what the club are trying to do. We need to get away from, 'Well they are the 10 players I like, I'll go and pick them.' When that manager leaves, the next manager comes in and they are left with all that again. It's just that continuous cycle of the next manager coming in, gets judged on a group of players who are not his or not fit for purpose for what he wants to do.
"So if you have a group of players that are fit for purpose and can do lots of different things. If it's me, hopefully for years, or someone else comes in further down the line, they can look at it and go, 'I can work with that, I can do what I want'. Also, the club going forward will bring people in to manage the club that are going to carry on the process and not come in and rip it all up. We have to have a club approach rather than a manager approach to it."