Russell Slade has done very well to add to his squad with some seemingly quality signings but now he has no excuses for missing out on the Championship play-offs come May. The former Orient boss’ contract expires in the summer.
Despite being placed under a transfer embargo, Cardiff managed to secure three loan signings during the January window with Kenneth Zohore, Lex Immers and Tom Lawrence signing up for the Bluebirds’ promotion push.
The Bluebirds are currently four points off the play-offs with seventeen games remaining. There are fifty-one points left up for grabs this season so you might say, Cardiff are well and truly in the mix as we approach the last third of the season.
The signings Russell Slade has made don’t necessarily make your eyes light-up when you see them on the team sheet but they do add quality and they do create a very high level of competition in the current Cardiff City squad.
Earlier on in the season when Craig Noone was struggling or when Peter Whittingham looked on the brink, you found yourself looking at the bench and scratching your head because there wasn’t much competition, meaning there wasn’t a player to replace the out-of-sorts ‘starters’.
Now, it’s difficult to pick a starting XI but for the right reasons unlike last season when you were reluctant to say most names when a friend asked you what you wanted the team-sheet to read on Saturday.
Due to the uplift in form from a number of players and the quality of those coming in on loan, the starting XI is now a difficult one to pick. All three of the new signings could potentially play as a striker with two of them more likely to play as an attacking midfielder.
Anthony Pilkington’s current form makes him difficult to drop, even if you wanted to move him out of the front-line, which is probably inevitable, then you would surely have to put him out wide with Craig Noone on the other side but then with Lex Immers looking like a much-needed spark in attacking midfield where do you put Tom Lawrence? Is he a good enough striker?
Peter Whittingham is another in fine form and with Stuart O’Keefe currently making it impossible to drop him, is there a place for Joe Ralls in the starting line-up? and where does Aron Gunnarsson fit in to all this?
Those are just some of the headaches Russell Slade now faces and he has to approach them right, after all, can he really drop many players from a team which has taken seven points from their last nine?
Currently, it’s difficult to drop many players but players like Tom Lawrence will have been promised game-time as he looks to cement his place in Chris Coleman’s Euro 2016 plans for the summer.
These questions may create a problem but most managers will describe them as ‘nice sort of problems’ so you won’t hear Russell Slade complaining over the next few months.
Russell Slade now has a good and solid squad under his control, there’s no doubt about that so he will now be expected to book a place in the play-off’s come the end of the season and there can be no excuses because this squad is now good enough.
Despite being placed under a transfer embargo, Cardiff managed to secure three loan signings during the January window with Kenneth Zohore, Lex Immers and Tom Lawrence signing up for the Bluebirds’ promotion push.
The Bluebirds are currently four points off the play-offs with seventeen games remaining. There are fifty-one points left up for grabs this season so you might say, Cardiff are well and truly in the mix as we approach the last third of the season.
The signings Russell Slade has made don’t necessarily make your eyes light-up when you see them on the team sheet but they do add quality and they do create a very high level of competition in the current Cardiff City squad.
Earlier on in the season when Craig Noone was struggling or when Peter Whittingham looked on the brink, you found yourself looking at the bench and scratching your head because there wasn’t much competition, meaning there wasn’t a player to replace the out-of-sorts ‘starters’.
Now, it’s difficult to pick a starting XI but for the right reasons unlike last season when you were reluctant to say most names when a friend asked you what you wanted the team-sheet to read on Saturday.
Due to the uplift in form from a number of players and the quality of those coming in on loan, the starting XI is now a difficult one to pick. All three of the new signings could potentially play as a striker with two of them more likely to play as an attacking midfielder.
Anthony Pilkington’s current form makes him difficult to drop, even if you wanted to move him out of the front-line, which is probably inevitable, then you would surely have to put him out wide with Craig Noone on the other side but then with Lex Immers looking like a much-needed spark in attacking midfield where do you put Tom Lawrence? Is he a good enough striker?
Peter Whittingham is another in fine form and with Stuart O’Keefe currently making it impossible to drop him, is there a place for Joe Ralls in the starting line-up? and where does Aron Gunnarsson fit in to all this?
Those are just some of the headaches Russell Slade now faces and he has to approach them right, after all, can he really drop many players from a team which has taken seven points from their last nine?
Currently, it’s difficult to drop many players but players like Tom Lawrence will have been promised game-time as he looks to cement his place in Chris Coleman’s Euro 2016 plans for the summer.
These questions may create a problem but most managers will describe them as ‘nice sort of problems’ so you won’t hear Russell Slade complaining over the next few months.
Russell Slade now has a good and solid squad under his control, there’s no doubt about that so he will now be expected to book a place in the play-off’s come the end of the season and there can be no excuses because this squad is now good enough.
always looking for a "happy ending".
) at the drop of a hat.