Cardiff City boss Russell Slade set for boom or bust month

The pressure is on for Russell Slade. It’s boom or bust time this month.

The Cardiff City manager has got his own players in and shifted out ones who don’t fit the bill for the Bluebirds.

And he has six matches during February to show owner Vincent Tan he is the right man to be at the helm.

After an initial rise under Slade’s leadership, Cardiff have slumped into the bottom half of the Championship table - and their play-off hopes look forlorn at best.

Further failure this month would see the gloom and talk of a relegation battle grow - and surely stretch Tan’s patience to the limit.

The fans have already expressed their discontent at Slade’s management and the style of football being adopted under him.

Those who do offer support to Slade point to the fact that he should be judged after the January transfer window.

Well, that has window has closed and it’s time for better results. Slade’s line-up for Saturday’s clash away to Sheffield Wednesday will probably feature FIVE new transfer captures.. Full backs Lee Peltier and Scott Malone, midfielder Stuart O’Keefe and a new strike duo of Alex Revell and Eoin Doyle are all set to start.

With Simon Moore in goal, Bruno Manga returning at the back and Kadeem Harris likely to feature, the Cardiff side has got almost a completely new-look about it.
Former Manchester United duo Fabio and Federico Macheda, plus top scorer Kenwyne Jones, were only substitutes against Derby at the weekend.

Everton youngsters Matthew Kennedy and Conor McAleny have joined the clutch of new faces as Slade looks to put his own imprint upon the team and performances.

But the newcomers need to provide an upturn in fortunes with immediate effect. In the last nine games, Slade’s men have taken just five points out of a possible 27.

That’s relegation form... and the last thing the Bluebirds need is to be sucked even further down the table.

The momentum has to be gained from the February fixtures because some of them are eminently winnable matches.

After the trip to Hillsborough, Cardiff meet 21st-placed Brighton at home next Tuesday. They also clash with Malky Mackay’s 23rd place Wigan and lowly Huddersfield during the month, as well as Blackburn and Wolves at home.

There are 18 points on offer and Slade needs a double figure points return to ease the pressure he is facing and to carry the full confidence of Tan.

By the time March dawns, the Bluebirds must be a lot chirpier with a points tally of 44 or more - and well on their way to making talk of a potential relegation fight look silly.

Slade has his own men in. They must deliver results because there are no excuses left any more.

SLADE’S NEW-LOOK TEAM
Goalkeepers
Simon Moore will play a fifth successive Championship match at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

First choice David Marshall is still a week or so away from fitness after a groin surgery and will miss the trip to South Yorkshire.

Marshall, one presumes, will walk straight back into the starting line-up. However, Moore made a brilliant stop from a penalty against Derby and will be looking for another top showing to give Slade food for selection thought.

Defenders
Slade has nine defenders in his first team squad, but new duo Lee Peltier and Scott Malone can expect to be first choice full-backs. What Fabio makes of that is anyone’s guess, but he only made the bench at the weekend before coming on when Cardiff were already two down.

Peltier could well be Cardiff’s captain with Ben Turner and David Marshall injured. Aron Gunnarsson could be left out of the starting line-up at Wednesday.

Bruno Manga is ready for his first Championship appearance of 2015 and will play next to one of Sean Morrison or Matt Connolly.

Midfield
Slade still has 10 midfield players to perm from, but the energetic and athletic O’Keefe will probably become an automatic choice.

He showed glimpses of what he can do when he made his City debut against Derby, but badly needs matches for fitness.

He looked leggy in the closing stages against the Rams, which maybe wasn’t surprising in his first Championship appearance of 2015.

O’Keefe will start at Wednesday, probably next to Peter Whittingham in a 4-4-2 with Gunnarsson having to make do with a place among the subs.

Craig Noone is a certain starter after Slade rejected Norwich’s £2m bid to sign him, while Kadeem Harris or Tom Adeyemi are likely to complete the midfield four.

Kagisho Dikgacoi and Anthony Pilkington are ruled out injured, while Joe Ralls won’t make the starting line-up.

Young loan signing Matthew Kennedy is likely to be among the substitutes.

Forwards
Slade caused controversy by omitting top scorer Kenwyne Jones against Derby, but that may happen again given the capture of Eoin Doyle to go with that of Alex Revell.

Doyle, 26, was snapped up from Chesterfield for £600,000 and is likely to take the place Slade reserved for the most part for Adam Le Fondre.

Revell started against Derby and will probably do likewise against Sheffield Wednesday.

Jones can put up a strong argument after scoring 12 goals this season, 10 in the Championship, but Slade seems to believe Revell can produce a more consistent 90-minute performance.

The question is can Revell, next to Doyle, provide the goals Cardiff so badly need?

Doyle netted 21 league goals for Chesterfield in 26 starts - and four more in cup ties.

Can the Revell/Doyle partnership bring the goal potency Slade needs to lift the current gloom?

Or will Cardiff continue to struggle to create opportunities for their front runners and be far too reliant upon set pieces?

If Gunnarrson is dropped and manga doesn't play, we could well field a starting XI of entirely British players. Anyone remember the last time that happened?

It does worry me - the only time you see exclusively British sides nowadays is deep down the league pyramid, and even then it's getting rarer. Even the now famous racist Malky had a few foreign faces...

does that mean we are going to abolish the chant "same old english, always cheating"

We have Sheff Wed, Brighton, Blackburn, Huddersfield, Wigan & Wolves in our february fixtures... how many points are we realistically going to pick up? i cant see many going on current form...

maisie'sdad wrote:does that mean we are going to abolish the chant "same old english, always cheating"

Since you are lucky if a single Welshman ends up on the bench nowadays, I'd recommend it