Until today, there’s been a common link with every instance of a City manager leaving bar one in my time supporting the club – you’ve seen it coming. The one exception to that rule was when Phil Neal left us in October 1996 to become Steve Coppell’s assistant at Manchester City, only for Coppell to resign about three weeks later.
It was a surprise to see Neal go, but not an unpleasant one- he’d done little in his eight months in charge to get supporters enthused, but I can’t remember there being many calls for him to be sacked, so his departure came out of the blue.
Usually when a manager goes, there’s a groundswell of opinion against him and Board cottons on to the fact that there would be no great reaction against them if they gave the man in charge the bullet – in fact, the fans are grateful to them for doing so more often than not.
All too rarely in the case of Cardiff City, clubs from higher divisions become interested in a manager because he’s doing such a good job for us. I wouldn’t say that was the case with Phil Neal, but it definitely was when First Division Sunderland came in for Len Ashurst in 1984 and Frank Burrows’ first spell with us ended in 1989 when he agreed to become Assistant Manager at Portsmouth.
There’s one other category – although the club could claim that Malky Mackay was sacked because of poor results just after Christmas 2013, it was also true that his relationship with Vincent Tan had broken down months earlier and Mackay had been on borrowed time after that.
So, no shock when Mackay left, nor once news had broken of Ashurst and Burrows being wanted by clubs from higher divisions and none either for any of the multitude of sackings I’ve seen down the years – until today.
I’m sure I’m not the only City fan who thought it was a joke when the news broke at lunchtime today that Steve Morison had been sacked and my messageboard reaction when I realised he had gone was to say it was the most ludicrous sacking in the club’s history – I’ll try and explain why presently.
First though, although I think the decision a truly daft one, I can never say I was a big Morison fan. I’ll always be grateful to him for keeping us up last year and for taking us away from hoofball – in fact, such was his commitment to that cause, even I, as a dedicated anti long ball merchant, thought he’d gone too far down that road and wanted some more height in the team to counter set piece weaknesses at either end of the pitch.
However, right from day one, Morison (a self confessed “Mr. Angry” as a player) seemed overly abrasive in his dealings with the media, he was also too quick to criticise young players in public while under performing seniors escaped censure from him. The worst example of this was how he answered questions about his decision to sub Isaak Davies half an hour or so after he brought him on at Bournemouth- that was just rank bad management in my book.
Similarly, I think it can be said now that Morison’s approach towards Rubin Colwill did not work – the player that came on and won a game at Forest around this time last year under a different manager has been held back by his predecessor who came over as being wholly unsympathetic towards a talented youngster despite his protestations to the contrary..
There are other examples I believe of Morison hindering, rather than helping, younger players, but to return to the point I want to make about the timing of this sacking, whatever my gripes and those of other supporters regarding some aspects of his work, Morison was handed a double vote of confidence in the spring and summer.
Firstly, he was awarded a contract until June of next year once our Championship status had been secured and then he was given a virtual free hand to rebuild the playing staff when so many senior players’ contracts were running out. Not only that, he was seemingly backed by the owner and the Board when it came to introducing a more progressive style of play with more emphasis on ball retention and less reliance on power and resilience.
So it was, that Morison was allowed to bring in an amazing seventeen new players on what we were led to believe was a shoestring budget, but, after being given around half a million pounds to spend on a young “project” striker, a further £1.5 million was found to spend on Callum Robinson on the last day of the transfer window less than three weeks ago.
Now, all of this strikes me as an enormous display of faith in someone who was an inexperienced, young manager – did anyone truly believe when Morison was taking questions from the media about what he thought Robinson could bring to his squad that he would be sacked a little over a fortnight later?
Of course, after an encouraging first few games, things were not going as hoped in Morison’s Brave New World. I found, and still find, the performances in our four away defeats to be concerning and there has been a distinct lack of chance creation and natural finishing ability so far, as evidenced by just seven goals scored in eleven competitive games, with three of them coming in the first half at Middlesbrough five days ago. Again I ask would anyone have thought Steve Morison would have been sacked on the weekend when Perry Ng put us 3-0 up on Tuesday?
Last night, there were a few calls for the manager to go as there always is these days when a team have won three, but lost five, of their first ten league games. However, I’d say that the large majority recognised that patience was required because a big rebuilding job was being undertaken – however here we appear to be in an almost unique position where the fans are calling for patience and it’s the owner and Board that have the jerking knees!
On the face of it, it’s ridiculous sacking a manager so soon after what the City owner and Board were prepared to grant Steve Morison at the start of this month – Vincent Tan and co have form for naivety and poor footballing judgement, but this is in a different league to anything we’ve seen from them before.
Yet, it’s so foolish that you start to think there has to be something other than just dissatisfaction at eleven points from ten games and eighteenth place in play here. While I find it hard to believe that Morison has gone because this lot have a replacement already lined up who will enthuse the fans and galvanise the club, the notion that something has happened “behind the scenes” to bring about today’s dramatic news does not seem completely far fetched.
For now, Mark Hudson will take over as caretaker manager, so, if the Board and owner run true to form, we can expect him to be given the job for the rest of the season if we manage to avoid defeat against Burnley in the first game after the international break.
Hopefully the next few days will bring news which makes today’s decision look more sensible, because, as things stand, our reputation within the game must be a lot lower than it normally is – would you apply for the manager’s job at Cardiff at the moment?
Having just written the above, I find that Paul Abbandonato of Wales Online has written a piece which I must admit has left me wondering whether Cardiff City are worth bothering with any more under its current ownership. Mr. Abbandonato can usually be relied upon to provide a pretty accurate account of the thinking of those in power at Cardiff City Stadium and I’ve no reason to disbelieve him here. I despair, I really do despair – all aboard for the cheapest managerial option again and probably a return to hoofball with a squad of players wholly unsuited to playing that way.
I’m not sure anyone had fully warned to Morison which might have made it easier for the board to get rid – fans kept Malky in post slightly longer and several parties (local press, fans, board members) kept Warnock in longer than he should have had – but this is so out of the blue i’m not sure we can say Morison’s handling of different relationships can explain it fully.
I really don’t understand why you let someone sign 15(?) players shaping squad in his image and allow Callum Robinson to be bought with emergency money unless you’re giving that person time. Especially if so much unplanned disruption week-to-week (Harris’ dead leg being latest set-back) off back of short pre-season with World Cup hit domestic season.
I’m not actually fully sold on what Morison had done over summer but so many players needed, so little time and so little money….could anyone have done it better?
Who is out there to replace Morison? We don’t have money to spend on new players in Jan or buying anyone out of their contract, and it wasn’t so long ago that a board member was on supporters bus (Swansea away last season) apparently discussing manager of the day’s future directly with the fans.
One pithy comment said we have made mess of first team and youth team by giving Morison a contract then getting rid so suddenly. Youth football was a strength of ours so recently when Morison and Tom R in charge but results wise (caveat being that results only part of the story at youth level) things are looking much worse under Purse…
I guess it all depends on what happens next. Goodness help us if we go back to Warnock or that sort of direction with a Dyche like name – having got rid of all players who could play that style – but alternatives are inexperienced coaches desperate for opportunity and not smart enough to stay away or Hudson who is already in house but will be seen as the cheap option.
How could we be in such a mess yet again?
Didn’t see that coming Paul and still absorbing to be honest.
Like you, it does feel a bit premature but I guess Morison paying the price for the poor away displays – first half at Borough obviously excepted.
Personally I would have thought to have at least left things until the next break for the World Cup to let the new team bed in properly. However, clearly Mr Tan doesn’t have the patience and scared of a repeat of last seasons white knuckle ride.
Like you I think Morison did a great job in stopping the rot last year, promoting youngsters and making a number of shrewd signing over the Summer.
However, it appears some tactical uncertainty and poor man management might be at the root of current problems?
Who knows as we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes.
I guess it will be the usual – give the No 2 a crack at it now for a few weeks and hope that works? If not, then we go shopping for a new manager whilst the World Cup is underway.
Never a dull moment!
Thanks for your replies both. Increasingly, I find myself thinking that I’m not too disappointed to see Morison go (even though I agree with Huw that the next international break would have represented a fair period to see how his new squad was coping) of itself, but what is utterly bonkers is that he’d been let go after having such faith placed in him through the summer and, apologies for mentioning it yet again, how you can find £1.5 million from somewhere to pay for the striker the manager wanted and then sack him just over a fortnight later is beyond that – who could blame Morison for thinking he would be given more time once he received the okay for the Robinson deal?
You’d like to think that even our owner and Board will realise that, although they may want to go back to a direct, physical, long ball approach, we now have a squad (as DJ mentions) that would be hopeless at playing that way. In my opinion, the job’s Hudson’s for the taking and, based on what happened with Morison last year, a point or two in our coming games will see him installed for the season, but, although not in the Watford class yet, we’re becoming a club where it’s traditional to sack the manager you started the season off with and that tends to only end one way – it may not happen this season, but we’re going to need to get familiar with the routes to places like Accrington and Fleetwood soon if City keep on going as they have done in the last two or three years.
I think performances have generally been good up until Luton at home but Luton, Millwall, Boro second half and Huddersfield have seen us really struggle, albeit with Boro first half probably best 45 minutes so far, and going from aforementioned success against Boro with a formation we worked well last season to changing system and disappointment at Huddersfield – well I would want an explanation.
If Tan has an exposed nerve, it’s managers wasting his money (robbing him the opportunity of doing it himself) and the Everton loanee is thus far contender for worst ever loan signing. If we’re fixed into playing him for certain number of minutes, then I would want an explanation for that as well.
If we’re being fair to Tan, we’d say that this decision has come too early but with 11 games before mid-season break seeing us play 7 of current top 10 plus South Wales Derby there as a genuine risk that leaving Morison in post now would see same decision but too late.
If we say ended up on 20 points from 21 games (a lower estimate but not inconceivable) we’d be heading towards relegation battle for sure. At that point I’m sure many would be saying Tan has to act and should have acted before regardless of how difficult a job Morison had been tasked with over the summer.
I still think it’s too early, that Morison was given too difficult a task over the summer (and with red cards, season ending injuries at wrong time since) and that if Morison was us scraping bottom of the barrel in terms of appointments, then next manager might be whatever is underneath the barrel, but I can now see a football argument to make the decision. Will just have to wait to see what happens next…even if our plan for immediate future has once again been ripped up for short-term firefighting.
It’s a fair point you make DJ. Usually, autumn international breaks are in early September, early October and there’s usually one around mid November. This time the September one if put back a fortnight, there’s not one in October and then it’s the World Cup. I’ve seen it wrongly claimed that we sacked Trollope in the first international break, but, like McCarthy, it was in the second one in October, so this is the earliest into a season we’ve sacked a manager under Vincent Tan and I can only think of Billy Ayre who was out of a job quicker than Morison was. As you say though, the season will be getting towards halfway over when we have the break for the World Cup and it could be argued that would be too long to wait.
Like you, I can see a football reason for the decision. Our goalscoring record is dreadful and we’ve been terrible when we concede the first goal – which when you’re only scoring in less than half of your games is something of a problem. However, we signed a forward who represents a step up in class from what we had for our first eight matches of the campaign and he’s only played two and a half matches for us and it may be that our scoring rate will increase once he settles in – my view is that having placed so much faith in Morison throughout the summer, it’s odd that patience was in such short supply once the competitive stuff started (unless there was more to it than just results).