In years to come, people will look at the Championship table for season 22/23, see the asterisk appearing alongside Reading saying they were docked six points for financial irregularities and some of them will then look to see if that penalty of half a dozen points made a difference as to whether they stayed up or not – I know I would! When they see that Cardiff were closest to them with five points more, they will probably think something along the lines of jammy beggars.
When I posted something similar a few days ago on a City messageboard, I was surprised and, to be honest, somewhat baffled to see people disagreeing with this and I can only wonder what they would be saying now if the roles were reversed and it was us with the six point penalty and Reading with only five points more than us?
Today’s 3-0 loss at Champions Burnley means we end the season with forty nine points, one short of what has been the traditional safety mark of fifty – even if its probably true to say something like forty eight points would keep you up most of the time in recent seasons.
As it is, forty five points would have done the trick for City, but, make no mistake about it, we’re something akin to a cat that has lost eight of its lives going into 23/24 in a few months time. There has to be every chance that any decline from where we are now will see us relegated – in fact, it could be that more of the same won’t be enough to save us.
That’s not being overly dramatic. How can it be when we lost exactly half of our forty six league games? Only relegated Blackpool lost more than us. Only relegated Wigan scored less than our miserable forty one goals which is our equal lowest number for a forty six game season – the 95/96 team, which finished ninetieth out of the ninety two Premier League and EFL clubs are the illustrious outfit we share that dubious record with.
Yes, Reading broke the rules and they should be punished, but we were lucky to avoid the drop this season.
In a fortnight or so, it will be twenty years to the day since Andy Campbell’s goal returned us to the second tier after eighteen years away. Since then, I’d say we’ve had three seasons where we were in serious relegation trouble in the Championship – 2004/05, last season and this year.
Actually, I’d say it could be argued that we were never in any great danger of going down last year given we were looking pretty safe towards the end of February, but I will include it, if only to say that, just as in 04/05, it always felt to me like there were three teams, at least, that were worse than us.
Being honest, I always thought we’d stay up this season, but, as I look back at the last ten months now, I find it hard to explain why I felt that way.
We were much the better team in our two games with Blackpool and I felt we’d always end up above them, I wasn’t quite as sure about Wigan, but they found goals even harder to come by than us and, of course, they also had a small points deduction, but, as for the third team we were supposed to be better than – the table never lies they say, but maybe it does this tine because perhaps the third worst team in the Championship stayed up?
Anyway, whatever the truth of the matter, we are in the Championship next season and, given the restrictions we have to operate under, clearly in need of some clever recruitment in terms of both player quality and value for money. Looking at our loan recruitment in recent windows gives you hope that the staff we’re using in that department are an improvement on what we’ve had in the past. Sadly, there’s little or nothing to indicate that the admin side (i.e. Messrs Tan, Dalman and Choo) is good enough and so getting the managerial appointment right becomes even more important.
The signs are that Sabri Lamouchi will be the man to take us into the new season. As he is fond of saying, it was mission accomplished for him because his remit was to keep us up when he was appointed. However, we only stayed up because of Reading’s points deduction and, as far as I can see, Mick McCarthy (brought in when the 20/21 season was showing signs of becoming a struggle) and Steve Morison (appointed in October 2021 after it all went wrong for McCarthy) did a better job in terms of form from January onwards in their first seasons in charge than Lamouchi has – or at least, they were certainly no worse than him..
Yet, both men were soon gone in their second seasons and neither are remembered with any great affection by the majority of supporters now. Based on what Lamouchi has done so far (for me, he’s improved us as an away team and we find goals easier to score, but, if anything, what were already poor home performances have got worse and we’re conceding a lot more goals now than we were under Morison and then Hudson), is there enough there to suggest he can be an improvement on McCarthy and Morison second time around? I’m not convinced there is.
Maybe I’m a bit down on Lamouchi after what he did today in terms of selection and substitutions, but I must say that now and again he bewilders me when it comes to these aspects of the game.
I’m saying this not because I’m annoyed at today’s outcome – we were playing a side which took its points tally past a hundred for the season this afternoon, we only just stayed up and had some important players missing today – there was also nothing to play for. Bearing all of that in mind, 3-0 feels about right if you’d asked me for a prediction before a ball was kicked.
However, having made a point of saying that the likes of Rubin Colwill, Isaak Davies, Joel Bagan and Eli King would be in the squad, it was disappointing to see only Colwill start while a serial under performer like Sheyi Ojo was included yet again. Ojo wasted a promising position for City in the first few minutes by letting a good cross field pass by Perry Ng go out for a throw in and was never seen again until he was substituted at half time. Davies eventually got half a game as playing time, but I’m not sure what King gained from his three minutes on the pitch, while Bagan got to watch a couple of others play left back/wing back (Ng and Joe Ralls) while his manager kept him sat on the bench.
Honestly, I found myself wondering whether Lamouchi realises that King and Bagan have the amount of first team experience that they do, because he treated them like a couple of Academy lads who were brought along for the experience of finding out what a first team away trip entails.
To run quickly through the goals, the first came sometime after Colwill made a mess of a very presentable chance (his season summed up in a second or two for the youngster who has been deemed good enough to be part of Wales Euro and World Cup squads) and was a strange affair. Andy Rinomhota tackled his man and seemingly put the ball out for a corner, but then stumbled under what looked a very gentle contact from his opponent, the ball then hit his hand before it ran out of play which allowed a cross to be rolled across, while City stopped as they waited for a whistle, to Josh Brownhill who tapped in from about a yard out.
If there had been no six point penalty for Reading and City had gone into this game needing at least a draw o stay up, I daresay there would have been ructions after the ref allowed the goal to stand, but, for me, there was nothing wrong with it. While the fact that the match was a meaningless affair offered a partial excuse for City players not playing to the whistle, It was unprofessional and a little typical of this squad I’m afraid.
That was on twenty seven minutes and only three more had been played when Mahlon Romeo provided an assist by chesting a cross from our left into the path of veteran Burnley striker/clogger Ashley Barnes, playing his last game for the club, who put his shot from ten yards away in a crisp and efficient manner which was at odds with what we’ve been used to seeing from City players all season.
The only goal of the second half came just before the hour mark when Scott Twine clipped in a free kick from twenty yards after he’d been brought down by Ralls. Once again, you had to contrast the quality of the Burnley man’s strike with what City have done in this department all season.
City had ten goal opponents today (about seven of them from Jaden Philogene who has, it seems, given up on passing in the last few games of his loan spell with us) and, apart from one Sory Kaba effort that brought a smart save from the keeper, they consisted of the usual collection of poor contacts,daisy cutting dribblers and row Z ers.
I don’t think I want to say anything else about this miserable season for the first team at this stage, but it’s not quite over yet for our under 21s who entertain Crewe in their final match tomorrow – maybe Joel Bagan’ll get a game following his few days break up north?.
I agree clearly we were very poor although on times we did perform well.
Loosing to many home games has been a problem for many seasons.
I disagree that Reading went down instead of us only because of points deduction. Reading went down because they won 3 games since Christmas, their last win coming on 25/02/23, they had the worst away record in the division over course of the season and they had 6 points deduction. In critical game against Wigan, at home in front of full ground, they could only score in the 93rd minute.
We stayed up because we had better form for majority of time since Christmas (up until Huddersfield kick-off), that we found a way to win majority of our 6 pointers and Reading had points deduction.
Still, in a year where we had 3+ managers (was Dean Whitehead ever officially manager), I would put forward Paul Ince as our manager of the season. Second time in our history he gets that award after taking Robbie Fowler away from us donkey’s years ago when City were determined to give Fowler a big contract.
Lamouchi says mission accomplished and I would agree with him. We were a side without a win in 9 games when he arrived, we saw important players get injured, penalties missed and we went on to play 8 games within April without it adding up to relegation. However, it’s difficult to say anything more than mission accomplished because we didn’t pull away as a Huddersfield did this year or that Morison managed last year, and Lamouchi ended up with more defeats than Hudson and only marginally better points per game than Morison this season.
It’s been another bitter pill to swallow – we haven’t had good times watching this club since Neil Harris led play-off charge in tail end of 2019-20 – and if we do get relegated next year, we will be one of the favourites, then no one will say it came out of the blue.
Currently we go into next year under transfer embargo and with following side:
Allsop
Romeo NG McGuinness Simpson O’Dowda
Ralls Wintle
Ojo
Etete Robinson
Bench options: Alnwick, Campbell, Denham, Collins, Rinomhta, Adams, Sawyers, Tanner, Colwill, Davies.
We don’t know who the manager will be but if Lamouchi then someone who struggles to last beyond 55 games at a club, and if not Lamouchi then someone who deserves mental health check.
Lamouchi speaks well so let’s hope he can back it up. A huge summer approaches.
Hi Paul and everyone – I’m in your camp when it comes to relegation issues. The season lasts for 46 games, nothing less, and Reading accrued one more point than we did over that number of matches they played, but with their six point penalty applied it allowed us to escape the dreaded drop. It was a complete shambles of a season for us which is now going to continue for many months as I learn that we are going to sue Nantes FC in the French Courts following the decision by the Swiss Courts that, my words, “they want nothing to do with it”. More legal costs, more rancour, and I fear more anti opinion against Cardiff City on the continent where we may be seeking players. I could comment further, but will let my thoughts rest there.
Yesterday’s 90 odd minutes were so predictable. I did invest another £10 to watch on the City’s web site and those that commentate on behalf of the City seemed to have no enthusiasm for the task and were ready to pack up bags at half-time. And at that point Messrs Ojo and Colwill were able to shower and have an undeserved rest as both were awful. I believe we may have the former for another year (pity help us) and the latter for longer (but he needs to run at pace, how to tackle, shoot and head a ball). Whatever they do in training to earn selection is certainly not repeated on the pitch.
It was clear to me from our Aston Villa loanee’s performance that he did not rate any of his team mates either as he constantly went for goal whenever he was within twenty yards of the Burnley goal without really troubling Buric. It was a quite dismal showing all round.
And so the season ended – thank goodness! Sawyer’s only goal of the season’s opening game against Norwich seems a lifetime ago. Quite what the next two to three months will bring as far as the City are concerned is anyone’s guess, but I for one will not be getting too excited. And there does not appear to be too much optimism amongst even the most hardened City support. Season ticket anyone?
I won’t rant for too long after what’s been an awful season. It’s not the worst in living memory for me (take a bow Alan Durban) but it’s certainly one of the most depressing in terms of goals scored and the quality of football (or lack of it) we have played. Other than Rotherham away, it has had virtually no redeeming features and I’m afraid the buck stops at the door of the owner. I have defended him in the past for keeping the Club going but his seeming insistence on having the final say on football related decisions has resulted in a succession of lame duck managers and poor transfer windows with no sign of anybody who actually understands the game being brought in to advise him. Rob Edwards was available for weeks and seemingly ignored earlier in the season when we needed a manager (now look at Luton) and Lamouchi was only brought in when relegation was looking probable. I’m presuming that he will be in charge next season and fear that unless he pulls some transfer rabbits out of the summer hat, another miserable season beckons us.
I hope I’m wrong because I’m usually a glass half full type but I’m already feeling apprehensive about next season.
Enjoy the summer while you can Paul and followers of this blog!
Thanks Paul and all.
Can’t disagree with any of the comments above and the joy at finally ending a truly dismal season. All reasons well documented and referenced in the comments and would rather draw a line now and take a break from it for a few weeks. However, know the speculation on the manager post and signings – or not – through the next couple of months is part of the fun!
Think feel so flat after I think of the attractive passing football we were genuinely playing in the opening weeks of the season and how desperate we now look and so disjointed.. Looking back feels like a long time ago but do appreciate that it couldn’t be sustained and that then led to the whole Morison departure/ Winter of discontent and the Great Escape.
Appreciate also the huge effort and emotion of the Rotherham victory 2 weeks ago, but so flat since then when we could have tried to relax into a decent send-off for us long suffering supporters. In my dreams anyway.
Finally, big thanks to Paul for mustering the enthusiasm to keep reporting , commenting and entertaining all of us when sometimes the rest of us mortals were too deflated to even raise a comment. Sincere thanks Paul and all regulars.
Enjoy your break from this madness?
Morning all and thanks for your replies – a welcome too to Alan whose contribution is, I believe, his first on here.
Alan, I said I cannot quite put ny finger on why I was pretty confident throughout the season that we’d stay up, but you’re right, when we played well (e.g. Birmingham, Blackburn and Reading at home, Sunderland away and in the first game at Rotherham, we looked much too good to be a relegation side, but I suppose supporters of the other twenty three Championship clubs will be thinking the same thing.
DJ, I was speaking to my brother on Tuesday about Reading’s six point penalty. Our sporting arguments (we have quite a few of them) have tended to be long and rambling down the years, but I was surprised by, and agreed with, his utter clarity on the subject – he said there’s no two ways about it, City would have gone down without Reading’s deduction and the rest is just if’s, but’s and maybe’s.
I do agree with you about Lamouchi’s past record which suggests he comes in, makes an impact, but then finds it hard to sustain it. My real fear is that we complete a hat trick of looking for a new manager in September,October’s – I’m not convinced by him yet, but, if we give him the job for next season, he needs to be given longer than Morison was (I find it impossible to argue against the McCarthy sacking) to make things work because he’s got a tougher job than either of the previous two managers we had at the start of a new season given our number of points gained and position finished.
BJA, I believe the contract situation for Ojo and Colwill is the same – their deals run out next summer. Regarding the Sala case, the club’s mood based on the comments I’ve heard from someone who was at the meeting with Mehmet Dalman after the Huddersfield match is that they are in it for the long haul. There’s plenty we don’t know about the legal arguments and opinions involved and so I don’t comment on the case too often, but, as I’ve mentioned on here be before, it doesn’t look good that our original defence was based on an admission that, essentially, we cocked up during the original registration process of the transfer and I don’t understand why, if the club were always going to pay the first installment of the fee, why they delayed doing so until the period whereby they would not attract further sanctions had expired?
Clive, I agree about the Alan Durban years. Your mention of the Rotherham game resonates with me because, increasingly, when we win I find that I don’t feel as is the experience has been that enjoyable or entertaining – Rotherham was different because of the timing of the winning and the implications of victory and while there were some good wins along the way, I find I’m feeling more like I did as a child when it came to City, if I didn’t enjoy what I was watching, I’d not go to the next match. As it turns out, I was able to watch all forty six of our matches over the past ten months through one means or another, but I’m not finding watching us play an enjoyable experience these days and, to be truthful, I haven’t for two or three years – on a more cheerful note, I really enjoyed the Under 21 game against Crewe on Tuesday!
Huw, I’m not too bothered about Monday’s loss – we were playing a good side and I think the outcome would have been much the same if there had been something riding on the game, but the Huddersfield match still rankles with me. I’m at a loss to explain why we’re so bad at home, but that game represented a chance for the team to show their supporters what they’re really about because the pressure that they’d been under for most of the season was off. Instead we were like a puppy that rolls over wanting its tummy to be tickled and we saw a mediocre team winning at a canter and putting our goal under a sustained siege lasting ten to fifteen minutes in which we looked like a non league side.
Anyway, we’re now into a spell of three months or so when the fans of all football clubs can start to dream optimistically about what the new season will offer, so roll on August, I think we’ll all have rediscovered some of our lost enthusiasm for City by then!
Enjoy your summer’s.
Paul