TOP GUNN FIRES BLUEBIRDS TO VICTORY
BLUEBIRDS 1, FOREST 0 ICELANDER SHOWS WHY HE’S A FAVOURITE FOR CITY’S PLAYER OF THE SEASON AWARD
NEIL Warnock has made no secret of the fact he can hardly wait for this season to end.
For the main part, this was an afternoon that reminded why.
Yet perhaps it’s not something that applies to all.
Aron Gunnarsson has seen his footballing year cover more ground and highlights than most and yet, as he drilled home a goal that almost felt out of place to much of this flat afternoon, there’s no suggestion of the Iceland international warming down for the summer.
It seems strange to think now that Gunnarsson ended last term not entirely sure of his place at the Bluebirds, not overly convinced of his future in South Wales.
He has since admitted he put his focus into his country’s cause at the Euros, earned a place in his homeland’s history as he skippered them to the quarter-finals and went from there.
He has not looked back and, as he left the Cardiff City Stadium for the penultimate time this season, heard the appreciative crowd chant his name.
It was not just for his 25-yard fizzing shot that gave some spark to this fairly flat clash, a result that pushes Cardiff up to 13th and in with a chance of finishing in the top-half, as well as leaving Nottingham Forest rightly concerned of their survival chances.
The applause was equally as much for the fact this was Gunnarsson again being a heartbeat of a Cardiff team, despite having played more minutes in a Bluebirds shirt than all bar one of his teammates this term; Sean Morrison takes that honour.
Warnock had previously gone on record to state how much he likes Gunnarsson, affectionately calling him his Viking Warrior, but also asking if he could affect games further up the pitch having shown his dynamic battling attributes during the early days of the manager’s tenure as they put an end to fears of the drop.
He has answered. Here he followed up a busy performance at Sheffield Wednesday with one that defied the Sunday stroll feel to much of the match, one that seemed bizarre when you considered Forest’s desperate need for points.
That he topped it with his third goal of his personally memorable season – one that places him in contention for the club’s player of the year award – was deserved credit. His first goal since December was all that was needed to seal Cardiff’s third straight home win.
While Warnock reckons he is close to making his mind up about players as he waits for this campaign to conclude ahead of summer re-shaping, Gunnarsson will surely be a player penned in.
Whether long-serving midfield partner Peter Whittingham will be a contender to join him is up in the air.
Whittingham was given a chance from the off here having seen his onegoal, one-assist performance against Brentford not be enough to have a start at Sheffield Wednesday.
There was much to be positive about his display as Cardiff failed to find a spark, constantly looking up to try and pick out runners.
It didn’t quite come off, and with time running out and no new deal agreed, the standing ovation as he left the field felt a little more poignant.
Handed his recall, Whittingham had wasted little time in trying to underline his worth. In a fairly open, end-to-end opening, the first real punch was thrown in the way only Whittingham can; with the ball at his feet 25 yards from goal, a swing of the left leg saw the ball dart goalwards before cannoning off the crossbar.
Sitting deep but nipping forward when possible, Forest’s stretched system allowed him again to orchestrate a Cardiff opportunity, though not by usual means.
This time it was anticipation of a loose Forest ball that saw him poke through to Anthony Pilkington, the wall pass with Kenneth Zohore putting the former Norwich man through on goal.
Yet, be it a lack of confidence or sharpness, the decision to take an extra touch took the danger away and allowed the shot to be squeezed out.
In the end, Pilkington was disappointing, one whose season may be ending too soon for him to prove he has a place under Warnock that is more than attacking utility option off the bench.
So too were widemen Junior Hoilett and Kadeem Harris, the latter appearing to infuriate the bench with his decision-making and runs into red shirts or harmless areas.
When he did go direct, he got to the byline and stretched Forest enough so that Gunnarsson had the invite to shoot on 70 minutes.
Teed up beautifully by the failed clearance, the midfielder took it with strength and sweetness in the drilled shot. It took the goal for Forest to wake up. They had hardly tested Allan McGregor before he saved well from Mustapha Carayol and then was brave as the ball bounced around the box as the strugglers’ desperation took hold.
Bruno Manga – another whose future is to be decided once this season ends – and Morrison held things together well and while one Forest header hit the woodwork late on, there was a reliable Bluebird to clean up in these dying stages of the game and this season.
Gunnarsson’s year may have been a marathon, but he’s not let up for his club.
As he waits for this season to end and the new one to come around, Warnock will know he can depend on his Viking Warrior.