Why team behind the team works so well for Bluebirds Nathan Blake

AS disappointed as I was up at Birmingham on Friday, I only had to look at the dug-out at St Andrew’s to remind me we won’t see that type of performance at Middlesbrough.

And I don’t mean just Neil Warnock.

Warnock’s the boss at Cardiff, make no mistake, but he’s got a couple of men with him who, when you put the three of them together, really underline why Cardiff have got an edge on a lot of sides in this division.

When you watch the Bluebirds’ bench, you see three strong characters, three strong voices, but very much one strong team.

I know Kevin Blackwell – he signed me when he was manager of Leeds – plus Ronnie Jepson was close with my old teammate Paul Millar from their days at Port Vale, so I got to know him through ‘Windy.’

They’re good guys and both have been managers in their own right. People might think that would cause problems because they’ve been the main man before, but it’s clearly not the case with these guys at Cardiff and the relationship they have really shines through.

Neil’s the head-honcho with the kind of experience and success you don’t argue with. He gave Blacky his first role in coaching and Jeppo played for him at Huddersfield. It’s almost like – and I’m being a bit tongue in cheek here – like grandfather, father and son, with the respect going up and down. There is a friendship and trust there in what they are doing and I think the dynamic is great.

There’s no chance players are going to get mixed messages or sense a lack of unity and belief in what they are doing, because they’re all on the same page.

You see it in games when Jeppo and Blacky don’t have to ask for permission to come to the touchline and say what needs to be said. There’s a real trust in each other’s judgement which then goes on to the players.

There’s a unity which moves into the players, that sense of togetherness. While I’m sure they have their disagreements over different things, it’ll be healthy and it’ll be behind the scenes, not on the training pitch or on the touchline.

They come as a team and you