Why Cardiff on final day
THE Cardiff City mantra this summer has been for Neil Warnock to compile a squad better than the one that won promotion from the Championship last time out.
Keep the Premier League players, supplement them with incomings, and the team would invariably be superior.
A key plank in that was the presence of Bobby Reid, who with Josh Murphy joined last summer for the Premier League campaign.
They would make the difference, we felt, yet on the final day of the transfer window Reid departed on loan to Fulham, in a deal that could later become permanent.
So Cardiff have let their best player go, having previously sold their best striker, Kenneth Zohore, and their best defender, Bruno Manga.
There have been a number of incomings, including strikers Robert Glatzel and Isaac Vassell, Bristol City midfield warhorse Marlon Pack, plus Aden Flint and Will Vaulks.
But why has Reid been permitted to leave, let alone to join one of Cardiff’s expected promotion rivals?
It’s a question Bluebirds fans everywhere are asking and one Warnock will address will surely have addressed when he met the Welsh media for his customary pre-match press conference today.
As the shock waves subside, what appears to be coming across loud and clear is that Reid felt it was time to go.
The style of football adopted by Cardiff didn’t suit him. His silky skills would be better off utilised in a team prepared to play more pass and move, rather than route one.
Actually, Cardiff did just that when they beat Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford on the final day of the Premier League season, Reid, Zohore, Josh Murphy and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing linking superbly and producing some brilliant football up top when suddenly given the freedom to do so.
Many fans hoped it was to become the template for the new season, but the reality is Cardiff were always going to revert to type once the Championship action got back underway.
Risk-free football, get it up early to the big man, dominate set-pieces, attempt to grind the opposition down. It’s worked well enough for Warnock over several decades as a manager in the lower divisions, so why change?
Cardiff, it seems, didn’t want to keep a player who felt he could produce better performances in a different team more suited to his particular skill set.
The deal they struck with Fulham, whilst enormously complicated, will eventually net them more than the £10million they paid to Bristol City a year ago.
At least they’re getting value for money in that respect. Buy a player, sell him for more.
Warnock, I’m told, wasn’t impressed by Reid’s performances in pre-season and it appears everything kind of came to a head when Cardiff crashed 3-2 at Wigan on the opening day.
Rightly or wrongly, Warnock evidently had seen enough at that point. If the right offer came in, he would cash in.
Which is exactly what happened, other clubs doubtless alerted to Reid’s unrest and Fulham and Bristol City amongst those who made their move.
On the one hand it’s a huge loss to Cardiff, but if Reid didn’t fit in with the game plan Warnock will adopt, would he have been as effective as we hoped anyway?
While Reid goes, Pack comes in on a three-year deal.
He’s a Warnock type of player, big, strong, a midfield battler and a real dressing room leader.
That’s one area Cardiff won’t be lacking in this season, with Pack, Sean Morrison, Sol Bamba, Will Vaulks, Curtis Nelson and Lee Peltier on board. Each have been captains at their respective clubs down the years.
Pack for Reid is not like for like, he’s more a replacement for Aron Gunnarsson.
As for Reid’s 10 role, many fans would love to see Lee Tomlin play there. But it’s far more likely to be Calum Paterson. He suits Warnock’s style of play, wins his headers, puts in an enormous shift and pops up with goals.
New striker Robert Glatzel will be in front of him. With 6ft 6in Aden Flint at the back, it doesn’t take a genius to work out Cardiff’s game plan and how they will seek to overpower teams.
No-nonsense defending, a mix of Pack, Vaulks and Joe Ralls in the midfield, Paterson’s hustle and bustle and Glatzel’s