Harris gives encouraging update on attacking pair ahead of Cardiff’s return
WITH just a few days to go until Cardiff City’s Championship campaign kicks off once again, the injury progress of the Bluebirds’ two huge attacking threats is cause for much excitement.
It is fair to say that Lee Tomlin and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing are arguably the two most potent attacking options Neil Harris has at his disposal and when it was thought that both would miss the end of the season, many supporters’ hopes of reaching the play-off places took a huge dent.
But the City duo have toiled away tirelessly behind the scenes during lockdown to give themselves the best possible opportunity to hit the ground running when the season gets back up and running next weekend.
Manager Neil Harris has been coy, until now, on raising fans’ expectations with regards to the returning duo, refusing to put any additional pressure on their comeback dates.
But now, in a huge boost to Bluebirds fans, Harris has confirmed both Tomlin and Mendez-Laing took part in friendly matches against Cheltenham Town and Swansea City and are champing at the bit for the huge showdown with Leeds United.
“Both have played in both games, slightly varied minutes,” Harris said of Tomlin and Mendez-Laing’s involvements in the friendly games last week.
“Both are ever so excited and feel lucky to be back and playing these games because they did not think they were going to be involved in the majority of them.
“So they are really pleased to be back. I am really pleased as a manager and our fan base will be to see our most creative players available.
“They both – as we stand – got through fine, unless there is any reaction in the coming days. Both will be available for Leeds – at what level is debatable for a week or two. But certainly both are available for squad selection next week.”
Tomlin, of course, is enjoying the season of his life in a Cardiff City shirt.
Harris breathed new life into him and entrusted him with the role of creator in chief, allowing the playmaker to contribute seven goals and as many assists, including the pass of the season for Robert Glatzel’s equaliser at Elland Road before Christmas, this season.
While few would argue against a fully fit Mendez-Laing being firstchoice winger and his contribution in these final nine games is crucial to City’s chances, too, if he hits his straps.
It all appears to be falling into place injury-wise, barring Jazz Richards’ setback which will rule him out of the Leeds match, and Harris has yet more good news to delight supporters.
Greg Cunningham was initially earmarked as someone who Cardiff were preparing to include in their pre-season plans for next year at the earliest.
His ACL injury, which he sustained while enjoying a terrific spell on loan at Blackburn Rovers earlier this year, looked to have ended his season prematurely, but the picture now appears far rosier in terms of his involvement in a Cardiff shirt this season.
“Greg Cunningham won’t be available for Leeds,” Harris added. “Greg is still a little bit away from the training group.
“But we are hoping to have him back in training later this week, which is a real positive moving forward because he is a wonderful character.”
Should the Republic of Ireland international force his way back into contention for the back end of the campaign, Harris will have the luxury of being able to choose from Joe Bennett, Bournemouth loanee Brad Smith and Cunningham for the left-back berth.
It is on the right-hand side, where the injured Richards would usually operate, which appears to be the only problem.
Harris, though, will pray that the youthful legs of Dion Sanderson will have enough gas in them to ensure that doesn’t become too big of an issue over the course of the next six weeks.
THERE were a number of iconic sights during Cardiff City’s magical 1992/93 season.
Phil Stant almost breaking the net with every goal he scored, Nathan Blake dancing through defenders like they weren’t even there, Eddie May screaming his lungs out on the touchline and Jason Perry flying into a tackle.
But the sight of Nick Richardson’s flowing black hair bouncing up and down as he sprinted from box to box is also synonymous with that wonderful year.
So, first things first – it’s always important to get the big questions out of the way early doors – was it a perm?
“The answer to that is absolutely not!,” he says, bursting with laughter. “I’m unrecognisable from that now!
“I’m completely grey, going thin, grey beard. I’m St Nicholas now, Santa Claus!
“I can assure you there was no permanent solution applied to my hair.” Glad that’s all cleared up, then. Richardson’s career at Cardiff was one that burned brightly but fizzled out quickly, quite in-keeping with the roller coaster of euphoria and despair many Bluebirds fans endured while watching the club during those years.
His journey started in Halifax and, barring his three-year stint at Cardiff City, he never really left.
The midfielder was released by Halifax at 18 and began to work as an accounts clerk while studying for his accountancy exams, but he was still ripping up trees in non-league football.
Then Halifax boss Billy Ayre, who would later become Cardiff City manager, of course, finally gave Richardson his second shot at making it in football in 1989 after reading glowing reports of his performances in the local newspaper.
He achieved his dream playing for his hometown club, but, after three years there, it was time for the club to cash in and for Richardson to seek pastures new.
“Cardiff came in and that was a different proposition,” he says. “I knew it was a sleeping giant.”
He played a trial game for the Bluebirds that summer of 1992, against Plymouth Argyle, and nearly scored twice against England great Peter Shilton, but the iconic goalkeeper kept him at bay. Still, it was not a bad way for him to announce himself to prospective manager Eddie May.
Although Cardiff and Halifax were in Division Three when he made the move to the Welsh capital, the pressure and weight of expectation was unlike anything he had experienced before.
Something wonderful was bubbling beneath the surface at Ninian Park, but it wasn’t all plain sailing from the get-go.
“I could tell the expectations of the chairman and the manager, they made those quite clear,” recalls Richardson.
“It was a pressured environment. That did weigh down a bit on the first half of the year. Leading up to Christmas we struggled, lots of teams parking the bus against us and nicking equalisers and things like that.
“At Christmas I think we were like ninth or 10th, just outside the play-off places, and we crashed out of the FA Cup.”
Crucially, however, there was a discernible turning point at Christmas that season and there were two very big factors which made that happen, Richardson says.
“Two things happened after Christmas,” he says. “Kevin Ratcliffe arrived and brought a steadiness. He’s obviously a legend, he gave everyone in the club a boost.
“But there’s one other thing that was influential.
“At that point, we started an 11-match winning run. This is no disrespect to Paul Ramsey, but he got injured and we ended up with Derek Brazil and Paul Millar in the midfield and it was a bit more precision and more creativity, we could open up teams a bit more, a nano-percentage more
“We just got a few wins and, as we’ve seen with Liverpool, once you get into a winning habit it’s difficult to break.”
Of course, we all know the story. City romped to the title in what is arguably the most incredible six months any Cardiff fan lucky enough to be there has witnessed.
Those incredible scenes of euphoria on the pitch after beating Shrewsbury to secure promotion in the penultimate game remain in the memory – when the supporters mobbed the players on the pitch. Not Richardson, though.