Morison plays it cool on Cardiff post

BUT INTERIM MANAGER SAYS HE’S OPEN TO ANY ‘CONVERSATION’ WITH CITY CHIEFS ON VACANCY

CARDIFF City caretaker boss Steve Morison has once again stressed that he’s not thinking about the possibility of replacing Mick McCarthy on a permanent basis... but says he’s always open to a “conversation” with the club’s hierarchy.

Morison oversaw a highly eventful first game in charge in the Potteries, his side battling back from 3-0 down to earn a thrilling draw with Stoke City.

The result halted a sorry run of eight straight defeats, and will perhaps be seen as a small baby-step in the right direction for the Bluebirds, who showed the sort of fighting spirit that has arguably been lacking in recent weeks.

And he believes the players now have a benchmark on which to build heading into the coming week, with Morison expected to oversee two more games at least in the Cardiff dugout.

“All credit goes to the players,” he said. “I said to them in the dressing room – that’s your standard, that’s your level. To be 3-0 down is not good enough, but the performance after we went 3-0 down is good enough.

“If they perform at that level, we win games of football.”

Morison’s bid to further improve a side that had scored just once in the last eight games will likely come against the backdrop of increased efforts from the club’s hierarchy to step up their search for a permanent manager to lead the club into a new era.

Michael Beale and Jody Morris are among the names believed to be favoured in the City boardroom, while former Newport chief Michael Flynn is currently favourite with the bookies.

The current interim boss is understood to be in the mix, too, with the club set to whittle down the list of candidates into a shortlist over the coming week or so.

Morison insists he’s preferring to think about the here and now, with Queens Park Rangers up next for his side on Wednesday, although he has hinted that he’s ready to listen to any messages the board may have.

“It’s not my decision ultimately,” he said when asked about his potential interest in the job.

“You have a plan in life to be prepared for anything and I have always done that.

“All I am worried about now is doing this press conference, going to have some food on the coach, driving back and having a day off tomorrow, because it’s been a pretty busy week.

“I am not worrying about anything else other than that. If I get a phone call on the way home to talk about anything then I’ll have that conversation.

“But at the moment it’s not something I have to worry about.

“The next job is to watch the under23s play Swansea on Monday night and hopefully keep that run going as well.

“You have to have a purpose in life. My purpose this week has been getting the boys ready to put a performance in.

“We worked all week and never planned to be 3-0 down, so we had to go off the cuff with that one.

“It worked and we got it back. “The most pleasing thing for me was seeing a team that had worked hard put it together in the end and the goals came from really good bits of play.

“That was the pleasing thing. “A really enjoyable day in the end. It’s been a fantastic experience. Walking off and clapping the fans – I have missed that.”

Match analysis and ratings: pages 42&43