NO MARSHALL... AND NO GOALS FOR CARDIFF
CARDIFF boss Paul Trollope admitted he will have to sign a striker to pep up his toothless Bluebirds attack – on the very day the departure of his star goalkeeper was all but confirmed.
A dismal 1-0 home defeat against Reading was played out against a backdrop of Scottish international goalkeeper David Marshall having been left out of the side after the club accepted a £5m bid from Premier League Hull City.
The growing discontent among the Bluebirds faithful was clearly evident on social media last night as Trollope’s men succumbed to an 89th-minute goal from Reading’s Yann Kermorgant. With the transfer deadline looming on Wednesday, Trollope will have to work quickly to plug the gaps, possibly at both ends of the field.
“We’re looking to strengthen in attack, we need a striker, we know that and we’re looking hard. We’ve got a set of strikers here, some are not natural, some have done well in that position,” he said.
“Frederic Gounongbe is still adapting to the British game, he’s had chances in all the games, he’s come on and not quite taken them.
“Lex Immers and Anthony Pilkington provide different options and Kenneth Zohore has a bright future ahead of him, but he needs guidance. So we are looking for one, we’re hoping to do the business before Wednesday.”
Whatever happens in the next few days City look set to be without club captain Marshall, who will be travelling north tomorrow to finalise his move.
“At the moment the situation is, the bid’s been accepted, I think he’s agreed personal terms and is travelling up Monday morning for a medical,” said Trollope.
“He’s been a fantastic servant and we wish him well, the Premier League’s come calling for the lad, he was captain and we’re obviously going to miss him. People have their price and Hull got to that, so the club were willing to accept it. Time will tell the scope for reinvesting.
“We’re going to look at that situation very carefully over the next few days, we felt that selling Simon Moore to Sheffield United was a good move for all parties, so we’ll look carefully over the next few days.”
Meanwhile, Swansea were beaten 2-1 by Premier League champions Leicester at the King Power Stadium, blown away by a dominant first-half display by the Foxes. Jamie Vardy made it 1-0 at the interval before skipper Wes Morgan doubled the advantage and Riyad Mahrez then had a penalty saved by Lukasz Fabianski before Swansea finally sprang to life with a Leroy Fer header that made the final 10 minutes interesting.
“At the end we had possibilities to draw the game, but Leicester deserved to win,” admitted Swans boss Francesco Guidolin, who now has a fortnight to prepare for the visit of Chelsea, where he hopes to unleash new record £15m signing Borja Baston.
T HE transfer window has felt for some time to be something of an overblown spectacle, but there can be little doubt that these next few days are of crucial importance for Cardiff City.
This was the fourth of six competitive games in which they have failed to score and the imminent departure of David Marshall means that they can now be far less reliant on consistent excellence at the other end.
The core of a decent squad is still there, and parts of the performance against Reading were encouraging.
They were unlucky not to score in one particularly dominant first-half period, but the uncomfortable truth for the Bluebirds was that they never looked likely in the second half.
As against QPR, they were then undone by a defensive lapse and a sucker punch on the break.
Paul Trollope’s vision will take time to come to fruition, but he knows that he cannot compromise when it comes to results, and they are already behind where they were at this stage last season.
Most worryingly, it’s two defeats out of two at home.
That’s as many as they lost throughout the entirety of the previous campaign and, quite simply, they will not get very far if they do not turn this around quickly.
It is difficult not to feel some sympathy for Trollope.
Marshall was not just an outstanding goalkeeper but a major presence around the club. Some fans have wondered whether he was vocal enough to be captain, but his exemplary leadership came as much from the example he set; his drive for the highest standards and his experience of what it takes to get out of this league.
To lose him at this stage, having sold his established number two not so long ago, is beyond frustrating.
Building a new identity for a team is difficult enough to begin without losing key cogs in the wheel so soon in the season. Take Fabio, too.
One of the key goals for the summer was to find a way to get the best out of players whose talent warrants more consistency in their performances.
The Brazilian was flying in the new wing-back role and a key part of the encouraging signs in pre-season.
Cardiff’s hands may have been tied once the release clause was met, but there is simply too much of this kind of uncertainty.
Both he and Marshall were hugelypopular dressing room figures and there’s no doubt their departures leave a void.
It has also left the squad lopsided and there will now be a nervous wait to see if the likes of Bruno Manga stay at the club in the next few days.
He has had an inconsistent start to the season, but showed his quality against Reading and, like Marshall, is a player whose ability cannot be lost if the club have serious designs on the upper reaches of the division.
There are tough questions for Trollope, no doubt.
With Fabio gone and Manga in and out of the team, there will be doubts about whether 5-3-2 is still the right way to go. Fabio’s absence was made all the more obvious by an excellent display from Chris Gunter for the opposition.
Jazz Richards is a full-back first and foremost and, while Kadeem Harris was again the bright spark, this is an unfamiliar role and not one that necessarily best utilises his at times searing pace.
When Fabio played there in preseason, he always pushed up when Cardiff dropped in on the opposite flank.
As such, the centre-backs and Peter Whittingham always had the option to switch possession out wide. At the moment, the defence is too flat and makes the team one-paced and it’s tough to get on the front foot.
Necessary too is a striker who can stretch the defence with runs in behind and genuine pace. That gives the defenders in possession another option and would offer a counter-attacking threat currently lacking.
Cardiff could have won this. They missed some great heading opportunities, ones that had they converted, would have sent them into the break with eight points and just one off the play-offs.
Trollope wryly observed that everything will now probably feel like a disaster.
He needs to improve the team’s attacking output, but he could also do with the powers that be giving him some proper backing over the next few days.