AWAY BLUES
AWAY wins have been rare for Cardiff recently – whoever the manager is. But for Russell Slade they have been the only thing curtailing his side’s march up the Championship.
So now, with the away-form monkey removed, Slade’s stated aim of the top six is well within Cardiff’s sights after victory over Watford.
Adam Le Fondre was the Bluebirds scorer, and the Cardiff boss saluted his side for finally seeing the job through.
He said:“We were always going to win away from home at some stage, but it’s nice to get it sooner rather than later.
“It was a really, really solid performance. We couldn’t have delivered that three or four weeks ago, but the group’s coming together now. We saw some really good qualities out there.
“That’s 16 points from eight games.We’re nowhere near perfect, but the group is buying into it and we're all pulling in the right direction.
“It’s really pleasing to see a resolute performance like that, because it’s those types of performances that get you where you need to be.We were resolute and kept persevering.
“We’re definitely making progress. Statistically when I took over we were the unfittest team in the Championship. Now we’re not. We’re moving up that table as well.
“It was just four points off the play-offs before this, which is not a lot. Now it’s just two.”
Cardiff went ahead early, when Anthony Pilkington fired a high cross into the box and, even though the 6 foot, 3 inch goalkeeper could use his arms, Kenwyne Jones beat Heurelho Gomes in the air.
Le Fondre attempted to usher the ball in as a curling team would, but when it began to slip wide he dribbled it in the last yard himself.
The Bluebirds barely threatened thereafter and were indebted to goalkeeper David Marshall.
Both teams featured retro bigman, little-man strike duos, but they utilised them differently. Cardiff were very direct and content to pump balls onto Jones’ forehead. Troy Deeney, meanwhile, dropped deep and was primarily a creator for his strike partner.
After three straight defeats, Slavisa Jokanovic reverted to the 3-5-2 that carried Gianfranco Zola’s Watford