Three league matches ago, Cardiff City were in a strong position to catch Sheffield Wednesday in sixth place of the Sky Bet Championship. Three disappointing results later and the Bluebirds find themselves six points adrift with three games to go.
Cardiff City Play-off Hopes Fading
Heading into the match at Craven Cottage against a struggling Fulham team, Russell Slade and his in-form side were confident of coming away with three points after victories at home to fellow play-off hopefuls Ipswich Town and well-placed Derby County, as well as draws away from home against Reading and at-the-time leaders Burnley.
At half-time, Slade’s men were in a commanding position, leading 1-0 through Lex Immers’ goal on 41 minutes. Soon after the break veteran midfielder Scott Parker pulled the Cottagers level, giving the home side momentum in the second half. As the Bluebirds pushed for that all important winner, their hopes of pushing Sheffield Wednesday—who were thrashed 4-1 away at Bristol City—for sixth position were dashed as Emerson Hyndman stole the points in the dying minutes of injury time.
In the following round of fixtures Cardiff City played out a drab 0-0 at home against Queens Park Rangers, managed by former Cardiff City striker Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink. Anthony Pilkington’s close-range header which missed the post and Kenneth Zohore’s scuffed one-on-one were two of the most notable opportunities to break the deadlock.
After the 0-0 draw with QPR, Russell Slade—who had kept his critics quiet of late—was once again drawing negative opinions from fans, with many questioning his decision to leave Zohore on the bench until the dying embers of the last few league matches. Following the draw with Hasselbaink’s side, Russell Slade told the BBC:
“We’ve said we have to match their (Wednesday’s) result and we’ve done that,” Slade said.
“We go to Brentford next and need a positive result and we probably need to win all four of our remaining games.”
He continued: “In one way, we may see that as an opportunity where we lost two points. But we’re still in there and fighting.
“It’s a big ask but it’s not impossible.”
However, criticism escalated during and after the following match at Griffin Park against mid-table Brentford. Again, supporters were losing patience with Slade’s rigid ‘Plan A’, leaving the skilled Kenneth Zohore on the bench until the 84th minute, once again replacing Lex Immers in an obvious and predictable move. The 2-1 defeat had all the makings of another 0-0 draw until substitute Scott Hogan had put the Bees 2-0 up, ten minutes after coming off the bench. Zohore’s late goal to bring the score back to 2-1 counted for nothing.
Slade has a tendency to stick with what has been working, even when it does become predictable to the opposing sides. Anthony Pilkington has done well as a make-shift striker since the departure of Joe Mason to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Alex Revell to Milton Keynes Dons. Lex Immers’ arrival has been a positive move, but with a fully credited striker on the bench, brought in to cover the losses of Mason and Revell, it is difficult to see why Slade refuses to give the Danish marksman a place in the starting eleven.
The manager has been credited for his initial creativity for playing Lex Immers in a deeper role just behind Pilkington, yet that tactic seems to have stagnated yet his persistence is leaving fans frustrated and with just three games to go, including a match against the team currently holding the vital sixth spot just inside the play-offs, Sheffield Wednesday, Slade will have to put more thought in to his starting line-up.
Cardiff City’s remaining fixtures:
Sat 23 Apr – 15:00 – Bolton Wanderers (home)
Sat 30 Apr – 15:00 – Sheffield Wednesday (away)
Sat 7 May – 12:30 – Birmingham City (home)
Sheffield Wednesday’s remaining fixtures:
Sat 23 Apr – 15:00 – Derby County (home)
Sat 30 Apr – 15:00 – Cardiff City home)
Sat 7 May – 12:30 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (away)
