In many ways, the final match of Russell Slade’s time as Cardiff City manager was reminiscent of his career with the Bluebirds. Victory last week against Sheffield Wednesday would have brought the play-off race to a dramatic final-day conclusion in front of what would have inevitably been a bumper crowd and a spectacular atmosphere.
However, the reality was that the capitulation at Hillsborough meant that the visit of Birmingham was doomed to be a drab spectacle, a nothing game of squads who were already planning their summer holidays and a sparse crowd where the club quite literally couldn’t give tickets away. The ‘Slade Era’ is littered with ‘could haves’ and ‘should haves’ with unfulfilled potential and disappointment.
The farcical nature of this appointment began before Slade had even stepped foot across the border, with Cardiff approaching Leyton Orient with an offer despite his termination from the role appearing imminent. As a result, the club needlessly paid a compensation fee to his former employers and set a precedent for the financial mismanagement and poorly-made decisions that would taint his reign at the helm.
Following the questionable set-up of Malky Mackay and its dismantling by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it was clear that Slade had quite a task on his hands. The club was in turmoil on and off the field with financial irregularities and a complete lack of team coherence dominating local headlines. With Slade’s reputation as a manager who could inspire players and build steady squads on shoestring budgets, the appointment was met with cautious optimism by many Cardiff fans.
Slade was not brought in as a man to lead Cardiff City into the limelight of glory but instead to steady a sinking ship and plug some of its many holes. In this respect, 11th and eighth place finishes respectively suggest that he has done a solid job and succeeded in damage limitation for a club riddled with problems. The downward spiral the club seemed to be heading in under Solskjaer was brought to a slow stop and Slade will be respected for his part in that.
The real crimes of his reign lie in the fact that arguably one of the Championship’s strongest squads ever failed to make an impact on a league full of the lowest standard of football seen in the second tier of English football for many years.
With David Marshall, widely considered one of the best goalkeepers outside the Premier League, the defence had a solid back to build on. Those who have watched Bruno Manga play know the centre-back would walk into most Premier League teams and alongside the Championship experience of Player of the Year Matthew Connolly, the club possessed two of the league’s best centre-backs.
Alongside those two, Brazilian international Fabio da Silva and Championship stalwart Lee Peltier served to suggest Slade possessed one of the best defensive set-ups in the Championship. The midfield talent of players such as Iceland captain Aron Gunnarsson, midfield talisman Peter Whittingham and Young Player of the Year Joe Ralls meant that midfield talent was in abundance. How did a squad with so much talent bring one of the most boring seasons of football to the Welsh capital?
A complete lack of striking talent has plagued the club for years and this was never more prevalent than this season. Midfielder Anthony Pilkington, played out of position as a striker, finished the season as top scorer with nine goals. Whilst Joe Mason netted six goals before his January move to Wolves, the highest placed striker was Kenneth Zohore who scored two goals in 12 games – 10 of his appearances coming from the bench.
Whilst another out-of-position midfielder-turned-striker in Lex Immers provided relief with five goals, the absence of a reliable and consistent goal-scorer in the squad meant that there was little attacking outlet. Cardiff scored two or more goals in just 37% of their games over the 2015-2016 season and rarely looked like an attacking threat outside of set pieces.
However, another reason for this underachieving must fall at the hands of Slade. A persistence in long-ball football devoid of creativity and flair resulted in a predictable and uninspired style of play that many teams relished facing. He was unable to adjust his tactics in relevance to the game and his substitutions often left to be desired.
His final game proved a perfect example of this. With ten minutes remaining and drawing at home, Slade decided to substitute a centre-back for a centre-back whilst leaving untested striker Idris Saadi on the bench. This safety-first, no-nonsense approach also resulted in young and exciting talent such as Welsh international Declan John, wingers Matthew Kennedy and Kadeem Harris, alongside the summer’s ‘marquee signing’ in Idris Saadi being largely frozen out of first-team affairs despite excellent performances in the development squad and out on loan. Whilst it will be interesting to see how these players fare under the new management, it will mostly be a breath of fresh air to see young talent being given a chance at all.
The reality of Russell Slade’s time as Cardiff City manager is that he was brought in to do a very particular job. He was tasked with steadying the wage bill as soon as possible and stabilising the league position of the club. Whilst he succeeded in doing so, the resources were available to do so much more and he simply failed to do so. Whilst he always came across as a gentleman, it was the right time for him to step aside at the helm.
