It is fair to say that Russell Slade has had many doubters during his tenure at Cardiff City but with the Bluebirds just one point off the play-offs can he win back the thousands that have abandoned the club for this campaign.
Cardiff City: Russell Slade finally winning over the fans?
Many have criticised him this season for his negative tactics and starting line-up choices but it appears that Slade is finally winning over the majority of the fans with more consistent results, especially at home where the Bluebirds have won 10 league matches, drawn seven and lost only two. Since January and the low-point of the transfer embargo, things have progressed positively for the manager, with off-field actions by owner Vincent Tan assisting in his squads quest for a play-off spot.
Vincent Tan himself is slowly winning supporters around, although unlikely wounds will fully heal over the red-rebranding debacle, he is doing his utmost to make amends. Many fans have reacted extremely positively to the clubs announcement of reduced price season tickets for 2016/2017, averaging just £99 for a full season if your a student.
This positive gesture by the club follows the final payment to Langston and Vincent Tan reducing the club’s £140 million debt by half.
Russell Slade has also injected some positivity with the loan signing of Lex Immers from Feyenoord who has shown great passion and determination playing behind Anthony Pilkington in a number 10 role, he has also scored some important goals for the Bluebirds and has become an instant ‘fan favourite’. Another positive purchase has been Tom Lawrence’s acquisition from Leicester City on loan until the end of the season.
Since Joe Mason left for Wolves and Alex Revell joined MK Dons on loan until the end of the season, Cardiff City were left without and recognised strikers. Pilkington was temporarily placed in the role but has since held the position of a loan striker with some flourishing performances. The winger-come-striker has earned himself a re-call to the provisional Euro 2016 squad for the Republic of Ireland with five goals in eight appearances up front for the Bluebirds.
Kenneth Zohore, a distant relation to Didier Drogba was brought in on loan to fill the gap left by Joe Mason but hasn’t been able to make an impact due to Pilkington’s best form in a Cardiff City shirt.
Russell Slade has fought tooth and nail to get Cardiff City back to where they should be and the fans’ opinions seemed to change in support against the Leeds United fixture, despite suffering a 2-0 home defeat it was clear the passion showed by the players had spurned on the fans to rally behind the battling Bluebirds.
Russell Slade told the BBC, “Since I’ve been here, it’s been a question of trying to win fans over and just work hard. We’ve done that.
“We’ve got a unity in the dressing room. The fans have responded to that, and I do appreciate that.
“I know how keen they are to be in the top six and in the shake-up to get back to the Premier League again.
“It’s been a test of character and our desire in what has, at times, been a difficult season. We’ve nine games left and we have an opportunity still.
“When you are playing those around you like this – and we’ve still got Sheffield Wednesday, Derby and Birmingham to play – they are going to be big, big games,” said Slade.
“But we can only control what we are doing, that’s the important thing. We can’t control what else is going on around the country.
“But if we’ve had a positive result and another side has not, that gives us a lift and gives us some momentum.
“It was just important to get the result [against Ipswich] – it’s never easy against a resilient side.
“It was not the complete performance from us, we had to defend, and I think the fans saw that and were fully behind us. It was great to see that again.”|
Cardiff City have nine games to go in their quest for a play-off spot. Here’s a look at who they face and who their rivals face in the remaining fixtures.
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